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Easter recipes


OnceUponATime

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:animals-bunny:It is nearly Easter which means that it is time to share Easter recipes. Yay!  Easter lamb? Easter egg muffins? Hot cross buns? Share them all here.

 

Here are my two currently favorite hot cross bun recipes. I've put the US temperatures on them, if in doubt go for the Celsius. I've also linked to the original recipes because I slightly alter mine; Usually by adding more spice and extra fruit. The red-brown ingredients in the text are ingredients that I don't have listed at the sides - that way they shouldn't surprise you so much. 

For the crosses: I grab a clean plastic bag, throw in about half a cup of white flour, add a spoonful of icing sugar and shake it so it is well mixed. Then I add about half a cup of water (possibly less - I want a runny paste consistency) and mix it (in the bag). When I'm ready to put on crosses i cut off a tiny tiny bit of the corner and use it like a piping bag. Most people don't add sugar, I like it because I usually use less in the buns and don't like hard crappy crosses that taste of nothing. You can also just use icing after they are cool to make crosses. That does mean you have to wait; that require self-control

For the glaze: I use 1Tbsp castor sugar with 2Tbsp boiling water and a dash of lemon juice. There are many recipes out there. You don't *need* a glaze, if you don't glaze do wash the buns before baking

 

Hot Cross buns v. 1 (wholemeal or white) - makes 30
This is adapted from Jo Seagar's recipe

Spoiler

56e4442d669ae_IMG_20150403_0612099202.th

4tsp dried active yeast (15g or 1/2 oz)
1 1/2C warm water, at bath temperature
2 tsp sugar (optional)

Combine above ingredients and leave until frothy (10-15 mins)

7C white high grade flour or 3.5C white flour and 3.5C wholemeal flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C castor sugar
3/4 C raisins
1/2 C currants (you can omit this and add extra raisins)
1/2 C mixed peel (you can replace this with a mixture of fresh lemon and orange zest, I use about 2 lemons and one orange)
2Tbsp cinnamon
3Tbsp mixed spice
(this is 1T more than the original recipe calls for because I don't find it spicy enough)

Combine all dry (blue) ingredients together. Make a well in the middle and and add the yeast mixture, 2C milk, 75g melted butter and 1 beaten egg. Mix well and then knead for 10+ minutes. Divide into 30 evenly sized pieces and make into bun form. Put on baking trays, cover and leave to rise until buns have doubled in size (1 hour in a warm room).

Preheat your oven to 220oC or 425oF

Apply crosses if desired

Bake your buns for 20 minutes (or until they look done). Apply glazing when hot. Let cool if you have self-control.

Our opinion last year

We gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 with no added notes. I halved this except for the spices(2/3) and the egg. I like spicy buns! I made them wholemeal for something a bit less traditional and seemingly more healthy. If you want to make it with a bread machine/mixer add the dried fruit and mixed peel at the very end of mixing it. Otherwise your get fruitmush instead of raisins. It rises better/faster if you use warm milk. You can replace the milk with milk powder (add to dry ingredients) and water which makes warming it easier.

 

Hot cross buns with infused milk - makes 16
From The Guardian with a bit of added spice

Spoiler

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200ml milk (7 fl oz.)
4 cardamom pods, bruised
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Put all above ingredients in a saucepan, heat very slowly until boiling. Turn off and let sit for at least an hour. Warm up to happy-yeast temperature and strain the milk to remove spices. Add 20g fresh yeast(or equivalent dry) to the milk and a small pinch of sugar.


450g strong white flour (16oz)
100g butter (just under 4oz)
50g golden caster sugar (you can use white sugar too or a mixture of white and brown) (2oz)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon (optional - yeah I love spices)

Cut the butter into the flour and then add the sugar, salt and spices. Make a well well in the middle and add the milky yeast mixture, and 2 beaten eggs. Mix together well and knead for about 10 minutes (or use your friendly mixer). Put back into your bowl and leave to rise until at least doubled (this also can be left to rise overnight in the fridge).

Knead and then flatten out. Scatter evenly 200g currants/raisins/sultanas and 50g mixed peel. Knead again to mix in the fruit. Divide into 16 pieces and shape. Put on baking trays, score a cross and leave to rise until double in size.

Preheat your oven to 200oC or 400oF

Apply crosses

Bake for 25 minutes or until done

Glaze straight out of the oven. Let cool if you have self-control.

Our opinion from last year

We gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 with an added note of best dough every. Damn that milk smells awesome. it has less flavor than i always imagine it should, which is why I add extra spices.

 

 

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Sounds yummy! We don't have any traditional Easter recipes in my home, but we may start a tradition of making Hot Cross Buns every year.

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*Frantically decides to dig out our detailed Protestant version of Good Friday food, once I get some sleep*

Traditional dish: casseroled cooked egg noodles, topped with sliced hard-cooked eggs (nice way to use up the cracked ones), covered with a nice mix of sauteed onions, tomatoes, green/red bell (sweet) peppers, and shredded cheese, with a few dabs of butter and salt and pepper).

Anybody got a lovely recipe for roasted Easter lamb?--leg, breast, whatever?  We don't eat much, 'cause lamb is rare in the USA, but it was soooo yummy last time I tasted it.

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I always make the Williams-Sonoma recipe for Hot Cross Buns and have ever since I got married or just before.  I won't post the recipe, but I will post the link here:

Hot Cross Buns

I need to get a copy of the Festive Breads of Easter.  It was written by a Mennonite woman and it's chock full of traditional Easter breads.  Speak of artisanal!

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On 3/11/2016 at 8:52 AM, OnceUponATime said:

Here are my two currently favorite hot cross bun recipes.

Thank you so much! I've been threatening to make hot cross buns for my English spouse as long as we've been married (25 years in June) but never actually gone through with it.  Maybe this is the year! (though I'll have to mail them to him :-(  )

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We typically have lamb, roasted potatoes, and carrots&parsnips with cardamom brown butter. I'm thinking of adding falafel and tzatziki and pita this year, too, to aid the vegetarian.  My husband and my mom can't be here this year, though, so we may do something else for the three of us - maybe just the falafel...

Last year I made this carrot cake (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/carrot-cake-recipe.html) and it will become a holiday staple - it's very moist and delicious! I baked it in a silicone cake pan that's about 5" tall. It was nice to not have to stack layers.

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Easter is my favorite holiday in the world. Probably because I'm Italian/Catholic and it was  huge deal growing up. Anyway, I thought I would share my menu. It's the only holiday DH and I host - at my insistence, because it's my one time of the year to go all out.

We're having Brown sugar ginger ale ham, cream cheese whipped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad, corn, french bread, and pane di pasqua - Italian orange Easter bread.

Dessert, I'm not sure. Right now leaning towards Pots de Creme and amaretti cookies.

What are you guys serving?

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Sounds very yummy! I grew up catholic too. We usually eat some soup, grilled fish, probably halibut with sauteed veggies, mashed potatoes, garlic bread and i'm craving a naked layered strawberry shortcake so i might do that if i feel better. Not a huge feast but if my fam cooks it will be more food. Depends on my health, i'm the cook of the fam lol.

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my family is Catholic, too, but none of us enjoys cooking/cleaning on major holidays (everyone works full-time, so we don't have a lot of prep time).  so the last 15 years or so, we've dressed up and gone to brunch at some local restaurants.  but this year, our favorite one is closed for renovations, so my mom got crazy and is doing a buffet at home.  my contribution is to take on the crowds on the day before Easter at this one tiny local shop that makes the best Polish sausage; fresh-not-frozen was requested, and i'm the worst cook, so i always get this kind of task.

but even during the restaurant years, my mom always makes a 9-layer angel food cake with real whipped cream, tinted green, and puts a mini garden scene with tiny chocolate rabbits on top.  my sister and i have loved this since we were kids,but it's pretty time-consuming that my mom makes just one a year.

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There's another thread about Easter menus:

I put my ideas there :-)  I'm not sure who we'd ask to merge threads? @catlady, that cake sounds like a real labor of love from your mother - what a fun tradition!

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@OnceUponATime Your Hot Cross Buns look so delish and making me hungry! 

About 2 years, I attempted to make some hot cross buns myself but they were such a disaster! I was so disappointed and frustrated that I didn't think I would ever give them another go after that.

Yesterday, I saw a Mary Berry Easter special and now I'm considering giving the Hot Cross Buns another bash or at least one of her other lovely recipes. The Easter Simnel Cake and Apple Frangipane Tart were very tempting too.

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The Hot Cross Bun recipe I posted is probably a half of the recipe I used to make.  The original recipe made 24 buns and this one makes only 12.  I'd double it, not so much because it only makes 12, but because it will be easier to mix in a stand mixer (aka a Kitchen-Aid) of you do.  You can also make by hand and I did it that way for years.  When you mix the halved recipe in the Kitchen-Aid, the beater doesn't reach all the way to the bottom of the mixing bowl and you have to some mixing by hand anyway.  I've also noted that I should use the old recipe milk-sugar glaze and not the egg white glaze.

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