JULIE GOODWIN’S EASTER BAKING: delicious family favourites

Bring something special to gatherings this Easter with delightful and traditional baking and treats. Julie shows you how to create classic favourites, show-stopper cakes and adorable iced biscuits the kids will love.

Russian pashka SERVES 6-8 PREP TIME 10 MINUTES ( PLUS REFRIGERATION TIME)

250g cream cheese, softened

250g fresh ricotta

1 cup (220g) caster sugar

250g sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract finely grated rind of 1 lemon finely grated rind of 1 orange ½ cup (80g) sultanas ½ cup (40g) flaked almonds, toasted

1 Beat the cream cheese, ricotta and sugar until smooth. Add the sour cream, vanilla and citrus rind. Stir in sultanas.

2 Line a wire conical sieve (20cm across, 14cm deep) or small colander with muslin. Spoon cream cheese mixture into sieve. Cover and place over a bowl; refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

3 Invert the Pashka onto a serving plate, remove muslin and decorate with almonds. You can also use dried fruit and flowers if you wish. Not suitable to freeze.

Greek Easter bread SERVES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR (PLUS PROVING TIME)

1 cup (250ml) milk, warmed

1 x 7g sachet dried yeast

4 ½ cups (675g) plain or 00 flour 1 cup (220g) caster sugar 1 teaspoon salt finely grated rind of 1 orange ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground cloves

50g butter, softened

3 eggs, beaten lightly

6 hard boiled red-dyed eggs (see Julie’s tip)

1 egg yolk

½ cup (70g) slivered almonds

1 In a medium bowl combine the warm milk the yeast. Add 1 cup (150g) of the flour and ¼ cup of the sugar; stir until smooth. Cover and leave in a warm place for an hour.

2 In a large bowl, combine remaining flour with remaining sugar, salt, orange rind and spices. Make a well in the centre and add yeast mixture, softened butter and eggs. Stir to combine, knead dough in a stand mixer using the dough hook attachment for 5-6 minutes on low speed or until smooth and elastic. The dough is quite sticky. Place dough into an oiled bowl and cover, leaving in a warm place until it doubles in size (1-2 hours).

3 On a floured bench, knead dough briefly; divide into thirds. Roll each piece to 45cm long. Plait three pieces together. Press ends together to form a circle. Transfer to a large oven tray or pizza tray lined with baking paper. Place a 10cm diameter ramekin, oiled on the outside, in the centre of the bread to help keep its shape. It’s traditional to place a red-dyed egg on the join (see Julie’s tip). Allow the bread to rise until doubled, an hour or so.

4 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fanforced). Mix egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of milk and brush all over, sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and hollowsounding when tapped. Decorate with the remaining red dyed eggs. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.

Easter biscuits MAKES ABOUT 25 PREP AND COOKING TIME 1 HOUR

3 cups (450g) plain flour 1 ½ cups (330g) caster sugar 1 tablespoon ground ginger 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon bicarb soda 200g butter, melted 1 tablespoon golden syrup 1 egg, beaten lightly

ROYAL ICING

2 egg whites

4 cups (640g) icing sugar, sifted food colouring

1 Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients and mix to a soft dough. Turn dough out onto bench and divide in half. Press each half into a flat disc; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2 Roll each piece out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of about 3mm. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until the dough is firm.

3 Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fanforced). Using bunny and egg-shaped cutters, cut out shapes, lifting with a palette knife onto oven trays lined with baking paper, leaving 3cm between each. Re-roll leftover dough between sheets of baking paper, chill and cut more shapes.

4 Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating trays halfway through cooking time, or until firm. Stand biscuits on trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

5 ROYAL ICING Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the sugar a little at a time until a stiff paste. Add about 2 teaspoons of water to thin down the icing. Divide the icing into four bowls. Tint with food colouring. We used yellow, blue and green and left one white. Spoon half of each colour into separate piping bags fitted with small plain tubes, cover surface of remaining icing with plastic wrap.

Pipe designs onto the biscuits and stand until set. You can outline the shape of the egg and “flood” the biscuit with icing for a fully coated appearance. To flood biscuits, mix remaining icing with about ¾ tsp water for each colour until thin enough to run slightly, use a palette knife to spread. Uniced biscuits suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.

Hot cross buns MAKES 12 PREP TIME 1 HOUR (PLUS PROVING TIME)

1 ¼ cups (375ml) milk ¼ cup (55g) caster sugar

2 x 7g sachets dried yeast 4 cups (600g) plain flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons mixed spice 1 teaspoon salt

60g butter, softened finely grated rind of 2 oranges 1 ½ cups (250g) sultanas

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 (50g) cup self-raising flour 2 tablespoons apricot jam

1 In a microwave safe jug, heat the milk on

HIGH 100% power for 60 seconds or until warm.

Add the caster sugar and stir until dissolved; gradually whisk in the dried yeast. It is important at this stage that the milk is warm enough to activate the yeast but not too hot. Stand yeast mixture in a warm place for about 10 minutes or until it froths up a little.

2 Sift flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in butter.

Add orange rind and sultanas. Add eggs and yeast mixture; mix until it comes together in a sticky dough.

3 Turn dough out onto a lightly floured bench and knead by hand for 5-10 minutes until stretchy and smooth. Alternatively, place in the bowl of an electric mixer with the dough hook attachment and knead for 5 minutes on low speed. Place dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm place for 45 minutes until it rises to almost twice its size (see Julie’s tip, page 165).

4 Turn the dough onto the bench and knead the dough for a couple of minutes, then divide and roll into 12 balls. Place the balls 1cm apart on a greased baking tray. Cover loosely and leave in a warm place for another 15 minutes.

5 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). In a small bowl combine the self-raising flour with 50ml of water and mix well. Place in a small piping bag with a small plain tube, or a plastic bag with a tiny piece of the corner snipped off. Pipe a cross onto each of the buns. Bake for 25 minutes or until the buns are golden brown. Heat the jam with 2 tablespoons of water in the microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 30 seconds; strain and brush over the hot buns to glaze. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.

Simnel fruit cake SERVES 12 PREP AND COOK TIME 2 HOURS

2 cups (300g) plain flour

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground allspice

375g butter, at room temperature 1 ½ cups (330g) firmly packed brown sugar finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon 5 eggs, at room temperature

2 ½ cups (400g) sultanas

1/3 cup (55g) mixed peel

500g ready to roll marzipan 2 tablespoons apricot jam, warmed

1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 20cm round cake pan, line the base and sides with a double layer of baking paper, extending 5cm above the pan.

2 Sift the flours and spices into a medium bowl.

3 Beat butter and sugar in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add lemon rind and the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. On low speed, gradually fold in the flour mixture, then the lemon juice. Stir in the sultanas and mixed peel.

4 Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, level the surface. Bake for about 1 hour 40 minutes, loosely covering top with foil after 1 hour if overbrowning. Test if the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. Cover cake with a clean tea towel, leave to cool upside down in the cake pan.

5 Roll out half of the marzipan between 2 pieces of baking paper to about

3mm thick. Use cake tin as a guide to cut out a circle slightly larger than cake. Make 11 balls of marzipan from remaining marzipan. Brush top of cake with warmed jam. Place the disc of marzipan on top and place the 11 balls around the edge. If desired, use a chef’s blowtorch to caramelise top of cake.

Uniced cake suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.