Easter recipes

“Jesus said … ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die’”(John 11:25–26, ESV)

“He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!”

As we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this Holy Week gives us much to ponder. How do you celebrate Easter? There are so many different traditions from across the world and throughout history, that I have found it interesting to learn about other times and places that people celebrated the Easter story.

I also recognize that many of our Easter traditions aren’t specifically mentioned in the Bible (bunnies, eggs, candy . . . . ) and I know that some families choose to focus exclusively on the Biblical story of Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection at this time of year. I’ve also been reading some articles on other perspectives about when and how to celebrate the Resurrected Christ.

One thing that is for sure, for all of us, no matter when, where, or how we celebrate Easter, is that we are celebrating the gift of eternal life that is only through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever your family traditions are at this time of year, we all can come together to celebrate HIM!

Here are some of the origins of various Easter traditions that I found interesting. Perhaps you have some family traditions for celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. I would love to hear about them!

One of our favorite Easter traditions is making Hot Cross Buns. We try to keep the focus on the Bible story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection during this holiday time, and one way to do that is with the story of Hot Cross Buns. According to legend, the origins of hot cross buns may go back as far as the 12th century. In one story, an Anglican monk baked the buns and marked them with a cross in honor of Good Friday. Over time they gained popularity, and eventually became a symbol of Easter weekend.

In many historically Christian countries, the buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the crucifixion. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term ” hot cross bun” is not until 1733.

We’ve celebrated Easter for many years this way, and now it is just part of our family’s tradition at this time of year. Here is a recipe to check out if you would like to start this tradition in your family.

Hot Cross Buns

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

BUNS

1/4 cup apple juice or rum
1/2 cup mixed dried fruit
1/2 cup raisins or dried currants
1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk (save the white for the topping)
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

TOPPING

1 large egg white, reserved from above
1 tablespoon milk

ICING

1 cup + 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 teaspoons milk, or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing

Instructions

Lightly grease a 10″ square pan or 9″ x 13″ pan.
Mix the rum or apple juice with the dried fruit and raisins, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave briefly, just till the fruit and liquid are very warm, and the plastic starts to “shrink wrap” itself over the top of the bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Note: If you worry about using plastic wrap in your microwave, simply cover the bowl with a glass lid.
When the fruit is cool, mix together all of the dough ingredients (including the eggs and the egg yolk from the separated egg); hold out the fruit for the time being. Knead the mixture, using an electric mixer or bread machine, until the dough is soft and elastic. Mix in the fruit and any liquid not absorbed.
Let the dough rise for 1 hour, covered. It should become puffy, though may not double in bulk.
Divide the dough into billiard ball-sized pieces, about 3 3/4 ounces each. A heaped muffin scoop (about 1/3 cup) makes about the right portion. You’ll make 12 to 14 buns. Use your greased hands to round them into balls. Arrange them in the prepared pan.
Cover the pan, and let the buns rise for 1 hour, or until they’ve puffed up and are touching one another. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Whisk together the reserved egg white and milk, and brush it over the buns.
Bake the buns for 20 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove from the oven, carefully turn the buns out of the pan (they should come out in one large piece), and transfer them to a rack to cool.
Mix together the icing ingredients, and when the buns are completely cool, pipe it in a cross shape atop each bun.

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Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Nina-Vintage Mamas Cottage

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Bev-Eclectic Red Barn

Angelina- Petite Haus

Theresa Begin – Shoestring Elegance

An InLinkz Link-up

We have made Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday for many, many years. Even though I’ve never learned how to make a pie crust, I’ve always been really successful with yeast breads.

Having grown up with very few family traditions, one of my priorities with my own children was to establish a few traditions, especially surrounding the holidays. Easter is such an important event in the life of a Christian family, so we have always tried to find ways to celebrate in ways that were meaningful for children, at various ages and stages of life.

Discovering the history of different Christian traditions has always been of interest to me (as is the history of lots of different times, places, and people!), so I was rather surprised when I started reading about the history of Hot Cross Buns to discover that there are several myths surrounding this traditional Easter bread, and limited historical evidence for the beginnings of this holiday tradition.

“Hot Cross buns have quite a history behind them; the idea of marking crosses on baked goods such as bread, cakes and buns goes right back to pre-Medieval times and was a visible sign that the bread was “blessed” and had the power to ward off evil spirits, as well as help with the longevity of the bread by stopping it going moldy or becoming stale so quickly. A cross marked on the dough was also believed to help the bread to rise.

[ctt template=”5″ link=”t0waW” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]We’re making Hot Cross Buns for our Easter celebration. Do you have any Easter traditions?[/ctt]

The first buns with crosses that were attributed to the festival of Easter came along a little later however, as Kate Colquhoun states in her excellent book “Taste: The Story Of Britain Through Its Cooking“……….“In honour of Eastre, goddess of spring and the dawn, [Anglo-Saxon] bread dough could be studded with dried fruits and baked into small loaves that, as Christianity spread, began to be marked with a cross by monks: the earliest form of hot-cross bun”.

It can be said that these were the earliest examples of what we know to be Hot Cross Buns today, and from the late 1600’s onward the custom grew that special spices buns known as “Good Friday Buns” were to be marked with a cross and were to be eaten for breakfast on Good Friday.

Although the name for Hot Cross Buns was commonly known as Good Friday Buns for nearly a hundred years, during the 1730s the buns were starting to be sold on the streets, and therein the name as well as the popular rhyme emerged, as the sellers would shout out ” One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot-cross buns “………..a penny for a larger bun or for two smaller ones. This tradition was still in practice as little as eighty years ago, as my dad can remember the Hot Cross Bun sellers coming around the streets to sell them on Good Friday. ” ~from Lavender and Lovage