Of all the school holidays, the Easter ones tend to arrive with a little less expectation than the others. Summer holidays are busy with activities and long days of exploring. Halloween brings the busyness of costumes and parties, while the Christmas holidays are by far the most demanding.
Therefore, the Easter break always seems less pressured, from a parent’s perspective, and if time allows it can bring the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with the kids.
No matter what their age, children love to bake. It’s magical, in a way, creating something delicious from a few ingredients. Baking together with children comes with a wealth of benefits. Wonderful memories are being made while an important life lesson is being taught. When in the kitchen together, the opportunity arises to introduce little ones to where our food comes from.
Taking the opportunity to cook or bake together while creating something delicious to share with the whole family will always be time well spent.
‘Nest’ rice pudding
Serves 4
Ingredients
900ml full fat milk 75g pudding rice 1 tbsp sugar Small knob butter, extra for greasing 1tsp vanilla extract To serve:
Softly whipped cream Soft brown sugar Mini chocolate eggs Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a large, wide-based, ovenproof dish with a little butter. Gently heat the milk in a large saucepan until warm, then remove from the heat.
2 Add the rice, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir to combine and pour into the prepared dish.
3 Place in the preheated oven for 1-1¼ hours, until a golden skin has formed on top and the rice is soft and cooked through.
4 To serve, remove the skin from the pudding and divide the mixture between four small bowls, making a little indentation in each pudding. Add a spoonful of softly whipped cream to the indentation. Add the mini chocolate eggs and sprinkle a thin layer of soft brown sugar.
Easter lemon trifle.
Lemon trifle
Serves 10
Ingredients
For the lemon cake:
225g butter, softened 225g caster sugar 1 tsp lemon extract Zest of 1 lemon 3 eggs 50g thick vanilla yogurt 280g self-raising flour, sieved To assemble/decorate:
100g lemon curd 750ml shop-bought custard 450g tin peaches in light natural juice, cut into bitesize pieces 500ml cream, lightly whipped 50g mini chocolate eggs Half small chocolate easter egg,
broken into shards Lemon balm leaves or primroses
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a 20cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2 Make the cake by placing the butter, caster sugar, lemon extract and lemon zest into a bowl and cream together until it becomes a pale yellow colour, about 5-7 minutes.
3 In a jug, combine the eggs with the yogurt. Gradually, add this mixture, with a little flour (to prevent curdling). Add the remaining flour and gently combine.
4 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Cool on a wire tray.
5 When the cake has completely cooled, cut into approximately 20 squares. Cut each square in half, horizontally. Add a thin layer of lemon curd and sandwich back together. Repeat for the remaining squares.
6 To assemble the trifle, add a layer of custard, top with an even layer of the lemon squares. Drizzle some juice from the tin of peaches over each lemon square. Add a layer of chopped peaches. Top with a layer of cream and begin the process again.
7 Pipe or dollop the remaining cream as the final layer and top with mini eggs, shards of chocolate and some lemon balm leaves. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Best enjoyed on the day made.
Of all the school holidays, the Easter ones tend to arrive with a little less expectation than the others. Summer holidays are busy with activities and long days of exploring. Halloween brings the busyness of costumes and parties, while the Christmas holidays are by far the most demanding.
Therefore, the Easter break always seems less pressured, from a parent’s perspective, and if time allows it can bring the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with the kids.
No matter what their age, children love to bake. It’s magical, in a way, creating something delicious from a few ingredients. Baking together with children comes with a wealth of benefits. Wonderful memories are being made while an important life lesson is being taught. When in the kitchen together, the opportunity arises to introduce little ones to where our food comes from.
Taking the opportunity to cook or bake together while creating something delicious to share with the whole family will always be time well spent.
‘Nest’ rice pudding
Serves 4
Ingredients
900ml full fat milk 75g pudding rice 1 tbsp sugar Small knob butter, extra for greasing 1tsp vanilla extract To serve:
Softly whipped cream Soft brown sugar Mini chocolate eggs Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a large, wide-based, ovenproof dish with a little butter. Gently heat the milk in a large saucepan until warm, then remove from the heat.
2 Add the rice, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir to combine and pour into the prepared dish.
3 Place in the preheated oven for 1-1¼ hours, until a golden skin has formed on top and the rice is soft and cooked through.
4 To serve, remove the skin from the pudding and divide the mixture between four small bowls, making a little indentation in each pudding. Add a spoonful of softly whipped cream to the indentation. Add the mini chocolate eggs and sprinkle a thin layer of soft brown sugar.
Easter lemon trifle.
Lemon trifle
Serves 10
Ingredients
For the lemon cake:
225g butter, softened 225g caster sugar 1 tsp lemon extract Zest of 1 lemon 3 eggs 50g thick vanilla yogurt 280g self-raising flour, sieved To assemble/decorate:
100g lemon curd 750ml shop-bought custard 450g tin peaches in light natural juice, cut into bitesize pieces 500ml cream, lightly whipped 50g mini chocolate eggs Half small chocolate easter egg,
broken into shards Lemon balm leaves or primroses
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a 20cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2 Make the cake by placing the butter, caster sugar, lemon extract and lemon zest into a bowl and cream together until it becomes a pale yellow colour, about 5-7 minutes.
3 In a jug, combine the eggs with the yogurt. Gradually, add this mixture, with a little flour (to prevent curdling). Add the remaining flour and gently combine.
4 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Cool on a wire tray.
5 When the cake has completely cooled, cut into approximately 20 squares. Cut each square in half, horizontally. Add a thin layer of lemon curd and sandwich back together. Repeat for the remaining squares.
6 To assemble the trifle, add a layer of custard, top with an even layer of the lemon squares. Drizzle some juice from the tin of peaches over each lemon square. Add a layer of chopped peaches. Top with a layer of cream and begin the process again.
7 Pipe or dollop the remaining cream as the final layer and top with mini eggs, shards of chocolate and some lemon balm leaves. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Best enjoyed on the day made.
SHARING OPTIONS