Easter baking - Cake thirty eight Hot Cross Buns

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Like other Easter specialties they’re half way between bread and cake. I love the taste of the raisins and orange peel inside! They’re not too sweet and are good hot at breakfast with a cup of coffee or tea and why not some jam on top. They need some resting time so I find it impossible to bake them the same day for breakfast! So I make them the day before and heat them up, but they lose some of their fragrancy. 

14g dry yeast

55g sugar

250ml warm milk

600g flour

1 tsp cinnamon

60g butter

1 egg, lightly beaten

125ml warm water

250g dried currants or raisins

80g orange peel

1 tbs apricot jam

Combine yeast, sugar and milk in small bowl, whisk until yeast is dissolved. Cover bowl, stand in warm place about 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy. Sift flour and cinnamon into larghe bowl, rub in butter, then stir in yeast mixture,egg, water and fruit. Cover and stand in warm place about one hour or until mixture has doubled in size. Turn dough onto floured surface, knead about 5 minutes or unitl smooth and elastic. divide dough in 16 portions and knead into balls. Place buns into greased 23cm square slab cake pan, stand in warm place about 20 minutes or until dough has risen to top of pan.

Flour paste

75g flour

1tbs sugar

80ml water

Combine flour and sugar in small bowl, gradually blend in water, stir until smooth.

Place flour paste into piping bag fitted with small plain tube and pipe crosses onto buns.

Bake at 200° 10 minutes, reduce heat to 180° and bake about a further 15 minutes. Turn buns onto a serving plate and brush with warm apricot jam. 


Flour paste was too much for the Hot Cross Buns and I've used it to make a Bunny. Bunnies are never enough at Easter!

Also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2014/05/easter-baking-cake-thirty-seven_31.html

Cake thirty-seven Easter baking: Smart Bunnies

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Simple ingredients - butter, flour, sugar eggs and raisins - easy to make: simply delicious! 

It’s actually surprising how many different cakes and cookies you can make with the same ingredients.  

I’m sure that if you try them they’ll be among your favourite cookies.

100g butter

75g sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1 egg

225g flour

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

80g raisins, plus 12 extra for eyes

2 tbsp milk

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, until the egg and whisk again. Add the flour, spices and raisins  and mix well. Lightly knead, then roll out to a 5mm thickness. Use bunny cutters to press out about 12 cookies, rerolling the dough if necessary. 

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper, arrange the cookies there and brush with milk. Make eyes with extra raisins and sprinkle over the extra sugar. Bake at 200° C for 12-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes until transferring to a wire rack to cool. Tie ribbons around the necks of bunnies. 

Also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2014/05/easter-baking-cake-thirty-seven.html

Cake thirty six - Easter Gingerbread Cookies

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I’d long associated gingerbread cookies to Christmas, considering the main ingredients like honey or the spice mix more wintry. Easter is usually the time for chocolate and cookies which taste more like sweetened breads. But if you try these cookies you’ll change idea, for sure, as I did! These chocolate gingerbread cookies are special, the right taste for Easter! 

125g butter, softened

165g brown sugar

1 egg

225g flour

35g raising flour

1 teaspoon ginger powder

25g cocoa powder

Beat butter, sugar and egg with electric mixer until combined. Stir in ginger powder, flours and cocoa in two batches. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth. Roll dough between sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Line oven trays with baking paper.

Using Easter cookie cutters, cut cookies and place them onto oven trays. Bake cookies from 10 to 12 minutes depending on size. 

Green Glacé Icing

125g icing sugar

some drops of water

green food colouring 

Mix icing sugar and water until spreadable. Add some green food coloring.

Decorate cookies to your taste!

also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2014/04/easter-baking-cake-thirty-six.html

Cake thirty-five Harjeet Coffee Cake

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It’s a cake I usually make when I feel blue and rather nostalgic. It’s easy and quick. The only thing you must pay attention to is coffee: if you don’t have any coffee left and make it fresh you’d better wait until it’s cool or batter would curdle. It tastes delicious with a good cup of coffee and milk in the morning or a cup of tea in the afternoon. This time I wanted to make it richer and have added strawberry jam inside and sugar sprinkles on top.

260g margarine or butter

300g flour

225g sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 large spoonfuls coffee

strawberry jam 

sugar sprinkles

Cream margarine and sugar until very light in colour and fluffy. Add eggs - one at a time, adding some flour after every addition. Stir in remaining flour and baking powder.

Line a medium-sized rectangular mould with baking paper. Pour in half of batter, spread strawberry jam and cover with rest of batter. Add some sugar sprinkle on top.
Bake at 180° for about 35 minutes.

also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2014/03/cake-thirty-five.html