EASTER BAKING

There’s more to Easter fare than chocolate egg hunts, writes Annabel Langbein

There’s something wonderfully anchoring in the rituals of making yeasty buns and decorating eggs at this same time each year. When our kids were little we would wrap eggs in onion skins and then tie them in a piece of jiffy cloth or muslin and boil them to create pretty marbled patterns on the shells. These days you can find endless instructions online for making all kinds of decorated eggs — speckling eggs with rice, marbling them with nail polish, tie-dyeing them with strands of silk and making china patterns with watercolours. I particularly like the look of the hard-boiled eggs you paint with a paste of baking soda and food colouring thinned with a little water and then drizzle over a little vinegar (do this in muffin pans to contain the mess). The vinegar reacts with the baking soda, bubbling up and creating wonderful marbled patterns.

Our kids have long flown the nest, and these days I’m more interested in hardboiled eggs with Asian flavourings. They may not look as pretty, but they sure taste good and are super-easy to make. Simply boil 10-12 eggs for 8-10 minutes. Make your marinade by heating 4 cups water with 2 whole star anise, 2 Tbsp sugar, ¾ cup soy sauce and 1 Tbsp rice vinegar.

Simmer for about 10 minutes so that the flavours develop. While the mixture simmers, peel your hard-boiled eggs. Drop them into the pot, and take off the heat. Leave the eggs overnight, turning now and then if they aren’t fully covered. Drain, and if not eating straight away, store in the fridge in a covered container.

They’ll keep in the fridge for 4-5 days and are delicious as a snack. If you prefer the eggs to be jammy (i.e. with a set white and runny yolk) just simmer the eggs for 6 minutes then drop into a bowl of iced water to cool before carefully peeling. Cool your soy sauce marinade a little before adding your peeled eggs, to prevent further cooking. In Japan, a similar technique is used to make “ajitsuke tamago”, which are traditionally served as a topping on ramen. In Korea, soy sauce eggs are served as a side dish called “dalgyal jorim”. You can play around with the soy sauce mixture — swap out sugar for ¼ cup mirin, and add a couple of cloves of garlic or a few slices of fresh ginger.

But enough about eggs, when there are delicious Easter buns to be made and Easter baking to fill the tins for the long weekend of picnics, Easter egg hunts and outdoor adventures.