E is for Easter

Good Friday 2018 had arrived. It was time for a break. At work I had pushed myself hard and made some magic in doing so. However I was tired; not because of work, as I had found a new energy and focus in the three months after the Christmas Break, but because of the challenging ride I'd been on in my personal life since the start of February. Things had returned to an even keel though now and I wasn't down for long.

However taking note of what my body had told me over the preceding week, I decided to slow myself down and I didn't set the alarm on Thursday night. However I still woke up at a reasonable time on Good Friday Morning. I fired up the Panda and the Dogg and I headed for a walk over at large pond that sits next to the grounds of an old stately home, currently home to a dentist. The dentist in question probably wouldn't have approved of my choice of pudding for my parents' visit for tea on Easter Saturday.

When people think of sweet dishes at Easter Time the first thought is of course Easter Eggs, while another thought might be Simnel Cake, a recipe I have featured on this blog previously. Then you have Fancies and sponge cakes decorated with mini Easter Eggs. The latter was a recipe I chose to make as my Easter Cake of choice for this year.

The record of choice to listen to was Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 1990 cracker "Ragged Glory". The album features plenty of raw emotion, screaming guitars and a sound that makes one wonder if it was recorded in a garage. Whether it was or not, the primal sound of it makes it one of Young & Crazy Horse's best. It's the perfect record to listen to at full volume when making cake with the best part of a four day bank holiday in front of you.

The Ingredients of the Cake were as follows:

For the cake itself:

250 grams of Unsalted Butter
250 grams of Brown Sugar
250 grams of Flour
5 Eggs
A teaspoon of Almond Essence
The zest of two Oranges.
The juice of one One Orange.
A bag of Mini Eggs

For the topping

300 grams of Icing Sugar.
3 tablespoons of warm water
A bag of Mini Eggs

The way I made it was as follows:

1. I creamed the Butter and Brown Sugar together in a mixing bowl.
2. I beat the Eggs in a large measuring jug. Then I added them to the Butter and Brown Sugar with the Almond Essence and stirred them well.
3.I added the Orange Zest and stirred it in.
4. I added the flour and mixed it in thoroughly until I had a thick paste.
5. I added the cake mix to a greased cake tin.
6.I cooked the cake mix in the oven for 38 minutes on Gas Mark 4. I checked it was properly cooked by putting a skewer through the middle of it and seeing that it came out clean.
7. I then put the baked cake to one side to cool down.
8. When the cake was cooled I poked a hole through the middle of the cake and found it largely hollow. I filled the hole with the juice of the Orange and added one bag of Mini Eggs.
9. I made the topping by gradually mixing the Icing Sugar with the warm water in a mixing bowl.
10. I spread the freshly made icing over the top of the Cake with a butter knife and put a large amount of the icing in the middle to help fill the hole containing the Mini Eggs and Orange juice.
11. I decorated the topping by putting Mini Eggs round the side and using the remaining eggs to spell the letter E in the middle of the cake.
12. I put a paper towel over the top of the cake and left it to cool in the fridge over night.

The next day I served it for pudding when my parents arrived. The taste was rich but, surprisingly, not overindulgent. The sponge was light while the juice and zest of the Orange gave it a real freshness. In fact the cake went down so well that it barely lasted the night.

E is for Easter-straight outta the fridge and ready to serve.