EASTER BAKING

 

Easter Baking

 All holidays come with their own traditions and Easter at our house inevitably involves baking. Spring is a yeasty time.  The sap is rising in the maple trees, spring bulbs are pushing up their green shoots and the farmers till soil in the fields for planting of crops. In the kitchen, there is nothing more pleasant than the smell of yeasty bread rising or being baked into delicious bread or rolls.

Piragi, traditional Latvian yeast rolls filled with bacon, onion and carraway seed are indispensable at our house, but this year my sister in law Jo, is inspiring me to try other dough-based fare. She is a great baker for all occasions and came up with a treasure trove of recipes.  Hot cross buns are plentiful in supermarkets during the time before Easter, but her version caught my eye, since they are a cross (pun intended) between plain hot-cross buns and currant buns. Her recipe was originally adapted from “Fannie Farmer Cookbook” and as you may note in the picture, applying the icing smoothly still needs work in my hands.

                                                  Currant Hot-Cross Buns

This recipe uses both a hand mixer and manual kneeding for the dough, but the process can be accomplished equally well with a standing mixer adapted with a dough hook.

1)    Dissolve 6 tblsp. powdered milk, 1 tblsp. sugar and ¼ tsp. salt in 1 cup water. Heat mixture to lukewarm, stir in 1 package of yeast and allow to proof until foamy.

2)    Stir in 5 tblsp. sugar and 6 tblsp. cooled melted butter. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and mix on LOW speed 1 minute

3)    Add on low speed 1 at a time 3 eggs. Beat on HIGH speed 2 minutes. Cover and let rise about 40 minutes.

4)    Meanwhile in a small bowl mix: ¼ cup flour, 1 ¼ tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. dry orange rind (optional), ½ cup dried currants and set aside.

5)    After 40 minutes add to the dough mixture 2 cups flour in ½ cup portions until well mixed. The dough will be just barely firm to handle. Knead 5 minutes (if using a mixer and a dough hook knead 5 minutes at setting 2). Rest dough for 10 minutes and knead in currant-cinnamon mixture.

6)    Set dough on a lightly floured surface, divide and roll into 24 buns. Place buns in a greased pan, cover and let rise covered for about 1 hour.

7)    Cut crosses with a sharp knife on top of buns and BAKE in a well pre-heated oven at 400 degrees until lightly browned for 18-20 minutes.

8)    Take out and brush with melted butter. Mark crosses with white butter icing

9)    Icing: 3-4 tblsp. softened butter beaten with 1 cup confectioners sugar and 1 tblsp. fresh lemon juice.

Another recipe that caught my eye from this treasure trove dates back to Italian Easter traditions. In this case it is a pie, made either with pastry or yeast dough, somewhat like pizza dough. The filling flavor depends on good quality, smoked full flavored ham (not water infused) and additional Italian meats and cheeses.

                                   Italian Easter Pie

1)    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Unroll 1 refrigerated pie crust in a 9 inch DEEP cake pan or a deep dish pie pan.

2)    In a large bowl whisk 3 eggs, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ½ tsp. garlic powder, ¼ tsp. pepper.

3)    Stir in 1 (15 oz.) container ricotta and ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Mix well. Then stir in ½ cup chopped ham, ½ cup chopped Genoa salami and ½ cup chopped pepperoni slices.

4)    Pour into the lined pan. Cover with the second crust and pinch edges together to seal. Flute edge with your fingers and cut four 1 inch slits on top.

5)    In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk with 1 tblsp, water to make an egg wash and brush the crust with it. Bake 55-60 minutes at 325 degrees until top is golden and a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

6)    Let sit 15 minutes before serving for lunch or dinner.

According to my sister in law, the Italian Easter pies are like English fruit cakes, every family has it’s own recipe. Tradition for this pie is to be served either Saturday, Sunday or Monday of the Easter weekend. It just might be a wonderful venue for that leftover smoked ham from Easter Sunday. Enjoy!

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)