GARDEN CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• In medium bowl, stir together cheese, flour, baking powder, dill weed, salt and pepper.
• Beat in eggs, green onions, lemon juice and garlic until well blended. Stir all shredded vegetables into the batter.
• Heat skillet or griddle over medium-high heat (350 °F in an electric skillet). Lightly spray or oil with cooking spray. For each vegetable cake, pour 1/3 cup batter onto hot skillet or griddle. Cook on both sides until golden brown. Serve warm.
• Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

Steps:

• Prepare Basic Butter Cake or Rich Chocolate Cake as recipe directs for 13-inch by 9-inch pan. Or, prepare cake mix following package directions for 13-inch by 9-inch cake. Bake; cool as directed.
• Prepare Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. Spoon 2 tablespoons frosting into custard cup; stir in enough orange food coloring to tint a bright orange. Spoon 1/2 cup frosting into a second cup; use green food coloring to tint a dark green. Spoon another 2 tablespoons frosting into a third cup; leave white. Cover frostings in cups with plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Into frosting remaining in bowl, stir in enough green food coloring to tint a pale green.
• When cake is cool, transfer to large platter or tray. With metal spatula, spread pale green frosting on top and sides of cake.
• To decorate cake, spoon dark green frosting into decorating bag fitted with coupler (or use small heavy-duty self-sealing plastic bag with corner cut and fitted with coupler); attach small writing tip (#3). Use dark green frosting to pipe grass around top edge of cake and down corners to platter. Then pipe line of grass lengthwise along center and crosswise across middle of cake, extending lines to platter, to divide top of cake into 4 quadrants.
• Remove writing tip and replace with a medium petal tip (#104); use to pipe 2 curved swags of frosting in 1 quadrant and 1 curved swag in another quadrant to resemble one side of each of 3 pea pods. Place M&M's on frosting swags to resemble peas. Then pipe a curved swag on top of and slightly overlapping the peas in each pod. Replace petal tip with writing tip and use to pipe curly vines attached to pods. Cover and set aside remaining dark green frosting.
• Spoon white frosting into decorating bag fitted with medium writing tip (#10) to make bunny. In third quadrant, pipe 2-inch circle; fill in with frosting to resemble bunny body. Pipe 2 legs at base of body, 1 1/4-inch round at top for head, two 3/4-inch-long ears, and dot for tail.
• Spoon orange frosting into another decorating bag fitted with medium writing tip (#10) to make carrots. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon graham-cracker crumbs in center of last quadrant. Pipe a medium-size dot on crumbs for top of carrot. Move tip down slightly and pipe another dot; continue making dots, each slightly smaller than the last, until carrot is about 2 1/2 inches long, ending with a pointed tip. Repeat to make a second carrot next to first. If you like, repeat on side of cake to make 2 more carrots on graham-cracker crumbs.
• Use remaining dark green frosting in decorating bag with small writing tip (#3) to make fronds on top of carrots and grass under bunny. Sprinkle grass under bunny with décors to resemble flowers.