Sweet Homemade Easter Treats

 More than any other holiday Easter is the  holiday for all sorts of sweets.Not only does this include chocolate bunnies and eggs but homemade treats too. These are wonderful; after a savory meal of ham and asparagus.

New contributor and author of the newsletter Kitchen Projects, Nicola Lamb, give sus two classic Easter treats in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section one treat is more of a candy and it comes from Britain.These are called nest cakes although there's nothing cakey about them. They're the first thing British chefs and kids learn to make and they're also a favorite here in the US.It;s just melt chill portion them out in cupcake papers and then chill.It;s really a buttery treat because the recipe has five tablespoons of butter in it. Almost two cups of chocolate chips are used in it - although some American recipes also add in a quarter cup of peanut butter and/or marshmallow fluff.  Also white chocolate or milk chocolate can be used instead of dark for variety.Four cups of plain cornflakes are used . It's not a sin , though, to sub in Rice Krispies or CHinese fried noodles. Using a cookie or ice cream scoop, place the mixture in a muffin tin lined  with cupcake fullers. Chill until the chocolate is set although not too hard. Fill with Cadbury or robin;'s eggs, M& M's or Whoppers.

The second recipe which could also grace any shower dessert table comes from Sweden,Princesstarta or princess cake. This was first made for Swedish princesses Margaretha, Marta and Astrid in 1948 by Jenny Akerstron, a home economist teacher who also wrote a cookbook. It was originally called grintarta or green cake thanks to the lightly tinted marzipan icing. The royal association is still strong.The country sold out of them in 2012 when Princess Estelle was born.The cake itself is a dome of three layers of sp onge cake along with a cream and jam filling. This may be daunting for beginner bakers , especially the assembling and placing the marzipan on top. Yet it can be done. Home balers will need a springform or an eight inch round cake pan.It is a typical sponge cake made with three eggs and r=two an half tablespoons of vegetable oil added for a smooth ,spongy texture. The custard is a rich cream that has yolks and even butter added. There is also the marscapone cream added that combines teh cheese with heavy cream. There is the recipe for marzipan but a store bought one can be used if it;s tolled out. for the cake. Save a small bit for th pink rose on top.

Easter is the time for sweet goodies. Make something simple as the chocolate nests or something more involved as the Princess cake. either treat is a guaranteed show stopper.

Russian Tips What's The Big Deal

Mention Russian tips and any home baker will gush over them. These giant thimble like tips supposedly pump out amazing roses and tulips. I thought I'd give it a try with some leftover icing from the lamb experiment.

As you can see I did use the tips for the flowers on the Bertos' family's lamb's neck.

I had icing left over in the freezer.

I had researched and found out that adding cornstarch makes for a stiffer,  more malleable icing.

I added half a teaspoon of the cornstarch and a scant teaspoon of almond milk.
Then it was filling the Wilton icing bags with the tips and icing.

You can see how big they are, being doubled in size of the average nozzle.

I tried different nozzles with the icing. Some worked , some didn't.i

That means adding more cornstarch which I don't recommend. Cornstarch gives the icing a pasty feel on the tongue. (Keep in mind confectioner's sugar already has cornstarch in it to prevent lumping and clumping)

These petals were formed after more cornstarch was added to the icing.

One here came out perfect, then the icing got too soft as you can see.It became squooshy

Here again, you can see what works and what doesn't. The more solid ones have more definition. This is odd because it's all the same icing.

I don't know how other icers get the perfect garden of buttercream flowers. To be honest those flowers look like they're made from marzipan and not icing - which is what I've suspected they are.

How else would they one -have vibrant color and two - clean , defined lines. Buttercream does not produce  those results A thicker paste  made of ground almonds -would.

I'm not going to give on Russian tips. I may do an experiment with marizpan just to prove my point. I may try the buttercream icing again, with a different recipe that will give me perfect bouquets.

A Sweet End To Passover

One of the traditions of Passover ending is eating anything with leavening, .In the States it's pizza and brownies, but elsewhere it's an older tradition representing Mediterranean roots and recipes.It's called Mimounia the Moroccan way to end the holiday.

Ron Leiber, who usually write about finance for The New York Times has written this interesting and informative article for the paper's Wednesday Food section.Many American Jews don't know of this sweet  raucous feasting yet it's done in Israel thnaks to the influx of Moroccans arriving in the country  for the past sixty years. They do occur here , but not in many households.It began two hundred years ago but the reasons for how and why are hazy, There is a similar Hebrew word that means faith along with an Arabic word meaning good fortune or luck. There is also an etynological connection to the Jewish philosopher Maimonides and is also the name of a Berber goddess. (although there could be a connection to the Sicilian bread mouffleta) Foods such as milk, eggs wheat and fava beans are set out along with a live(!) fish  in a bowl to symbolize fertility and abundance. A typical table would have fancy marzipan, nuts  and even candied eggplants. Moroccan mint tea is served with it to offset all the  sweetness

One of the stars of the holiday is moufleta - a layered, fried flat bread similar to the Indian flatbread,chappatti. Guests cover it with butter and honey. Flour is brought over for it by non-Jewish friends and neighbors at the appointed hour,,It's kind of like pizza dough with a scant amount of
 sugar, salt and dry yeast. The dough is mixed and formed into twenty balls, slightly smaller than a tennis ball. After letting them rise, then flatten them to a seven or eight inch disc.fingers should be constantly oiled with either vegetable or canola oil. ( I would say try extra virgin olive oil, which is probably how it was first made). This keeps the dough from sticking to the hands along with the work surface.A non-stick or cast iron skillet is used to cook them,  Set it over a medium-low heat and place the dough, that now should be stretchy into the pan. Cook on one side for one to two minutes and then flip it over. Add the second moufleta and when it's bottom is golden add the third. Repeat until there are seven layers. You could also fry them up individually, as long as they're eaten hot so the butter and honey also get heated. up.

Mimounia is a neat way to welcome back leavened treats. The star of it all is moufleta, an easy to make  bread ,soaked with honey and butter. This is a true taste of the return of breads and cakes,

Can You Be Sugar Free?

One of the worst habits  we have is eating sugar. We crave cupcakes wit sweet , gooey icing puffs,  we add more of the white stuff to already candy like lattes.We even add brown sugar  to our bacon. However that may all be changing . There's a no sugar movement going on challenging sweet tooths all over the world to give up their addiction.

Sadly we are hard wired to eat sugar. Blame it on our earliest days when a sweet flavor signified non poisonous in plants and berries. If it was sugary, like a plum or an apple , then the eater could rest easy, knowing he or she wouldn't be sick or suffer dire consequences.Then humanity  fell in love with sugar cane about 10,000 years ago in New Guinea. People got their first sugar rush and loved it. Cane syrup then was used in religious rites and as a medicine. Iit then went onto the Asian mainland where the Indians were turning sugarcane into a powder,  used mostly for healing.It went to Persia and then spread throughout the Arab world. hey combined it with ground almonds to create the addictive confection marzipan. The European Crusaders got their first taste of sugar cane during their crusades and again fell hard for it. Later Columbus discovered sugar cane on Hispaniola and that began Europe's hard core addiction with sugar.It replaced the all natural sweetener . Now we are trying to undo those centuries of sugar use. It not only puts on the weight but tricks the body  into gaining weight,. Those white grains also do extensive damage to the liver as well.The liver is the only organ that processes glucose ad eating too much will result in taxing it.It also causes extensive damage to teeth as well.

How do we curb our addictions and go sugar free? The obvious answer is give up baked goods, soda and candy. These are the easiest because the sugar in them is obvious.We can easily substitute cookies and sweets with with fresh fruit and 90 percent good for you dark chocolate. Soda can be replaced with flavored sparkling water. Hot tea and even coffee can be sweetened with honey or agave syrup.  , instead of white refined sugar . The problem is that sugar is everywhere, even in the most savory of foods.They lurk in our condiments.Ketchup has it to balance out the spices as does mayo, steak sauces and even mustard.The best bet is use spices  or herbs to flavor meats and vegetables.Salad dressing is a culprit too. It can turn a healthy bowl of greens into a sundae. Stick to a simple vinaigrette, possibly spiked with oregano or parsley.Yogurt, that much touted health food has a whopping forty-seven grams of sugar.if fruit is added Try to cut down on it or stick to plain Greek yogurt and add your own fruit. Bread is another culprit, with some of  us eating it as much as twice a day everyday. Try to sub in pita bread which has very little sugar in it. Another idea is wrapping up meats and cheeses in lettuce wraps. As for toast for breakfast, think oatmeal with a trickle of honey and cinnamon .


We can go sugar free. It's a hard task but will become easier as we distance ourselves further and further away from it. The end result is worth it.  - a healthy body.

Marzipan, A New Take On An Old Treat

Marzipan is a candy worth revisiting. It's usually seen during Christmas and Easter in the shape of seasonal objects. Even though it''s tasty it's not a readily accepted sweet. Yet one taste of its' creamy sweet almondine flavor and you're hooked.

Marchepane or marzipan, amix of rose water and bitter almond paste, has it's orgins and meanings from different countires. It was first eaten by the ancent Persians and the Arabs. later it was brought to Spain by them and toItaly by Turkish traders. The Germans and Hugarians also lay claim to being it's orginators. Where ever it came from, it's was a treat, especially during Christmas and medeival weddings. Some European wedding cakes today have a marzipan icing .

You can by it already dyed and shaped, mostly at Italian bakeries in the US. You can also buy logs of it and mold and color your own shapes. Marizpan is a nice accompaniment to Easter candy and you can shape in the form of Easter lilies or any Spring flower. You can also create wonderful Easter eggs with it, by using dyes and nonparels.

Mais a wonderful treat. If you haven;t had it already go out and try some. It's not like today's overly sweet candy that hits you with a flavor burst. It has a subtle charm that steals your heart.