Can you believe that Easter is just two short weeks away? I've been doing a lot of prepping and planning for Easter, and have come up with some great ideas to get you ready for the big day.
An Easter brunch is a wonderful way to celebrate and spend time with family. I'll be showing you how to make your table look amazing, as well as show you how to make a delicious key lime fresh fruit tart that is sure to wow everyone!
I recently did some shopping at World Market (which I do pretty much weekly), and scored some great Easter finds for my brunch. The fresh white tablecloth I bought was the perfect backdrop and blank canvas for my tableware and food. I love the pretty pastel Easter plates, and couldn't resist buying the matching pastel egg cups.
Inside the egg cups are my gold leaf Easter eggs that I made last week, and just can't get enough of. I used the same champagne flutes I used for my Oscar's party, except this time I filled them with my favorite Italian soda- orange mango passion fruit flavor… so delicious!
Because eggs are a huge part of Easter, I thought the egg plate would be a great way to serve deviled eggs for my brunch. There were 12 round openings for me to place my eggs in, and the actual dish is shaped like an egg… brilliant!
One of my favorite table decorations are the gorgeous purple and white flowers. My kids asked me who the flowers were for when they first saw them in their vases, because they thought they were real. They bring a fresh, colorful look to the table, and for less than the cost of fresh flowers, I can use them year round!
When I find something that I love, I buy it in multiples, which explains why I bought three of these bunny egg holders, as well as three of these bunny jars with turquoise lids. Because my kids aren't Jordan almond fans, and I am, I made sure to buy those to fill up these jars ;) I want them to last more than a day, you know! I separated the candy by color, and then layered two different colors in each jar.
I made some tasty carrot spice scones, and shaped them to look like carrots, complete with a green top! You would never believe that these scones came from a mix… they are SO good. You can actually see the little orange bits of real carrots in the mix, as well as the warm flavor of the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Fresh juicy strawberries are in season right now, so I decided to dress them up a bit by making a key lime tart with fresh fruit on top. I even whipped up a quick key lime glaze to coat the fruit top that gave it a little tart kick that was delicious! I'll let you in on a little secret, too… it was very quick and easy to make!
I like to make food from scratch, but I've found some great shortcuts that helped me make this key lime fruit tart in almost no time! First, I used a pre-made frozen crust. I am not a crust girl, I am a filling girl, so this shortcut was just fine for me, plus it saved me hours of trying to make the perfect pastry dough in the kitchen. If you can't live without a fresh pastry crust, then go for it! Either way will work great.
My next time saver was to use this key lime fruit tart filling I picked up at World Market. It comes already made in a jar. You simply scoop it out of the jar straight into your cooked crust. The filling has a nice strong key lime flavor that is irresistible.
Key Lime Fresh Fruit Tart
Ingredients:
- Pre-made frozen pie crust OR homemade pastry dough
- Key lime fruit tart filling
- Fresh fruit: strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries are all great options!
For the glaze: (optional)
- 1/4 cup lime juice (you could use less for a more subtle flavor)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1. Follow the directions to bake your specified crust, or make your own pastry dough. Make sure to poke holes throughout the crust to allow the air to escape and avoid air bubbles. Bake, remove from oven, and let cool.
2. Add the lime filling to the inside of the crust, and smooth out the top to form a flat surface. Slice the fruit into thin, even slices. Try to choose fruit that is a similar size, like using all medium sized strawberries, so that the top has a uniform look. Add the fruit to the top of the tart. Refrigerate.
3. You could stop here, but I wanted my tart to have a little bit of a tangy lime kick to it, so I made a simple lime glaze. I found a bottle of key lime juice at World Market that was perfect! Combine the lime juice, sugar, and cornstarch together in a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat until the sauce thickens, which will be about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Use a pastry brush to add the glaze to the fruit on top of the tart.
4. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve. I refrigerated my tart until, but when I cut into the first piece, it was bit thinner than I preferred. I simply placed it in the freezer for a couple hours, and it came out perfect!
World Market has a new sweepstakes going on right now through Friday, April 18th. All you have to do is spread Random Acts of Hoppiness, and then enter for a chance to win a $2,000 World Market gift card and a year's supply of Divine Chocolate. Three runner up prizes will win a $500 World Market gift card and Divine Chocolate.
Be sure to check here every day and World Market will share new Random Acts of Hoppiness with you! You might even see my random act, which was to pay for the person behind me at Starbucks. Help World Market meet their goal of 5,000,000 hops, and they'll Hop it Forward by donating 50,000 meals to regional food banks! Very cool. You can also earn bonus hops by sharing your Random Acts of Hoppiness. Be sure to enter the contest here!
xo, Laura
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