Happy Easter!

Hello, Wheatbix!

They are such good eaters, just like me who would eat anything and almost EVERYTHING!

Of all the animals I grew up with, cats, chicks, dogs, rabbits, gold fish and turtles, rabbits were the ones I was the most attached to. I loved feeding them and watching leaves disappearing into their mouth so quickly that it always gave me giggles. They are such good eaters, just like me who would eat anything and almost EVERYTHING! No wonder why they are such good breeders, too. I learned that female bunnies can conceive a second litter of babies while still pregnant with the first. Duh! That makes me wonder whether that has something to do with a bunny being a sexual symbol. Here is extra information for those who has wondered about Easter symbols and never got around to looking them up.

So CUTE!!!

Wiki: The Western name for the festival of Easter derives from the Germanic word Eostre. The pre-Christian Saxons had a spring goddess called Eostre, whose feast was held around 21 March. Some believe that Ēostre was associated with eggs and hares, and the rebirth of the land in spring was symbolised by the egg.  The Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ was ideally suited to be merged with the Pagan feast of Eostre, and many of the traditions were adopted into the Christian festivities.

The Easter Bunny is a mythical character depicted as an anthropomorphic rabbit. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with coloured eggs, candy and toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter.

The Easter Bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have its origins in Alsace and southwestern Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1600s. The first edible Easter Bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s and were made of pastry and sugar.

Feel like you’ve got smarter? Then, let’s move on to a dumb foodie chat.

<Quick n Easy Hot Cross Buns>

On Good friday morning the first thing I realised was that I forgot to get hot cross buns yesterday, though I had already had some. So I thought, ‘Why not bake my own?’ Of course, I wasn’t going to go through the leavening process with yeast, so I decided to make cheaters’ hot cross bun.

You wouldn’t have been able to tell they were yeast free quick hot cross buns by the look, hadn’t I told you they were, would you?

But the texture, which was more like scones, would give away the truth, although they had the same taste as the real ones. I thought I could make them more often to have with afternoon tea, without the cross on them.

They must be enjoyed with a good dollop of butter. Love butter! We’ve got to love butter, the real food. I love xxxxxxxx after eating butter

Since it’s an Easter theme, I’ll add another goodies I made for Easter, the Easter Biscuits, which most people are not aware of. According to my research, they are a Greek tradition, and in most western countries they are known as shortbread or vanilla biscuits. I think when it comes to the Easter theme shapes and decorations carry more importance than other aspects.

These are quite basic biscuits with butter and fruit flavour, but I found them really nice and addictive. If I had known they would turn out this nice I could have double the batch. The biscuits were gone in the blink of an eye. Definitely a do-it-again.

< Happy Easter Biscuits>

I cut the amount of sugar by half and added more currents for sweetness. I, being playful, made a little effort to have a cross on each biscuit to be more suitable for the occasion. But the paper that I cut out was too thin to hold the shape before it got all soggy, and my hand was a bit shaky and sugar flew all over the place, destroying the already set crosses on the adjacent biscuits.

But still, you can make out a cross on some of the biscuits, and the rest if you look hard enough.

Easy Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 50g cold butter, chopped into small cubes
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/3 cup sultanas * I used currents and a bit of citron peel
• 3/4 cup milkFor the cross
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tbsp apricot jam

Here’s how

1 Preheat the oven to 220C. Line an oven tray with non-stick baking paper. Sift the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and ground cinnamon into a large bowl. Rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and sultanas. Make a well in the centre. Stir in the milk using a knife and mix until the dough starts to form beads.

2 Gather the dough together with floured hands and transfer to a lightly floured benchtop. Gently press the dough out to 2cm thickness, then use a 7cm cutter or the rim of a glass to press out rounds of the dough. Gather together any off-cuts and press out again to 2cm thickness for more rounds. Place the rounds close together in neat lines on the tray.

3 Mix the flour and water in a small bowl until it forms a smooth paste. Carefully spoon the paste into a small plastic bag, then snip off the corner to form a small nozzle for a piping bag. Pipe crosses over each bun.

4 Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the buns are risen and golden on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

5 Heat the apricot jam with 2 teaspoons of water until smooth. Brush the glaze over the buns, then set aside to dry. Serve the warm buns with lashings of butter and a cup of tea.

Easter Biscuits

Makes approximately 24.

110g unsalted butter, softened
110g caster sugar * 60g for my biscuits
zest of one lemon
1 large egg, separated
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
225g plain flour
55g currants * 70g
3 tbsp milk, approximately
extra caster sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 3. Grease a large baking sheet.

Cream butter, sugar and lemon zest together until pale, light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk.

Mix the cinnamon and flour together; sieve directly onto the creamed mixture. Fold the flour into the mixture, adding the currants half-way through. Add as much milk as is necessary to make a stiff dough. Knead lightly in the bowl until it all comes together nicely and is smooth.

Wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thickness. Cut out rounds with a 7.5m diameter fluted cutter. Transfer to baking sheet. Leave a few centimeters between the rounds; they won’t spread much. Bake for 10 minutes. In the meantime, whisk the egg white until frothy. Remove sheet from the oven and brush the top of each biscuit with the egg white and sprinkle each with some caster sugar. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.