Baking Heaven April 2020

By Lakeland (blog.lakeland.co.uk/recipes)

By http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk

EASTER BAKING

WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM APRIL baking heaven 15

Burrowing bunny

cupcakes

a batch of your favourite muffi ns,

baked in Lakeland Flowerpot

Cupcake Cases

To decorate

buttercream

food colouring: green, pink, orange

Oreo biscuits, cream-fi lling

removed, crushed

2 ping-pong ball-sized pieces of

Renshaw Flower & Modelling

Icing Paste

1 Mix up some buttercream and add

green colouring until you get the shade

you want. Using a grass icing nozzle,

pipe little ‘blades’ of grass all over the

top of your baked cupcakes. Finish with

a sprinkling of crushed Oreo biscuits to

make the ‘soil’.

2 To create each burrowing bunny,

you’ll need two ping pong ball-sized

pieces of Renshaw’s Flower &

Modelling Icing Paste. One is for the

bunny’s bottom – just roll this one into a

ball. With the other, remove a

blueberry-sized piece for the tail, roll

into a ball and attach to the top of the

bunny bottom with a little water. Use a

cocktail stick to prick the tail all over to

give it a fluffy cottontail texture. Split

the remainder of the second ball into

two to make the feet. Shape each into a

pear shape and use the side of a cocktail

stick to make indentations for the toes.

3 For the pads of the feet, take a pea-

sized amount of pink icing (you can either

use pink modelling paste or colour white

paste) and roll two small balls for the

pads of the feet and six tiny balls for the

toes. Flatten them slightly and stick to

the feet with water. Position your bunny

bottom in the ‘soil’ of the cupcake, then

attach the feet to it with water.

4 Once your bunnies are safely

burrowing away, finish with their

harvest – a crop of the finest (sugar

piping) carrots.

Tip A standard 100g (3½oz) each of

butter/sugar/flour plus 2 free-range

eggs Victoria sponge mix works well

split between six flowerpots. Adjust the

amounts, colour and flavours to suit.

Hot cross buns

MAKES 8-10 BUNS

For the hot cross buns
300g (10½oz) Doves Farm Organic
Strong White Bread Flour
1 tsp Doves Farm Quick Yeast
1 tbsp caster sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp mixed spice
25g (1oz) butter, melted
150g (5½oz) milk
1 free-range egg
50g (1¾oz) currants
50g (1¾oz) mixed peel, chopped
For the glaze
50g (1¾oz) Doves Farm Organic
Plain White Flour
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp apricot jam

For the hot cross buns
1 Put the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and

mixed spice into a bowl and mix together.

2 Melt the butter, then add the milk and

egg and beat together. Stir this into the

flour and mix into a sticky dough.

3 Knead the dough in the bowl for

about 100 presses, if possible without

adding flour. The dough will be sticky at

first, then smooth and pliable.

4 Cover with oiled clingfilm and leave in

a warm place to double in size, about

2 hours. Line a large baking tray

with parchment.

5 Add the currants and mixed peel

to the dough, then knead until they are

well combined. Divide the dough into

8-10 pieces, then roll each into a ball and

place on the lined baking tray.

For the glaze

1 Put the plain flour into a bowl and

add just enough water to make a very

thick paste.

2 Using a paintbrush, dip it into the

paste and paint a cross on each bun,

then leave the buns to rise in a warm

place for 20 minutes.

3 Re-paint the paste cross and leave the

buns to rise for a further 15 minutes.

4 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas

Mark 6.

5 Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes.

6 Gently heat the apricot jam, mashing

any lumps, and brush it over the buns as

they come out of the oven.

Re-paint the paste cross and leave the

buns to rise for a further 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas

Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes.

Gently heat the apricot jam, mashing

any lumps, and brush it over the buns as

These are easy &

great fun for kids!