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Easter Sunday is a time of universal celebration with a feast of magnanimous proportions. Symbolizing the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this day also marks the end of the Lenten fasting period just as much as Good Friday does. Moreover, Easter Sunday is the day marked to celebrate the beginning of spring, a season of rebirth and freshness. Naturally then, there are a number of traditional dishes that are prepared to celebrate Easter Sunday.
Pastry Chef Dinesh Pai, who cooks up the sweetest of delicacies for the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, shares two such stunning Easter staples that are a must for your Easter Sunday feast. His Hot Cross Buns recipe is so easy that anybody who can access the ingredients can easily whip these up in no time. Pai’s Chocolate Truffle Cake on the other hand is so rich and delicious that it just has to be a part of your Easter feast. Check out these recipes and give them a try now.
Hot Cross Buns
These golden-brown buns are a must on Easter Sunday, and go really well with other dishes that you may want to include in the feast, whether its lamb or potatoes. Chef Dinesh Pai’s Hot Cross Buns recipe can be made in a large batch and served to a big festive gathering. Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients:
2800 g flour
1400 g water
340 g sugar
60 g salt
150 g fresh yeast
300 g butter
150 g milk powder
5 nos. Eggs
30 g bread improver
30 g cinnamon powder
15 g nutmeg powder
15 g cloves
540 g raisins
75 g orangeade
75 g citronade
For the cross piping:-
250 g flour
300 g water
75 g oil
Method:
1. Place all the ingredients except the raisins in a pot.
2. Keep stirring the mix for 5 minutes at a low flame, then for 12 minutes at a high flame.
3. Add the raisins to the dough just 3 minutes before switching off the flame.
4. Let the dough cool down a bit then knead it further. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
5. Once the dough is rested, cut it up into pieces of 2100 g each then let them rest for another 15 minutes.
6. Roll each dough into equal-sized rounds and place them on lined baking sheets close to each other.
7. Cover and let the dough prove for some time.
8. Meanwhile, place the cross piping ingredients in a bowl, mix well, then transfer into a piping bag.
9. Once the dough balls are proved, pipe the cross on them.
10. Bake the Hot Cross Buns at 200 degrees for 18 minutes, then serve hot.
Image courtesy: Grand Hyatt Mumbai
Chocolate Truffle Cake
Luscious, rich and deliciously sweet, this Chocolate Truffle Cake by Chef Dinesh Pai is just the note you need to end your Easter feast with. Made with dark chocolate, this cake is going to appeal to both kids and adults. Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients:
5 nos. Eggs
156 g sugar
94 g flour
38 g cocoa powder
62 g unsalted butter
25 g dark couverture
500 g cream
100 g dark couverture shavings
Method:
1. Whisk the eggs with sugar in a large bowl.
2. Sieve flour together with the cocoa powder into this bowl.
3. Melt butter and chocolate together and fold in with the flour carefully.
4. Add the mixture in the cake ring and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes.
5. Heat the cream and remove immediately from the stove when it starts to boil.
6. Add the small chopped dark chocolate to the cream and stir until completely dissolved.
7. Keep this mixture for at least 24 hours in the fridge.
8. Whip the mixture like fresh cream.
9. Cut the cooled sponge in three disks and fill with the chocolate cream.
10. Cover outside with the remaining cream and use chocolate shaving all over the top and side of the cake as decoration.
