However, the Easter bunny arrived for our Easter Egg Hunt................
The idea of an egg-laying rabbit was taken to America in the 1700s by German immigrants. They told their children if they were good the Easter bunny would leave them coloured eggs.
Chloe and Emmie had been very good so they hopped on down to find the Easter eggs. They had a great time running around finding the hidden Easter bunny drawings.
With the weather being so cold Easter was like another Christmas. (We even had a turkey, but no Christmas pudding. Instead a hot Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding, which everyone enjoyed, so recipe at the end of this blog). Not that I'm complaining - any excuse for family time, celebrations, drinking champagne at lunch-time and cute decor is good for me.
Table all ready for lunch:-
and the family - Alun, Gemma, Emmie, Caroline, Mike, Chloe, Doug, Sofia, Balou, Stuart, Tina and Chris
With this cold weather life seems to be on hold at the moment whilst we wait for Spring. I'm fed up of this never ending winter. I want to wear summer clothes and sandals and go out without a coat, scarf, gloves and boots. However, Easter holiday weekends can be notorious for their weather, and part of the blame for this is that the dates of Easter can fall between March 22nd and April 25th, when the weather can range from freezing to heatwave. One of the most surprising things is that snow has often fallen over Easter. In the past 50 years there have been more than a dozen white Easters. Parts of the UK still had snow this Easter.
I hope everyone had a great Easter break.
Spring is coming:-
Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding.
It is quite simply one of the most brilliant hot puddings ever invented. It's so simple but so good - and even better prepared two days in advance. Serve in small portions because it is very rich. Though I doubt if there will be any left over, it's also wonderful cold.
9 slices, thick good quality white bread, 1 day old, taken from a large loaf
5 oz (150g) dark continental chocolate with 75% cocoa solids
15 fl. oz (425 ml) whipping cream
4 tablespoons dark rum
4 oz (110g) caster sugar
3 oz (75g) butter
A good pinch cinnamon
3 x size 1 eggs
To serve: Double cream, well chilled
You will also need a shallow ovenproof dish 7 x 9 inches (18 x 23 cm) base and 2 inches (5 cm) deep, lightly buttered.
Begin by removing the crusts from the slices of bread, which should leave you with approximately 9 x 4 inch (10 cm) squares. So now cut each slice into 4 triangles. Next place the chocolate, whipping cream, rum, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, being careful not to let the bowl touch the water, then wait until the butter and chocolate have melted and the sugar has completely dissolved. Next remove the bowl from the heat and give it a really good stir to amalgamate all the ingredients.
Now in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and then pour the chocolate mixture over them and whisk again very thoroughly to blend them together.
Then spoon about a 1/2 inch (1 cm) layer of the chocolate mixture into the base of the dish and arrange half the bread triangles over the chocolate in overlapping rows. Now pour half the remaining chocolate mixture all over the bread as evenly as possible then arrange the rest of the triangles over that, finishing off with a layer of chocolate. Use a fork to press the bread gently down so that it gets covered very evenly with the liquid as it cools.
Cover the dish with clingfilm and allow to stand at room temperature for 2 hours before transferring it to the fridge for a minimum of 24 (but preferably 48) hours before cooking. When your're ready to cook the pudding, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 350 F (180C). Remove the clingfilm and bake in the oven on a
high shelf for 30 - 35 minutes, by which time the top will be crunchy and the inside soft and squidgey. Leave it to stand for 10 minutes before serving with well- chilled double cream poured over. Enjoy.
Delia Smith's Winter Collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment