Easter Biscuits

We have been very fortunate this Easter as the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, with lovely sunny days and very few rain showers. Easter was relatively late this year, so that definitely helped in allowing the weather to warm up and deliver such lovely weather to us. It is great to see many of the hedgerows coming into flower and the baby lambs skipping happily through the fields. With the sun shining in the sky I am reminded of how fortunate I am to live in such a beautiful part of the country.

Easter Sunday is a ‘movable feast’ which means that it does not fall on a fixed date each year but is determined by establishing the date of the first Sunday that falls after the full moon following the March equinox. As such the earliest that Easter can occur is the 21^st or 22^nd of March and the latest is the 25^th April.

 

There are many food traditions and rituals involving food relating to Easter, many of which are fascinating. I have often thought that I would love to do some intensive research about various Easter traditions around the world and write a book about them – including plenty of recipes of course! In the Catholic religion, Easter Sunday follows a forty day period of fasting, prayer and penance called Lent.

 

Many people still ‘give something up’ for Lent, with chocolate being one of the most commonly chosen. It is therefore little wonder that there is such an insatiable lust for chocolate come Easter Sunday.

 

I think that it is rather a shame that most Irish children are raised thinking that Easter is all about chocolate eggs. I love chocolate, but there are so many historic and traditional recipes that are being forgotten and I think that this is such a pity. For me Easter has always been about baking; simnel cake, hot cross buns, rich yeasted breads, chocolate cakes and the recipe that I am going to give here which is for Easter Biscuits.
 

Easter biscuits are a lightly spiced, shortbread-like biscuits which contain currants and are sprinkled with a dusting of caster sugar when they emerge from the oven after baking. They are a simple biscuit, but one that I have always loved. My grandmother also loved them and would make them from time to time. Other than the inclusion of the currants and the sprinkling of the caster sugar, these are relatively simple, unfussy biscuits –there are no icings, no glazes, no buttercream fillings and no chocolate coverings; but this is what I find so appealing about them – the taste of all the individual ingredients really comes through and for me, they are delicious to nibble on when having a cup of tea!

 

Having carried out some research on Easter Biscuits, I found that they appear to be English in origin, hailing from the West Country, but like so many recipe that hail from across the Irish Sea, they were also popular here in Ireland. They were historically served after Mass on Easter Sunday, in bundles of three to represent the Holy Trinity. Whatever their roots, I think that Easter Biscuits are absolutely delicious.

 

Ingredients:

100g butter, softened

75g caster sugar

1 large egg yolk

Grated zest of 1 lemon

½ tsp mixed spice

¼ tsp cinnamon

2tblsp milk

100g currants

Extra caster sugar for sprinkling
 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking trays with baking parchment.
2. Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and lemon zest and beat again until they are fully incorporated.

3. Sieve the flour and spices together and work into the egg and butter mixture along with the milk using a wooden spoon to make a fairly soft dough. Turn out on to a lightly floured work surface and gently knead in the currants.

4. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the currant dough out until it is about 5mm thick. Using a fluted, circular cutter, stamp out rounds from the dough. Place these on the prepared baking trays, leaving space between each biscuit. Sprinkle lightly with a little caster sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 13-16 minutes until a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and sprinkle again with a little more caster sugar. Allow to cool for five minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. The biscuits can be stored for up to three days in an air-tight container.

Makes 24-28 biscuits.
 

  

 

Strawberry Pavlova

This is the dessert that I make most often, varying the filling to use whatever fruits are in season. Pavlovas look so much more complicated to make than they are in reality. There is only one rule to remember when making meringues, which is that all utensils, including the mixing bowl must be scrupulously clean or you will not be able to whisk the egg whites to the correct consistency. Any trace of water or grease will spell disaster and you will have to start again. But other than this, pavlovas are extremely easy to make and are an incredibly popular dessert.

 

Pavlovas have a crisp meringue exterior but should have a soft billowy, marshmallow-like consistence on the inside. They are usually served with a filling of cream and fresh fruit – some people favour using a crème Chantilly, but to be honest – the meringue contains enough sugar already so I don’t believe the cream needs added sweetening.

The version that I have made here uses strawberries, but I also like to make an autumnal version using sliced poached pears, some roasted hazelnuts and a generous drizzle of melted dark chocolate. After you have made the meringue you can add a little spice, a couple of tablespoons of toasted, desiccated coconut or some finely chopped toasted nuts before piling onto the parchment and baking in the oven. The recipe is fairly adaptable once you have made the basic meringue.
 

I love this dessert! It’s a wonderful way to finish a meal, being light but sweet and rich at the same time and simply delicious.

 

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites

225g caster sugar

4tsp cornflour

2tsp lemon juice

½tsp vanilla paste/extract

Filling:

300g fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

350ml single cream
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/Fan oven 120C/Gas Mark 2. Line a large square baking tray with baking parchment and set aside.
2. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer beat until the egg whites are standing in soft peaks. Add in the caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, mixing well between each addition.
3. When all the sugar has been added, sieve in the cornflour and mix well to fully incorporate. Add the lemon juice and vanilla paste and mix in to the meringue.

4. Pile half of the meringue on to the parchment lined baking tray. Using a metal spoon, spread the meringue into a rough circle, about 20cms in diameter. Place blobs of the remaining meringue on top of the meringue circle around the edge.

5. Place into the preheated oven for 1 hour. After the baking time is up, switch off the oven but leave the meringue to fully cool before removing (I tend to make my pavlovas before I go to bed and let them cool in the oven overnight).

Filling:

6. Carefully remove the baking parchment from the bottom of the cooled pavlova. Place on a serving plate. Softly whip the cream. Scatter half of the quartered strawberries over the top of the pavlova and then dollop on the cream. Finish by scattering over the remaining strawberries.
 

Serves 6-8.
 

     

Hot Cross Buns

Today is Good Friday which is a day observed mainly by Christians and is said to represent the day of the Crucifixion and the death of Christ at Calvary. Hot cross buns are sweet and spicy yeasted buns, traditionally eaten on Good Friday. They contain dried fruits, most often raisins or currants but I have come across quite a few versions which actually use up some of the store of mincemeat left over after Christmas.

Given that I made quite a large amount last Christmas and still had a couple of jars remaining at the back of the kitchen cupboard, I decided to make these hot cross buns using mincemeat. I was delighted with the results which I think made for a far juicier bun. The dough was a little softer than the results I usually get for other bread buns that I make, but if I’m being completely honest, I have sometimes found that they can be a little heavier than I might wish. This was not the case with these hot cross buns. They were surprisingly light and not at all doughy. I really loved them.

I kneaded and worked the dough by hand on a lightly floured work-surface, but I could as easily have used the dough attachment on my mixer. I have always preferred to make yeast risen breads by hand as I like to feel more connected to the dough and find it easier to gauge when it has been sufficiently kneaded; when using the mixer, there is more of a risk that the bread dough will be over-worked. I also find that if the dough contains other ingredients such as nuts or dried fruit, these can get broken down slightly – these are all issues that I don’t have to worry about if I work the dough by hand. Persevere with this dough, even if it seems a bit soft initially, and you will be rewarded with the lightest, softest, most delicious buns.

 

Traditional recipes make the cross on top of the bun using strips of shortcrust pastry, but I made a paste out of flour, milk and icing sugar which I piped on to the buns after the second proving and just prior to baking in the oven.

The buns were delicious served fresh, still slightly warm from the oven liberally spread with some butter. We also ate them the following day, lightly toasted - be careful to keep an eye on them when they are toasting as due to the sugar in the glaze and in the buns themselves, they can quickly burn.

Ingredients:

500g strong white flour
½tsp mixed spice

1tsp salt

75g butter, slightly softened

1 x 7g sachet of fast action yeast

50g caster sugar

250ml milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

150g mincemeat

A little extra beaten egg to brush on the buns

Paste for the crosses:

75g flour

25g icing sugar

60ml milk

Glaze:

100g sugar

100ml water
 

Method:

1. Place the flour, mixed spice and salt into a large mixing bowl and using your fingertips, rub in the softened butter. Once the butter has been rubbed in, sprinkle in the yeast and make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Pour in the milk and the lightly beaten egg. Bring everything together to make a fairly soft but not sticky dough.
2. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work-surface and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should be elastic and spring back when prodded. Start working in the mincemeat. The dough will become sticky, but persevere and everything will come together again. Knead for a couple of further minutes. Place into a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove in a warm place (a warm kitchen is perfect) for about an hour and a half until doubled in size.

3. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work-surface and knock back. Cur the dough into 10 equal pieces and form into round buns. Place the buns on a large baking tray lined with baking parchment. Leave to prove again for about an hour, covered with cling film until they have doubled in size. Brush the buns with a little beaten egg using a pastry brush.

4. Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan Oven 170C/Gas Mark 5.

Make the paste for the crosses:

5. Mix all the ingredients together and place the resulting paste into a disposable piping bag. Snip off the tip of the bag and pipe crosses on top of each of the buns. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 18-20 minutes until well they are a rich golden colour. Remove from the oven.

Glaze:

6. Whilst the buns are baking bring the sugar and water to the boil in a small saucepan. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and set aside. Bush each of the buns, when removed from the oven (but still warm) with a little of the sugar glaze.

Makes 10.
     



Oven-Dried Tomatoes

This is a really handy recipe to have in your repertoire, as once dried in the oven these tomatoes can either be eaten immediately or stored in a sterilised jar, covered with olive oil, until you are ready to use them. If you are lucky enough to grown your own tomatoes or know someone who does and is prepared to part with some of their produce, this is the recipe for you.

Drying the tomatoes in this way intensifies their flavour and really highlights their natural sweetness. Once made, these tomatoes can be used in a number of ways; scattered on salads or pizzas, roughly chopped up in sauces - the possibilities are endless. I regularly make preserved tomato bread rolls as one in a selection of flavoured breads if I am hosting a dinner party or other occasion which I have to cater for. They always go down a treat and people invariable ask for the recipe (which I will post in the near future).

I love homemade tomato soup using fresh tomatoes, but I find that the addition of a few preserved tomatoes before puréeing the soup really adds something extra in terms of the finished flavour of the soup.
 

The long slow cooking dries out the tomatoes leaving them slightly chewy, with a little moisture still remaining. If you cook them for too long they will become hard, brittle and a little bitter to taste - this is obviously not what you are trying to achieve, so I would advise checking them for the last half hour of the allotted cooking time, just in case they are ready sooner than expected.

The point that I want to get across is that these tomatoes are incredibly delicious but are also an extremely versatile ingredient with a myriad of uses in so many other dishes, so when tomatoes are in season, are abundant and cheap, have a go at making a few jars.

      

Ingredients:

100ml olive oil, plus extra to cover them if being kept
8 garlic cloves

500g cherry tomatoes

2tsp icing sugar

A few sprigs of thyme

Salt & freshly ground black pepper
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 110C/Fan oven 90-100C/Gas Mark ½.
2. Put the oil and garlic in a small oven proof bowl and place in the oven for 20 minutes to allow the garlic to infuse into the oil.

3. Meanwhile slice the tomatoes in half across their middle. Gently squeeze each halved tomato to remove some of the seeds and then place the tomatoes in a single layer, cut side uppermost in the baking dish (approximately 20cm x 30cm). Pour over the infused olive oil, discarding the garlic and ensuring that the tomatoes are well covered in the oil.

4. Sieve the icing sugar evenly over the tomatoes and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Tuck the sprigs of thyme around the tomatoes.

5. Place in the pre-heated oven for 2½ hours. You can either serve the tomatoes warm or place them in a jar, discard the thyme and cover with fresh olive oil and refrigerate. They will keep in the fridge covered in oil for up to 6 weeks… if they last that long!

 Makes 1 small jar.
      

Fig, Goats' Cheese & Parma Ham Pizza with Rocket

Homemade pizzas are far simpler to make than you might think and once you have made the dough for the bases, you can top them with whatever takes your fancy. In my opinion they are really simple to make and every time I do so, I wonder why it is not a more regular event in our household as everyone loves to get stuck in, rolling out the dough and selecting their own favourite toppings.

The only time consuming part of the recipe is the making of the dough as, because it is a yeast dough, it must be given time to prove, but the pizzas themselves cook really quickly in the oven and if you have pre-made your dough, these are the ultimate in home cooked “fast-food”.

I recently had some figs leftover after making my Raspberry & Fig Tarte Tatin, so decided that I would use them on my pizza. No great thinking went into the making of this pizza. I literally looked in the fridge and store cupboard and used what I had to hand.

 

Luckily I had a packet of Parma ham and a log of goats’ cheese and knew that these would go wonderfully with the figs. Even though I could have made a tomato based sauce as I had the necessary ingredients, I decided that for this pizza I wouldn’t include a tomatoes either in a sauce or in any other form as I felt that their tendency towards acidity would fight against the musky fruitiness of the figs. I scattered everything on top of the pizza dough as artfully as I could and popped the pizza into the oven preheated to its highest temperature, for about 7 minutes until the base was cooked through and the cheese just melted.

 

The pizza was so simple to make, but most importantly, it was absolutely delicious.

 

Ingredients:

Dough:
500g strong white bread flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast
3tblsp of olive oil
300ml of lukewarm water
A little semolina for sprinkling on the baking tray
Topping:
8 ripe figs, halved
200g soft goats’ cheese, roughly crumbled
8-10 slices of Parma ham
A little olive oil
A little balsamic vinegar
A large handful of rocket leaves
Salt & freshly ground black pepper 

Method:

Dough:
1. Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Make a well in the centre and add the olive oil and gradually add the water. Start mixing everything together with your hands to create a firm but not overly dry dough – if need’s be add a little more warm water.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work-surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes until it is smooth and springy to the touch.

3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled, clean bowl and cover with a damp clean tea-towel or some lightly oiled cling-film. Leave in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has risen and has doubled in size.

To finish:

4. Preheat the oven to its highest setting (on my oven this is 250C). Lightly dust a large baking tray with a little fine semolina and set aside.

5. Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work-surface and knead it a little, punching out the air. Divide the dough into four equal pieces.

6. Roll each piece of dough out into a rough circle about ½cm thick leaving a slightly thicker narrow “lip” of dough around the edge. Place on the semolina dusted baking tray. Scatter over 4 fig halves, a quarter of the crumbled goats’ cheese and some of the Parma ham. Drizzle with a little olive oil and a small amount of balsamic vinegar. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes until the base is cooked through and everything is piping hot. Remove from the oven and scatter a handful of fresh rocket leaves on top. Serve immediately, cut into slices.

8. Repeat this process with the remaining dough and other ingredients to make 4 medium to large pizzas.

Makes 4 medium to large pizzas.