Easter bunnies

I tried my hand at biscuits again this Easter, using some of my new cutters. I was a bit worried the bunny faces would work out a bit scary but I was quite pleased with the end result.

The vanilla recipe is as follows:

50 caster

75 margarine

125 plain flour

1 eggs

1) Rub butter into flour intil breadcrumb like in texture.

2) Stir in sugar

3) Add in whisked egg a little at a time (not all may be needed)

4) Form into a soft but not sticky dough

5) Roll out about 5 mm thick onto a floured work surace and cut into shapes

6) Brush tops of each shape with milk

7) Put into a 160 C oven for around 20 minutes until golden.

8) Decorate and enjoy!

I kept the decorations simple, and used cocunut to create a 'fuzzy' look. The duckling was first spread with lemon curd, then dipped in coconut. I think the jumping bunny is the cutest :)

Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Easter Inspiration

I always seem to post things after an event, such as Christmas, cause that's when I get round to blogging, but I'll be quick off the mark this time and offer a few ideas for Easter.

I love Bakerella'a website, and her cakepops always look great. I did attempt to make some bunny ones but for whatever reason they crumbled when dipping them into the icing. my family labelled these 'suicide bunnies' but ate them all the same. I won't distress you with the pictures. Anyway, how cute are these chick cakepops?

Louise at Cakejournal has released an e-book on Easter treats. Check it out to be able to make these lovely biscuits.

For something simple, these nests are really easy and look great!

Away from the small mammels side of things, there are a few religious Easter ideas too:

I've made an Easter Simnel Cake twice before and it's worth the effort. Can't find the pictures though. You really have to like marzipan though, as it's a fruit cake with a layer of marzipan in the middle and some on top. The 11 'balls' on the top represent the disciples (without Judas). When grilling it don't put it too near the top as you'll get lines on the cake and it really only takes less than a minute.

Hot cross buns proved to be my undoing this week. For some reason they just wouldn't rise at all, and they're supposed to at least double in size before baking. I have an inkling that the sachet of yeast was too small, but try out these from the BBC food website to see if you can improve on my attempt:

Easter biscuits

I decided since it was Easter to use some of the biscuit cutters I bought recently.They're German (Empire) biscuits to a recipe from an old cook book:

8 oz (225g) plain flour

4 oz (115g) butter

4 oz (115g) caster sugar

1 egg

1tsp vanilla flavouring

Jam and icing sugar for decoration

You will need 1 large, greased baking tray.

1)Cream the sugar and butter

2)Add in vanilla

3)Stir in flour and mix well

4)Add a little of the beaten egg and knead into a stiff dough. (If it is too dry and won't stick add a tablespoon of water)

5)Roll out to 5mm, or around 1/4 inch on a floured surface, and use cutters.

6)Bake at 160 C or 150 C if fan assisted for 15-20 minutes.

7)When cool, cover half in icing and sandwich layers together with jam.Here's what I came up with:

I used coloured fondant icing to save me making lots of batches of icing.

Don't forget to do two of each if using differently shaped cutters, since they have to sit on top of one another. Also, I found it helpful make one layer of the biscuit face the opposite direction. That way, when they are put together, the bottoms are hidden, making it look neater. It's especially useful if they stick to the baking tray as this can be hidden by the jam!

Happy Easter everyone.