Angelnina’s Cottage

Italian EASTER EGG BREAD RING and More Easter Dinner Ideas

NOTE: The following post is from an Easter 2007 blogI posted on my Live Journal.  I want to share it here with new readers, and to remind some of my regular readers of some Easter Dinner ideas.

I have included the Easter Egg Bread and the Almond Pear Tart  recipes.  I will get the other recipes up, as time permits.   In the meantime, you can find the Flourless Chocolate Cake and the Mandarin Sorbet in Giuliano Hazan’s cookbook.

Easter 2007

This Easter I ended up making too many desserts.  I look through cookbooks all of the time, and when I see things I want to make, I tell myself I should wait until a holiday.  I don’t think I’ll wait anymore.

ABOVE: Italian Easter Bread

I have wanted to make this bread for years, but never made enough time to squeeze it into an Easter menu.  It is time consuming, but it was worth it.  I served it the next day, and I would recommend only serving this the same day you bake it.
EASTER EGG BREAD RING (Italian/ Greek)

3 tablespoons multicolored sprinkles (jimmies

1. Color the 5 eggs with egg dye. In a large mixing bowl, blend the white sugar, salt, and yeast well with 1 cup of the flour.
2. In a saucepan, combine 2/3 cup milk and butter, heating slowly until liquid is warm and butter is melted. Pour the milk into the dry ingredients and beat 125 strokes with a wooden spoon. Add eggs and 1/2 cup flour or enough to make a thick batter. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes. Stir in enough flour to make a ball of dough that draws away from the sides of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for about 10 minutes, working in additional flour to overcome stickiness. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, combine the fruit, nuts, and anise seed.
5. Punch down the dough and return it to a lightly floured board. Knead in the fruit mixture, keeping the syrupy pieces dusted with flour until they are worked into the dough. Divide the dough in half.
6. Carefully roll each piece into a 24-inch rope–the fruit and nuts will make this slightly difficult. Loosely twist the two ropes together and form a ring on a greased baking sheet. Pinch the ends together well. Brush the dough with melted shortening. Push aside the twist to make a place for each egg. Push eggs down carefully as far as possible. Cover the bread with wax paper and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
7. Bake the bread in a preheated 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a twist comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.
8. Once the bread is cool, drizzle the icing on top between the eggs, and decorate with colored sprinkles. To make icing: mix together confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon whole milk, and vanilla.

OR Click here for the recipe.

I decided to do two baking sheets of roasted veggies.  It was a way to have an assortment of vegetables and cook them all at once.  The tray not shown had baby reds, zucchini, carrots, sweet onions, garlic, and herbs.

The Pear Upside Down Cake is truly one of my favorite cakes.  The recipe calls for almond paste and fresh Bosc pears.  This is the second time I’ve made it and one I’ll make again and again.

I also made my first flourless chocolate cake.  The recipe is from Hazan’s book and this is a cake only a true chocolate lover/ worshipper can eat.  I used semi sweet chocolates from Germany.

“Rich” is an understatement.

ABOVE: Mandarin Orange Sorbet (made with Prosecco)
If you like sorbet, you have to try this recipe –again Hazan’s–for Mandarin Orange Sorbet.  It calls for a cup of Prosecco and fresh squeezed mandarin oranges.  This is a new favorite of mine!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend–holiday or no.