Easter bakes

Heavenly and home-made! Our collection of Triple-tested recipes will have you struggling to choose which to make first!

LAVENDER AND LEMON EASTER NESTS

Make sure your bowl and whisks are spotlessly clean as the slightest bit of grease prevents the egg whites from whipping up fully. Hands-on time 40min. Cooking time about 1hr 30min. Makes 8 1½tsp edible lavender 5 medium egg whites 250g (9oz) caster sugar Bake-safe lilac food colouring (optional), we used SK Professional (squires-shop.com) 250ml (9fl oz) double cream 3tbsp runny honey 8tbsp lemon curd Edible flowers and chocolate eggs, to decorate

1 Preheat oven to 110°C (90°C fan) mark ¼. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Draw 8 circles measuring 9cm (3½in), spaced well apart, on the baking parchment. Turn it over so the ink is underneath. With a pestle and mortar, finely grind the lavender. Set aside.

2 In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites on a slow speed until foamy. Increase the speed and whisk until stiff peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, 1 heaped tbsp at a time, whisking back up to stiff peaks after each addition. When all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is thick and glossy, whisk in the ground lavender. If colouring your meringues, add food colouring a drop at a time to reach a pale lilac colour. Spoon into a large piping bag fitted with a 1cm (½in) star nozzle.

3 Pipe meringue on to the circles in a flat round shape, then build up the sides to form a nest by piping again around the edge of the circle. Transfer to the bottom shelf of the oven. Bake for 1hr 30min until firm and set underneath. Switch off the oven and leave inside to cool.

4 Before serving, whip cream and runny honey to soft peaks. Fill each meringue with a dollop of whipped cream and 1tbsp lemon curd. Decorate with edible flowers and chocolate eggs.

PER SERVING 379cals, 2g protein, 18g fat (11g saturates), 52g carbs (48g total sugars), 0g fibre

GET AHEAD Meringue nests can be made up to the end of step 3, up to 3 days ahead. Once cool, carefully transfer to an airtight container (don’t stack). Fill meringues with cream and curd up to an hour before serving.