Who says Easter is over??

Ever since I was little I've always managed to squirrel away my Easter eggs to keep me in a steady supply of chocolate long after the Easter bunny had disappeared.  Maybe I had taken a cue from my dad who always to prolong the Easter celebrations by eating hot cross buns for breakfast from January to May.  He starts eating mince pies in early November too, I like to think that he's keeping the holiday spirit alive, and that I get to do that too by making celebration cakes every week of the year with the Brighton Bakery.

So with that in mind, I thought I would share with you my slightly-after-the-event recipe for hot cross bun pudding.  It's my take on a bread and butter pudding - I made one for Melissa and me the other night with some leftover buns we had stashed away in the freezer and it was such a treat, a real old school comforting pud.  Yum.

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

3 hot cross buns*
About 2 tablespoons butter
30g dried apricots, roughly chopped (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
2 level tablespoons caster sugar
125ml milk
100 ml single cream
zest of about 1/4 orange
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

*This really works best with stale buns (as they absorb the custard much better) so if they are fresh, split them and leave them out for a couple of hours first. 

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180C.
2. Split your hot cross buns down the middle and spread each side with butter.  Cut each in half along the diagonal and arrange the triangles pointy-end up in a small-medium pudding dish.  Sprinkle over the apricots.
3. Whisk together the eggs and sugar, then add the milk, cream orange zest and vanilla extract and whisk again until combined.  Pour over the hot cross buns ensuring they are all doused in the custard and leave to absorb for about 10 minutes.  If you like you can add a light dusting of freshly grated nutmeg on the top.
4. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until puffed up and golden brown on top.
Serve warm with extra cream.  Mmmm.

This is such an easy pudding you won't regret making it.  If you fancy a chocolate version you could substitute the apricots for chocolate drops or even chopped up leftover Easter eggs.

So from a spot of home baking back to my home baking business, here's a picture of a lovely Springtime and Easter inspired wedding cake I made.

Well, it was definitely Spring-like on the outside, but the inside was a rather Christmassy Chocolate Orange Cake with Chocolate Orange Buttercream.  The bride said that at first she was laughed at for picking that flavour but all her guests agreed that it was a great choice and they all loved eating it.  Well I think she must also have taken a leaf out of my dad's book, and I always salute anyone that takes the unconventional option. 

Congratulations Radka, I hope you and your new husband have a very happy life together.

Until next time, happy baking x

Easter bake off - Emily vs Melissa

A belated Happy Easter to everyone!  I hope you suitably overindulged like we did and are ready for another long weekend courtesy of the royal family in a few days' time.

This Easter, instead of giving each other chocolate eggs, Melissa suggested we should bake each other some Easter inspired treats.  I jumped at the idea - not only would we save money, but receiving a homemade gift means so much more than a shop bought egg that anyone can give.  We had a week to plan our presents and budget of £4 each and the challenge was set.

I scoured all my recipe books and what felt like half the internet trying to search for something creative and Easter related, but with the glorious weather outside the last thing I wanted to bake was a big rich simnel cake.  I spent 5 days humming and ha-ing, then I remembered the gorgeous Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits that I was given as a Christmas present by my aunt and uncle and was inspired to make some Easter biscuits.  When Melissa saw me making the biscuit dough and spotted the 'plain biscuit recipe' over my shoulder she cried out - "Is that all you're making for the bake off?  Plain biscuits??"  I sheepishly replied, "I'm putting vanilla in them," which she scoffed at, as she thought her creation was going to take much more effort and it didn't seem like I was trying very hard.

Oh how the tables turned the next day.

More than 3 hours of icing and dozens of piping cornets later, my Easter biscuits were ready:

I knew the biscuits would take a while but I really had no idea what I was in for with that amount of icing and all those colours.  I'll remember to take a very deep breath before climbing that mountain again. 

And in the green corner, Melissa baked up a cracker of an Easter chocolate tart from our trusty Rachel Allen Bake book which was absolutely divine (and this comes from a girl that doesn't even really like chocolate):

And hats off to her for managing to make it in a deep cake tin because we left our fluted flan tin round at her sisters.

PS Although we were both completely full from all the Easter treats, Melissa did have to eat her words afterwards about me not trying hard enough....