Simple recipes for the Easter weekend
The Easter bank holiday weekend is a popular time for baking as many of us will be hosting friends and family.
We’ve put together a list of four Easter-inspired sweet treats that are easy, affordable and fun to make.
They include egg-shaped biscuits with jammy ‘yolks’, classic, chocolate Easter nests, and a hot cross bun loaf.
Easter biscuits
Prep 1 hour and 15 minutes cooking time, makes 18
This recipe makes egg-shaped biscuits with a jammy middle and includes an option for an iced top, which we’re not including as they’re fiddlier to make.
After you make the biscuit dough, chill in the fridge for 15 minutes, roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin and use an egg-shaped cookie cutter to make an even number of biscuits.
Use a small circular cutter to stamp holes in half of the biscuits (where the yolk would be) and then bake for 12-15 minutes until pale gold.
Cover the ones with a hole on it in dusted icing sugar and the spread apricot jam or lemon curd over the whole biscuit and then sandwich the dusted biscuit on top.
Try the recipe.
Easy Easter nests
Prep 25 minutes and 8 minutes cooking time, makes 12
Chocolate nests are an Easter classic, and they’re simple enough to make for kids to get involved in. Chocolate is melted in a small bowl placed over barely simmering water. Remove the bowl and pour the melted chocolate over crushed shredded wheat.
Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases and make a central hollow with teaspoon to create a nest shape. Place three mini chocolate eggs on top of each nest and chill them in the fridge for two hours until set. Add some fluffy chick decorations to them for a fun touch.
Lemon sponge cake
Prep 25 minutes and 55 minutes cooking time, serves 10-12
This cake is topped with lemon icing and candied peel and has a citrussy sponge made with Greek yoghurt which adds moistness and a tangy depth of flavour.
To make the sponge, which includes butter, caster sugar, eggs and lemon zest, flour, baking powder, salt and in the yoghurt. Spoon into a lined tin and bake for around 50 minutes.
Mix lemon juice with icing sugar to make a thick icing and spoon over the top of the cooled cake, allowing it to drip a bit down the sides. Either top with lemon zest or make strips of candied lemon peel which takes about 15 minutes to make.
Hot cross bun loaf
Prep 20 minutes, 1 hour 30 minutes for rising, 30 minutes cooking time (plus 30 to cool), serves 10
Fill your home with the smell of freshly baked bread with this recipe, which offers the same flavours as a traditional hot cross bun but in a loaf form.
Create the dough by mixing flour, butter, yeast, dried fruit, glace cherries and mixed candied peel, spices, light muscovado sugar together with hot water and milk.
Knead the dough for ten minutes and leave to rise somewhere warm for one hour or so. Make a thick-ish flour and water paste to pour into a disposable piping bag and pipe a cross over the dough. Brush the top of the risen dough with the milk and bake in the oven until golden brown.
