Easter Bakes

It's Good Friday!

Easter, like Christmas, is one of those times where you can eat as many sweets, cakes and chocolates as you like and no one really questions it. However if, instead of buying Easter eggs, boxes of chocolates and bags of Haribo, why not try making your own sweet treats? Below are 5 of my favourite Easter sweets and treats, so give them a go and have a truly scrumptious Easter weekend!

Crème Egg Brownies
Crème Egg Brownies are super popular, and they scream Easter. It's the only time of the year where you can enjoy a yummy gooey Cadbury's Crème Egg (unless you're super smart and stock pile them for the rest of the year), so what better way to enjoy them than in an equally gooey brownie! These brownies are made with a mix of melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder, so they are super chocolatey. They're also really versatile, so why not add different flavourings? From cherries, to chocolate orange, to coconut, anything goes in the world of chocolate brownies!

I've posted the recipe for my Crème Egg Brownies before, so why not head over and check it out now!


Carrot and Cream Cheese Frosting Cupcakes
So a lot of people associate Bunny Rabbits with Easter, and Bunny Rabbits love carrots. This recipe is so yummy. Carrot Cake is super popular in the UK, its so light and refreshing, and these cupcakes are even more so. Why not decorate them with Cadbury's Mini Eggs, or buy some fondant and make mini carrots to pop on top, they'll look super cute!

Ingredients
275g caster sugar
200ml sunflower oil
4 eggs
300g carrot (grated) 
225g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tbsp cocoa powder

125g butter (softened)
125g cream cheese
275g icing sugar
Edible decorations to finish

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a muffin tray with paper cases.
Beat the sugar, oil and eggs in mixing bowl until smooth, then stir in the grated carrot.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices and cocoa, then tip into the carrot mixture and stir well.
Fill the paper cases two-thirds full, and then bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer poked in comes out almost clean.
For the frosting, beat the softened butter with the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth and light.
Stir in the icing sugar with a spoon until it begins to come together, then whisk again briefly until light and smooth.
Pipe or spoon blobs of the frosting on each cold cupcake. Decorate with sugar-paste carrots or with mini chocolate Easter eggs.


Simnel Cake Cupcakes
Simnel Cakes are a traditional Easter bake, just like fruit cake is at Christmas. In fact the only real difference is that Simnel Cake has the addition of a layer of marzipan in the centre of the fruit sponge. Why not take it one step further, and make this yummy cake into cupcakes instead? You'll be sure to stand out from the crowd!

Check out the recipe over on the BBC Food website here! A layer of marzipan runs through the centre of each cupcake, while the cream cheese helps to keep these mini-fruitcakes moist.


Terry's Chocolate Orange Cake
Terry's Chocolate Orange is basically my favourite thing on the planet. Mainly because I love chocolate and I love oranges. This cake is to die for, and will not disappoint your family over this Easter weekend.

Ingredients
10oz softened butter
10oz caster sugar
5 eggs
8oz self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
2oz cocoa powder
2 oranges, juiced

250g softened butter
500g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 Terry's Chocolate Orange

Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180C, and line and grease two 8 inch cake tins.
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat together until well combined. This should take 2-3 minutes using an electric whisk.
Split the cake mix between the two cake tins, and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave in the tins for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool.

For the buttercream, beat together the icing sugar, vanilla essence and softened butter until combined and smooth. If it's a little stiff, just add a drop or two of milk to loosen it up.
Once the cakes are cool, place one on a cake board or serving plate, and spread half of the butter cream on top. Pop the other cake on top of this, and spread over the remaining butter cream.
Decorate with the Chocolate Orange segments.


Hot Cross Buns
Last, but certainly not least, is an Easter classic...Hot Cross Buns. The dough is pretty similar to a teacake dough, the main difference is the cross piped on top! They are so yummy with honey melted over the top too!
I usually use the recipe from BBC Food, so check it out here! You won't be disappointed. Hot Cross Buns make a perfect breakfast treat, with a side of fresh fruit and berries, and a mug of tea or coffee.
Treat yourself this Easter!


There you have it!
5 Easter bakes to have a winning Easter weekend.

Happy baking,
Charley x

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hummingbird Bakery's Rocky Road Bars

Rocky Road is a delightful dessert. It always goes down a treat at parties, coffee mornings, at home with the family-pretty much anywhere to be honest. My favourite recipe for Rocky Road has got to be by The Hummingbird Bakery. It's absolutely gorgeous, and it's such a quick and easy recipe. It also makes 12 generous portions so there's no need to fiddle on with multiplying the recipe to make sure it serves everyone. Great right? So without further a do, here's the recipe! Ingredients: 1.4KG milk chocolate, roughly chopped 8 regular sized chewy, filled chocolate bars of your choice (such as Snickers or Mars), roughly chopped 100g marshmallows 180g maltesers 100g dried apricots, roughly chopped 100g raisins 100g cornflakes 100g chocolate vermicelli *You will also need a 33x23x5 cm baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper* Method: Put the milk chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the ...
Read more

St David's Day: Welsh Cakes

Image
Happy St David's Day/Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus to all my Welsh readers and family! Have a spectacular day! Today's recipe is a classic Welsh one, and is a good old family recipe...Welsh Cakes. They are basically my favourite thing on the planet, and whenever I go to Wales I always come home with a pack (or ten) of these beauties. You won't be disappointed. Ingredients 8oz self raising flour Pinch salt 4oz softened butter 4oz caster sugar, plus a little extra for dusting 0.5 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp currants 4oz currants 1 egg, beaten Method Sift the flour and salt in a bowl. Rub in the butter. Add the sugar, spice, syrup and currants. Mix in the egg to make a soft dough. Pat out on a lightly floured surface, to a quarter of an inch thick. Use a medium scone cutter to cut out into rounds. Bake on a medium hot griddle pan, turning once until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a wire rack to cool and dust with sugar while hot. How simple is that? They rea...
Read more

Rosemary, Black Pepper and Sea Salt Scones

Image
Hello! Today's recipe is a makeshift one. I fancied making some scones, but wasn't too sure what type or what shape to make, and so I ended up picking some fresh rosemary from the garden, and pairing it with some cracked black pepper and sea salt flakes. They turned out pretty scrummy! Ingredients 2 cups plain flour 4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp sea salt flakes, plus a little extra to finish 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp. butter 1 tbsp. freshly chopped rosemary (or 1 tsp of dried) 1 cup milk (I didn't use the whole cup full, but you can use the remainder for washing before baking.) Method Pre-heat the oven to 220C. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, and rub in the butter. Add the rosemary, and mix again, before adding the milk. Combine with your hands to form a soft dough. Roll out on to a floured board to 1.5 inch thickness and cut into either rounds or squares. I also shaped some of mine into a doughnut shape by rolling out a section of the dough into a long thin ...
Read more