Show-Stopping Desserts for Easter

Try this Easter dessert with a simple five-ingredient dough that can be made up to three days ahead and stored in the fridge. Break out the cookie cutters and let the children create flowers, bunnies, and eggs. The decorated cookies also double as an attractive table decoration.

Recipe: Easter Cookies

Kids will love decorating these simple bunny cupcakes. Start with boxed or grocery store cupcakes then decorate each with vanilla frosting, green coconut, and bunnie cookies. Kneading together refrigerated sugar cookie dough and flour make it easer to cut out the bunny shapes.

Recipe: Bunny Cookie Cupcakes

Go beyond store-bought marshmallow eggs and chocolate rabbits. This year indulge in show-stopping desserts, like these Coconut Nest Cookies (left), instead. Ripe strawberry trifles, zesty lemon tarts, and moist cakes headline the dessert buffet and guarantee that you'll be back for seconds.

Recipe: Coconut Nest Cookies

Use this easy, low-fat sugar cookie recipe anytime you want to break out the cookie cutters and have fun in the kitchen. Involve the children by letting them cut out simple shapes like eggs or try other designs like bunnies and flowers. Arrange the cookies in a basket for a festive (and edible) centerpiece.

Click here for cookie decorating tips.

Recipe: Easter Egg Cookies

A homemade lemon curd adds bright flavor to the soufflé and perfectly complements the mint and strawberry compote. Enjoy while strawberries are ripe, or substitute any seasonal berry during the rest of the year.

Recipe: Lemon Cloud with Strawberry-Mint Compote

Freshly-baked angel food cake rolls easily when still warm. Simply spread with slightly-thawed sorbet, then freeze for at least one hour. To prepare in advance for Easter, make the cake up to two days ahead, then mix the compote about 20 minutes before serving.

Recipe: Five-Spice Toasted-Coconut Roll with Tropical Fruit Compote

Make a sugary (and edible!) table setting with Easter eggs featuring windows of tiny icing animals and candy blossoms. Royal icing performs double-duty in this recipe, acting as a "glue" to hold the sugar egg halves together as well as decorative décor around the edges of the windows.

Recipe: Easter Egg Kaleidoscopes

Serve "finger sandwiches" of airy meringue cookies and tart raspberry sorbet. Divide the egg white mixture into rectangles before baking, then spread with the sorbet and freeze for about four hours before slicing into triangles.

Recipe: Raspberry Sorbet and Meringue Sandwiches

Dazzle your taste buds with the vibrant flavor of lemon and creamy white chocolate in this easy citrus tart. Simple-to-make Caramelized Sugar Spirals add to an impressive presentation. The secret: crushed lemon candies.

Recipe: Lemon Velvet Tart

Make a cake that doubles as a centerpiece. Bake two small pound cakes and stack to create the base, then decorate with fondant to create a spout, handle, daisies, butterflies, and anything else "Spring" you can think of. Decorating can take some time, but the result is well worth the effort.

Recipe: Teapot Cake

Mashed ripe bananas mixed into the batter make this cake extra moist. The cream cheese icing, flavored with lemon zest and vanilla extract, serves as the base layer for the fresh raspberry filling and the outer frosting.

Recipe: Banana-Raspberry Cake with Lemon Frosting

Toast slices of rich, buttery pound cake and serve with fresh berries, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a drizzle of chocolate sauce for a simple dessert that's packed with bright Spring flavor.

Recipe: Buttery Pound Cake

Serve a dish that's as pretty as it is tasty. Layer Sugar Biscuits, brushed with orange liqueur, with strawberry halves and Trifle Custard in a large glass bowl. Garnish with mint leaves for an extra pop of Spring.

Recipe: Strawberry-Sugar Biscuit Trifle

A sweet crust made from gingersnap cookies, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon perfectly holds the tart filling in this citrus dessert. The recipe calls for frozen orange juice concentrate, which adds a burst of bright flavor without extra ingredients. Chill for at least four hours, or overnight, to set.

Recipe: Double Citrus Tart