Easter specials: Traditional recipes and a simple white chocolate tartlet

Hot cross buns

Ingredients
250 gm flour
2 gm salt
5 gm cinnamon powder
70 gm sugar
70 gm butter
110 gm mixed dry fruit
8 gm fresh yeast
50 ml milk
1 egg

Method
In a mixing bowl add flour, salt, spices, sugar and yeast. Mix the dough slowly, then gradually add butter and the egg followed by mixed dry fruits and milk.

Knead the dough till the dough is soft and smooth. Divide dough into 50-gm balls and set on a baking tray for proofing for two hours in a warm place.

Pipe crosses on the buns using a thick paste of flour and water. Bake at 240ºC for 12 to 15 minutes.

Simnel cake

Ingredients
225 gm butter
225 gm brown sugar
4 eggs
216 gm flour
110 gm raisins
80 gm black current
80 candid mix fruit
Zest of two lemons
3 gm cinnamon powder
250 gm almond paste

Method
Mix all the dry ingredients and keep aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs gradually. Finally add all the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour in a greased cake tin and bake at 180ºC for 20 to 25 minutes. De-mould the cake and refrigerate with the top covered with almond paste. Burn the top slightly with a blowtorch and serve. — Chef Rajesh, The Westin Hyderabad Mind Space

Coconut white chocolate tartlets

Ingredients
150 gm of almond meal
75 gm of coconut (freshly grated or dessicated dry)
2 tbsp of maple syrup
1½ tbsp of ghee

For the white chocolate ganache
120 gm of white chocolate
75ml of fresh cream

Method
For the base, mix all ingredients and add chilled water to bring the dough together. Chill the dough for half an hour before rolling out and filling tart tins. Cool the tart tins for 10-15 minutes before baking. Blind bake the shells for about 20 minutes at 180ºC. For the ganache, melt the white chocolate in microwave. Once melted and glossy, add the cream to the chocolate, stirring continuously. Add more cream if you need a thinner ganache for filling. Spoon ganache mixture into baked tart shells, top with fresh cherries and serve.
— Trishnanta, food blogger, berryontopblog.wordpress

— Compiled by Priyanka Praveen

Here are some Easter hacks that will help add more fun to the festival.

Drying coloured eggs
Colouring eggs can be quite a hassle, but if there is anything more difficult than painting eggs, that would be drying them. To make the process easier, make a board with pins sticking out from them. That way, you can just place the painted eggs on them and let them dry.

Minion eggs
Yes, you can’t forget the minion eggs on Easter and they are by far one of the easiest things to paint. Divide the egg into two halves, paint the top half yellow and the bottom blue. You can then stick googly eyes on the eggs and then with a black marker draw the frame of the spectacles. They will be a hit at any party.

Dyeing eggs
Dyeing eggs can get quite messy, so here is an easy trick. Use a deep-set bowl and fill it with edible colours. Take a whisk and gently move the wires of the whisk to slide in the eggs (like a cage). Once done, just dip the whisk in the colour and let it dry for a while before removing the egg.