Easter Treats We’re Baking This Weekend

Long weekend + staying at home + Easter = a perfect excuse to bake a whole lotta tasty treats! Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this weekend…

@tasteofme’s Hot Cross Buns

Check out baking extraordinaire’s @tasteofme’s Instagram for a visual feast of cakes, cookies and all kinds of mouth-watering baked goodness!

Ingredients

500g strong bakers’ flour
7g dry yeast
2 tsp of salt
50g caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
300g filling of choice in this case I used 150g of mini choc-chips, and 150g of raisins)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
50g softened unsalted butter
350ml lukewarm water 

For the cross on top:

75g plain flour
25g vegetable oil/light olive oil
75ml water 

Method

1. Combine the flour, yeast, salt, caster sugar and cinnamon in a stand mixer, and mix with a dough hook to lightly combine.

2. Next, add the egg, softened butter and water to the stand mixer. Initially, mix on slow for everything to combine, then turn the dial to medium to high speed for 15 minutes. Stop every few minutes to scrape the bottom of the bowl, and to let the dough relax – this creates more elasticity in the dough. Initially the dough will be very sticky, however it will come together after the 15 minutes. *

3. After 15 minutes the dough should have come away from the sides of the bowl, but should still be relatively sticky.

4. Now add your fillings of choice to the stand mixer, and mix on a medium speed until combined thoroughly. 

5. Lightly grease a separate bowl, and let your dough rise for 1–2 hours depending on the temperature where you live. Warmer climates allow the dough to rise faster, so try and find a warm spot for your dough to rest.

6. After it has proved, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and press it into a thick rectangle. Make sure you flour your hands, as you pick up one edge at a time and fold it into the centre, like an envelope. 

7. After you have folded all four edges, place the dough in the greased bowl for another 30-45 minutes. 

8. Now, turn the dough onto a floured surface and cut it to measure around 15 x  90g balls of your dough. Shape into round circles by tucking the dough at the base of the ball, and let them sit 2 inches apart on a tray lined with baking paper. Put in a warm space for 20-40 minutes. You will know that the buns are ready to bake when you touch one lightly and the dough springs back.

9. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180 degree Celsius (fan forced).

10. Now, you are ready to make the cross on top. Combine the cross ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Place in a piping bag and slowly pipe the crosses across each proved bun.

11. Place in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes based on how golden you would like them.

12. Once they are done, brush them with some fig or apricot jam for a glazed look. Then, enjoy your homemade hot cross buns!

*Note: if you don’t have a stand mixer, combine all ingredients in a bowl and hand mix until a rough dough is formed. Then turn onto a floured bench top and knead with your hands, until a soft dough is formed.

Lorelei’s Rocky Road

My favourite thing to do with ‘leftover’ Easter eggs (like there is such a thing…) is making a super simple rocky road! The beauty is you can add whatever ingredients you like! I’ve never had any Rocky Road left over for very long – to the point where I don’t actually have a picture of the final product! :P

Ingredients

Easter eggs
Various other chocolates and lollies – think Oreo’s, M&Ms, marshmallows, raspberry lollies, pretzels, almonds, Malteasers
Desiccated coconut
700g block chocolate (I use two of the big 350g Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate blocks)
Thickened cream

Method

1. Chop all your yummy ingredients into semi uniform sizes and place in a lined baking dish or two, depending on how big the dishes are.

2. Add a good amount of desiccated coconut (totally optional!) and give it all a good stir.

3. Break up the block of chocolate into chunks and melt in a saucepan over a medium low heat.

4. Add a good dollop of thickened cream. Once the chocolate starts getting gooey, give it a stir until it gets to a ‘pourable’ consistency – add more cream if you think it needs it.

5. Let the chocolate cool just a little (so it won’t melt your Easter eggs!) then pour over the chopped goodies. Give another good stir til everything is coated in your chocolate/cream mixture.

6. Pop in the fridge for a couple of hours, then chop and enjoy!

Optional step – melt a little white chocolate in a mug in the microwave and drizzle over the Rocky Road before cutting (:

Talina’s No-Knead Bread

I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who could just effortlessly whip up a loaf of bread, but seem to always fail. Then a friend sent me this recipe, which is basically a version of the famous New York Times No Knead Bread. I’ve seriously made it four times this week – it’s so good and pretty much foolproof!

Ingredients

400gm plain flour
¼ tsp instant dried yeast
1 ¼ tsp salt
385ml warm water

Method

1. Put the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl and mix together.

2. Add the water and mix with a spoon until you have a very sticky dough.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside at room temperature. Rest for at least 12 hours – the dough should at least double in this time, and will look all bubbly from the fermentation.

4. Flour your bench and scrape the dough out onto the surface. It will be sticky and clingy but should more or less come out into one (messy) blob! Flour your hands and lift the edges of the dough into the centre to make it round. 

5. Cover a clean, cotton tea towel or sheet of baking paper with flour. Quickly lift the dough and place it on the centre, seam side down.

6. Dust the top with more flour and cover with another tea towel. Leave to rise for two hours. The dough should roughly double in size.

7. Around half an hour before the dough has finished rising, preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius and put a heavy pot (a ceramic, Pyrex or cast iron casserole dish) in the oven.

8. When the dough has finished rising, carefully take the pot out of the oven. Lift the tea towel or baking paper and tip the dough upside down into the pot. It will look a mess and some dough may stick to the tea towel, but it’s totally fine!

9. Cover the pot with its lid, put it back into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

10. After 30 minutes, take the lid off the pot and bake for a further 15–20 minutes, or until the bread has browned up nicely.

11. Carefully lift the bread out of the pot and let cool for at least an hour before cutting.