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| Recipe Archive > Cakes & Biscuits > |
Sweet Easter Treats & Party Food
For many of us Easter is a lovely time. Winter has gone and a flourish of vivid green growth appears everywhere in the garden. Bright golden Daffodils nod in the warmer sunshine, reminding me of Easters past when we used to hide chocolate presents for the children's great egg hunt on Easter Sunday. I'm very fond of chocolate, but at Easter-time I prefer to cook up recipes that have delicious, fresh lemony flavours that make a pleasant foil to the overdose of the seductive cocoa bean. However, since most of us crave a sugar hit around this time, sweet iced home bakes highlighted with rainbow coloured sugars and tiny sugar crystallised flowers all lovingly made with Whitworths sugars also make a favourite party treat. I hope the following recipes, which keep the work down to a minimum, impress and satisfy you.
Have a very happy Easter.
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Little Iced Fantasies With Edible Spring Flowers
(Makes 12 cakes)
These little cakes are just perfect for an Easter tea and a great way to get the children baking. Eat them slightly warm if you can to emphasise their freshness. For the pretty edible sugar flowers decorating the icing you will require an artist's brush, some egg white and lots of Whitworths caster sugar. Alternatively add a sprinkling of Carnival Sugar (see tip).
Equipment & Ingredients
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12 white, or coloured paper cases |
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115g / 4oz self raising flour |
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115g / 4oz Whitworths caster sugar |
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50g / 2oz butter, melted |
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225g / 8oz Whitworths icing sugar, finely sifted |
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3½ - 4 tbls of lemon juice |
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Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4. Lightly beat the eggs with the sugar. Beat the cream into the egg mixture for about one minute, then add the lemon zest. Fold in the flour then fold in the melted butter. Three - quarters fill the paper cases with the cake mixture. Set the cases on the baking sheet in the centre of the oven and bake for 12 - 15 minutes until well risen and golden. Test by gently pressing the cakes with your fingers, the sponge should lightly spring back. When the cakes are baked transfer them to a baking rack to cool slightly.
To make the icing:
Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and stir in the lemon juice until the consistency is smooth and shiny. Put a slightly rounded teaspoon of icing in the centre of each cake and spread it lightly with a knife to evenly coat the surface. When the icing has set, add the sugar flowers, (see sugar tip below), or the Carnival Sugar (see below) lightly sprinkled over the surface of the icing a few minutes before the cakes are served.
Sugar Tip
Edible Spring flowers and buds look extremely pretty crystallised with sugar. Simply brush the petals and stalk with a little lightly beaten egg white. Gently dredge with Whitworths caster sugar and leave on a sheet of silicone paper in a warm place until dry.
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Carnival Sugar (Coloured Sugar)
Here's a lovely idea with sugar. I call it Carnival sugar, because it reminds me so much of Carnival glass - the brightly coloured glass made from coloured strands and bits of clear glass left over at the end of the day in the old glass factories, which were then melted down to form vases and other decorative objects sold to fairs and carnivals.
To make the coloured sugar, add several drops of natural food colouring to a glass jam jar containing 55g / 2oz of Whitworths granulated sugar and shake vigorously for 3 - 4 minutes until the sugar is evenly coloured. Make three or more colours in this way. Tilt a glass jar at an angle by resting it on a small biscuit cutter, then carefully add half the quantity of coloured sugars in layered swirls until the jar is full. Smooth the top layer with a knife. Screw on the top of the jar and store in a dry place. Add a spoonful as a final touch to iced sponges or trifles or to cheer up the rather bland face of a bowl of rice pudding.
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Painted Eggs
Painted eggs look pretty on the Easter table placed in the centre of some moss arranged in a nest like fashion or a shallow china bowl. If you wish to keep the eggs indefinitely you will need to blow them first. Carefully make a hole with a darning needle at both ends of the egg and blow into one end until the pressure releases the contents inside through the other end. Now you will need a fine artist's paintbrush and some water-proof paints, try Artist's Acrylic paints, alternatively use Artist's Gouache which isn't waterproof but fine providing the eggs are not over handled, otherwise add a thin coating of satin varnish for extra protection.
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