Easter time is eating time
We are a bit obsessed, we've said it before. Cooking and
eating food is a couple of the things that Two Girls About Town love.
We were sitting around thinking and talking about food, thinking and
talking about blogging, thinking and talking about Easter and thinking and
talking about putting it all together.
A lot of folk get time off at Easter and Easter is often a time for
family and friends to get together.... if not for blogging, then for cooking
and eating.
We decided to cook a couple of Easter treats. This is what we
did. You might want to try it too.
Pashka
This is an Easter dessert created by Russian Orthodox Christians.
It's sometimes made with cream cheese. Skye used Maggie Beer's recipe from
Maggie's Kitchen (2008) which is fresh ricotta based. It's basically a
crustless cheesecake. Skye read that it's also good spread on brioche which
means you can serve it at a dinner party and the eat the leftovers for
breakfast legitimately.
It's traditionally adorned with a cross. Skye didn't feel the need
for that. The serving suggestion is accompanied with fresh fruit like
strawberries or poached fruit. Apparently it's also served in its homeland and
no doubt by ex-pats, with Kulich, a sweet bread.
The most important thing you need to know is that it's dead easy and
the unanimous opinion from the afternoon tea I took it to was that it was
delicious.
Here is the recipe. Skye added choc chips because that's the sort of
girl she is. It made it a bit more fun.
Skye trivia 1 I bought Maggie's
cookbook at the Fuller's Bookstore Christmas sale for members. It's a great gig where
they ply you with champas which in turn lubricates the plastic right out of
your wallet. Maggie was special guest promoting the cookbook. She asked me how
I wanted mine signed. I said 'Skye you rock in the kitchen'. It reads 'For
Skye, from one passionate cook to another....' hmmmmmm
Apple and cinnamon hot cross
buns
Ange was inspired by the hot cross bun. It was her first easter bun cooking experience since her disastrous attempt when she was 15... you can see below how well she did this time.
Cooking tip: Don’t fear the
yeast and keep trying, you'll get there.
The cross was a no brainer here because otherwise it would have just
been a hot bun right?
These spiced fruit buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday.
Apparently no one's quite sure where they originated or why. There's
the Christian thing of course. Wikipedia tells us that the might have a
Saxon history and get this, they could have been eaten in honour of goddess
Eostre (sounds like Easter right?) and the cross represents the four quarters
of the moon.
Fun fact: Eostre – goddess of
the dawn and spring
Regardless we quite like the idea that sharing a hot cross bun is a
symbol of friendship, '...particularly if "Half for you and half for me,
Between us two shall goodwill be" is said at the time.' (ref:< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_cross_bun>
accessed 21 March 2012).
Here is the recipe. Ange used dried figs and dried pears because
she doesn't like the other stuff. If you adapt the recipe, use the equivalent
quantity of fruit.
Why not have morning tea with friends and get them over to make the
buns together?
White Chocolate Mud (Easter)
Cake
Regardless of your religious views, Easter is an opportunity to
celebrate chocolate. We worship the cult of chocolate and couldn't let an
Easter cooking episode go by without a chocolate overdose.
Ange chose an easy mud cake recipe, basically melt, stir, bake,
decorate. It tastes great and it's fast. The icing is yummy too!
Cooking tip: Skye thought 150
degrees was a bit hot. It cooked fast and cracked and crusted. This is only a
problem for kitchen perfectionists but maybe try 120 degrees for an hour and a
half. Use a skewer to test it when it smells cooked. If it's getting a
bit brown on top, cover it with some baking paper.
Use your imagination to fill the iced canvas. Above is what Ange did.
Easter is fast approaching... let the cooking begin!
How are you spending your Easter, will it be a quiet one or with family and friends?
What are your favourite Easter treats?
