Easter Baking Ideas

Following the well received Valentines Day Baking Ideas blog post we did last month, we thought it would be a good idea to do the same for Easter!

Jump to the Easter Macarons Recipe

Jump to the Creme Egg Blonde Recipe

Jump to the White Chocolate Easter Egg Cheesecake Recipe

Jump to the Hot Cross Bun Recipe

Jump to the Easter Tiffin Recipe

Jump to the Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Over the next few weeks we will be adding loads of different Easter themed recipes!

Easter Macarons

Ingredients

Macarons

• 200g Icing Sugar
• 100 g Ground Almonds
• 100 g Egg Whites (3 Medium Eggs worth)
• 75 g Caster Sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Food Colouring (Use Gel Colouring or Powered Colouring – for some reason liquid colouring didn’t work and helped the macarons to burn in the oven)

Macaron Filling

• Lemon Curd
• 75g Butter (Softened)
• 150g Icing Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

1. In a medium sized bowl, sift 100g of the Icing Sugar, and 50g of the Ground Almonds. It is very important that both are sifted as this prevents lumps.
2. In a second medium sized bowl, do the same with the other 100g of the Icing Sugar, and 50g of the Ground Almonds.
3. Make sure the bowl and whisk you are using are spotlessly and whisk the Egg Whites.
4. Whisk the egg whites up to stiff peaks, and start adding the Caster Sugar teaspoon by teaspoon until all is incorporated. Whisk for another minute.
5. Add half of the meringue mixture to one of the bowls of Sugar/Almonds. Should be around 85-90g.
6. In that bowl, add the 1 tsp of Vanilla and one of your food colours (we chose yellow) and fold the mixture carefully but making sure that its all combined.
7. With the other half of the Meringue, add the other food colouring (we chose blue) and 1 tsp of Vanilla and whisk till combined. Add this to the Sugar/Almond mix and repeat the folding.
8. With a disposable piping bag, add a small round tip or cut the tip of the bag. Carefully pipe the mixtures on a baking sheet (I drew some small circles using my husbands wedding ring).
9. You should end up with equal amounts of yellow shells, and blue shells.
10. Once piped, tap the trays onto the work surface 5-6 times to get any air bubbles out, and leave on the side for 1 hour to form a skin.
11. Towards the end of the hour, turn your oven on to 130C Fan.
12. Once the hour is up, put the Macarons in the oven to bake for 16-20 minutes.
13. Leave them to cool fully on the mats before peeling them off (it’s very easy to peel them before they have cooled though)
14. Once cooled, make your buttercream.
15. Add your softened butter to a bowl, beat the butter for a couple minutes and add the icing sugar, little at a time until it comes together. Add the vanilla and a little bit of milk if the mixture is too tough!
16. Add to a piping bag or use a spoon to add to one side of the macaron in the middle and then put them together!
17. Or add lemon curd to the middle of your macarons.
18. Put them into the fridge to set and the enjoy!

Creme Egg Blondies

Ingredients

• 170g Butter (Softened)
• 165g Light Brown Sugar
• 100g Granulated Sugar
• 1 Large Egg and 1 Yolk
• 275g Plain Flour
• Handful Mini Creme Eggs (We used approx 10)
• 3 Creme Eggs, Halved

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 160C Fan.
2. Whisk the Butter, Light Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar until fully combined.
3. Add one Egg and one Egg Yolk and whisk again.
4. Add the Plain Flour until just combined.
5. Spread into a baking tray, and then add the Mini Creme Eggs.
6. Place in the oven, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the skewer comes out slightly clean when inserted.
7. While still warm, add the halved Creme Eggs on top and leave to chill fully in the tray (Tip when halving the Creme Eggs, place in the fridge for about 30 minutes and cut from the top of the egg)

White Chocolate Easter Egg Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 3 Easter Eggs (Halved)
• 200g Digestives
• 75g Butter
• 150g White Chocolate
• 200g Cream Cheese (We went for reduced fat)
• 50g Icing Sugar
• 120ml Double Cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Decoration (Optional but we used)

• Mini Eggs (please remember these are a choking hazard for small children)
• Purple Colour Gel
• Green Colour Gel
• Pink Colour Gel
• 40g White Chocolate
• Carrot Decorations
• Wafer Flowers

Instructions

Biscuit Base

1. Half the Easter Eggs (I put them in the fridge to harden up for 20 minutes and then cut them from the top).
2. Blitz the digestives in a food processor or put them in a sealed bag and smash with a rolling pin (this is what we did)
3. Melt the butter in the microwave.
4. In a bowl, tip the melted butter over the crushed biscuits and mix until combined
5. Fill the Easter Eggs with the mixture and place back in the fridge until the filling has been made.

Filling

1. Mix the Cream Cheese, Icing Sugar and Vanilla using a whisk or a spatula until smooth.
2. When whisked, pour in the Double Cream and continue to whip the mixture until it starts to thicken (Remember not to over whip the cream mixture as it may split)
3. Once completed, spread your mixture in the prepared Easter Eggs evenly. Leave to set in the fridge for 5-6 hours or overnight.

Decoration

1. Melt 10-15g of White Chocolate and mix with Green Colouring Gel and decorate as you wish.
2. Do the same with the remaining colours, Purple and Pink.
3. Use the Mini Eggs, Wafer Flowers and Carrots for decoration.

Hot Cross Buns

• 

Ingredients:

• 225ml Whole Milk
• 500g Strong White Bread Flour
• 65g Caster Sugar
• 8g Dried Active Yeast / Fast Action Yeast
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg (or you can use a Mixed Spice instead)
• Zest of 1 Orange
• 50g Unsalted Butter (cold)
• 150g Raisins
• 100g Milk Chocolate Chips (when I make these again, I will probably omit these as I am not sure they added that much to the flavour)
• 2 Medium Eggs

Topping

• 30g Flour
• 30ml Water
• 1 tbs Caster Sugar
• 1 tbs Boiling Water

Instructions

1. Warm your milk in a pan until it is just steaming.
2. In a bowl, add your Flour, Salt, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Sugar, Yeast and Orange Zest – add in your Butter and rub between your fingers.
3. To the bowl, add your warmed Milk, and the Eggs, Raisins and Milk Chocolate Chips and mix it all together.
4. Knead for 10 minutes until the mixture is smooth, elastic and springy to touch. I did it by hand and it is hard work but definitely worth it when the dough comes together, but you can also use a Stand Mixer with a dough hook.
5. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with a tea towel. Leave to prove and rise until doubled in size – usually takes 1-2 hours (took ours 1 hour and 40 minutes)
6. Once risen, remove from the bowl and knead lightly on a floured surface to knock the air out!
7. Cut evenly into 12 balls (mine weighed 98g each) and add on a lined tray with about a centremetre gap between the balls.
8. Cover with lightly oiled cling film, and leave to rise whilst your oven preheats to 200C/180C Fan. I left them for 60 minutes!
9. Once the oven is at temperature – whisk together the flour and water and carefully pipe on to form the crosses.
10. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes!
11. Once baked – boil the water and mix with the sugar. Brush the Hot Cross Buns lightly with the sugar mixture if you like them sticky and shiny and then leave to cool fully.
12. Enjoy!!

Easter Tiffin

Ingredients:

• 175g Golden Syrup
• 125g Unsalted Butter
• 200g Milk Chocolate (Chopped)
• 200g Dark Chocolate (Chopped)
• 200g Digestives (Chopped)
• 100g Raisins
• 200g Mini Eggs (50g for Decorations)
• 75g Mini Marshmallow

Instructions

1. Line a 9×9″ square baking tray with parchment paper, leave to the side.
2. Melt the Golden Syrup and Butter gently in a pan on a low heat – when the butter and syrup have melted fully and started to bubble a little, turn the heat off and add the chopped chocolate and stir until it has all melted.
3. In a big bowl, add the Digestives, Raisins, Mini Eggs, and Mini Marshmallows and the pour the chocolate mix on top. Mix the ingredients together until it is all coated well. Pour into the tin and spread down firmly.
4. Sprinkle the crushed Mini Eggs on top of the Tiffin! Leave to set in the fridge for 4-5 hours or until it is firm.
5. Once set, remove from the tin and cut into pieces.

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

The Dough

• 600g Strong White Bread Flour (Plus Extra for Dusting)
• 14g Dried Active Yeast
• 75g Caster Sugar
• 90g Unsalted Butter
• 275ml Full Fat Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Large Egg

The Filling

• 45g Unsalted Butter (Melted)
• 175g Light Brown Sugar
• 1-2 tbsps Ground Cinnamon (We added more)

The Topping

• 200g Icing Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3-4 tbsp Water

Instructions

1. Sift the Flour into a large bowl and then add the Caster Sugar and Yeast. Mix until they are all distributed evenly.
2. Rub the Butter into the mixture until it is like breadcrumbs.
3. Gently heat the Milk until warm – but not hot (if you are doing it in a pan, you want the milk to just start steaming)
4. Add the Milk, Vanilla and Egg to the dry ingredients.
5. Knead the dough together for around 7-10 minutes (I had to YouTube the best way to knead as it is definitely new to me) or use your Stand Mixer with the Dough Hook.
6. Once it is kneaded it will be elastic and springy to touch (not sticky)
7. transfer into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film or a towel. Let is rise for 1-2 hours, or until it doubles in size (mine took 75 minutes)
8. Whilst the bread is proving, we can make the filling. Mix together the Light Brown Sugar and Ground Cinnamon and leave to the side.
9. Once the dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to a rectangle. Mine ended up being around 50cm x 30cm!
10. Gently brush the surface with the Melted Butter and then sprinkle over the Sugar / Cinnamon Mix.
11. Roll the dough from the long side to long side so you have created a long sausage. Now cut into 12 pieces.
12. You should cut the middle, and then two halves into two more, and then each into three pieces (I must confess I did this part wrong and cut too many times, so I ended up with 15 pieces)
13. I used a large rectangular baking dish (around 30cm x 24cm) and put them in. They should be spaced out so they are not touching each other yet.
14. Cover the dish with clingfilm and let them rise for another hour or so. By the end they should be touching.
15. Towards the end of the second proving, preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan so that they can go straight into the oven.
16. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and cooking through.
17. Leave to cool and make the icing! Mix the Icing Sugar, Vanilla and Water until a thick icing paste is produced. The spread it over the rolls.
18. Enjoy!