ENTERTAINING: EASTER CELEBRATION

Entertaining
22 Mar, 2013
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ENTERTAINING: EASTER CELEBRATION

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Celebrating Easter

 

By Mary Canovas

More videos, recipes and decorations for Easter: Bunny Cake, Paper Spring Blossoms, and Hot Crossed Easter Buns.

Coming soon: Chocolate Chip Muffins, Homemade Sour Cream, Roquefort Dressing and Dip                    

 

How to Make a Bunny Cake

Bunny cake 1

Use any recipe you have for any kind of cake – vanilla, chocolate, carrot . . .  even brownies! Make two layers of the same size. One will be the head (A). Cut the other as indicated in the figure above. The sides (B) will be your ears and the center, then the bow (C). Place cake and pieces as in photo. Frost with vanilla frosting, cream cheese frosting or whipped cream. Cover all with coconut flakes. Decorate with jelly beans, M&Ms licorice sticks, etc. making eyes, nose, whiskers, mouth and bow tie.

If you don´t have a recipe for a basic yellow or vanilla cake check out our how-to video (in Spanish) with ingredients and written instructions below the video:

Here´s a great buttercream recipe for your frosting with video and ingredients from my channel En Casa Contigo on Youtube: Click here

 

Paper and Popcorn Spring Blossoms

 

This is such an easy and economical craft that adds a touch of spring anywhere in your home. Try it, I promise you will be surprised and have a lot of fun tracking down appropriate branches. By the way, if you don´t have the time to make all those blossoms, I´ll let you in on a secret. Try popcorn. Just glue popcorn to branches (regular not buttered) just like they were blossoms. The effect is incredible. If you look closely at the picture you will see that the white flowers are actually popcorn.

In any case check out the video tutorial even if you don´t speak Spanish. It´s so much easier to watch and make than to read the explanation below.

Materials
Dry branches, scissors, glue gun, colored tissue paper or paper napkins or Kleenex. You can use any of these. Tissue paper is preferable, but use anything you have on hand.

Instructions
1. Cut tissue or tissue paper into squares of about 6 to 7 cm or 2.5 ”
2. Draw a rudimentary flower with 4 or 5 petals on a paper square of 6 cm. It doesn´t have to be perfect -just an indication of petals.
3. To make several at a time stack 7 or 8 squares. If you are using a template, put it on top and cut the flowers. You really don´t need a template – use your imagination. Cut as many as needed. Again don´t worry if it’s not perfect. In nature buds are distinct, unique and different from one another.
4. Grasp the flower from the middle put up gingerly so it forms a cone.
5. Twist the bottom so you have a base to glue it to the branch.
6. Tossle the flower with your fingertips until you get the right look of a flower bud.
7. Glue each bud onto the branch with a glue gun or other (even white glue – it just takes a little longer). If you want it to look more real, take advantage of natural budding on the branch. Place in front and behind so it can be seen from different angles.
8. Put several branches in a vase. Instant Spring!
9. For an added touch, you can also sparingly spray the blossoms with a very light floral scent.

 

Good Friday and Hot Crossed Buns

The two are linked inextricably. A very tasty bun with the cross in icing on top. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday for good luck during the entire year. In the USA, many southerners serve them during the Lenten season to commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ. You can find references to this tasty bun in our childhood nursery rhymes: “One a penny, two a penny, hot crossed buns.” They appear in the musical “Oliver” based on Dickens´ novel. In the novel we read about a widow who baked them every Good Friday in the hope that her lost sailor son would return home. Their origin is much earlier than Christianity and you can find accounts of them as a part of spring pagan rituals.

 

Here´s a traditional recipe.

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons butter melted and cooled, more butter for bowl and baking sheet
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tsp warm milk
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  •  teaspoon plus one pinch salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3 1/4 cups flour plus more for dusting
  • 3/4 cups currants or raisins
  • 1 Egg yolk, 1 tblsp water (for egg wash)

Glaze

  • 1 tablespoon milk
  •  1 cups confectioners’ or powdered sugar
  •  1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Butter a mixing bowl. Combine the warm milk, 1 teaspoon sugar and the yeast and let sit until the yeast is soft – 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Beat together the melted butter, rest of sugar, salt, yeast mix, beaten eggs, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix well.
  •  Mix in the flour a cup at a time mixing at medium speed until combined. The dough will slightly sticky.
  •  Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes. If you don´t have a dough hook, knead by hand about 7 minutes.
  • In the last minute, mix in the raisins and knead to evenly distribute.
  • Cover the dough until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Take dough out and punch it down; let rest for 10 minutes. Shape into 12 balls and place in a greased 9×13 pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, 35-40 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 190 ºC or 375ºF. Combine the egg yolk and the 2 tablespoons of water. Brush on the rolls. Bake rolls in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until browned and cooked through. Place on a wire rack to cool.
  • To make the icing, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and milk. Drizzle and mark a cross or X on the top of each roll.

 

 

Happy Easter and Happy Passover!

 

 

Images
Featured image/5598375 from Pixabay
Cross buns/Simone Orlick, CC BY-ND2.0 via Flickr