Darina’s Easter Egg cake
It needs nothing more than a few flakes of sea salt before being popped into a moderate oven to roast to melting tenderness. Search for the first little sprigs of fresh mint to make a sauce to accompany it for Easter Sunday lunch.
For pudding, I canât think of anything more delicious than a simple rhubarb tart made with the fresh pink stalks of new seasonâs rhubarb. Use the âbreak-all-the-rules pastryâ and make by the creaming method, 225g (8oz) butter, 55g (2oz) caster sugar, 2 eggs, 340g (12 oz) white flour â this makes 750g (1Ÿlb) pastry.
Lamb sweetbreads are also in season. If you havenât cooked or tasted them before, pick up courage and order some from your local butcher. They are a rare treat that you will find on the menu of top restaurants but they are amazingly inexpensive to buy, partly because so few people know what to do with them. Wild garlic is also in season, so try the combination with sweetbreads.
This is also the best time of year to enjoy lambâs liver and kidneys â tender and mild, cooked in minutes, packed with vitamins, minerals and of course iron. When did we stop loving liver? Could it be partly because it is cheap and so is undervalued? Kids learn many of their food preferences from their parents. Having said that, at least one of my daughters canât be persuaded that it is super delicious. If youâve been off sugar for Lent I shouldnât be trying to tempt you, but who could resist Pamela Blackâs Easter chocolate cake, full of speckled eggs?
2 x 20cm (8 inch) round sandwich tins
Fluffy yellow chicks
First make the sponges.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the sieved flour and baking powder carefully and add a little milk if required to give a dropping consistency.
Spoon into prepared tins and spread evenly.Cook for 20-25 minutes.
Beat the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder slowly. Finally add the vanilla extract and hot water - mixing all thoroughly. Once cooled, add 3 tablespoons of butterscotch sauce to the buttercream and mix thoroughly. Taking a 10cm (4 inch) round cutter, cut a disc from the centre of one of the two sponges (keep aside and use for a mini cake).
Spread 2 tablespoons of the buttercream over the base of the remaining sponge. Place the cut sponge on top and cover all the surface completely with remaining icing. Allow to chill for 1 hour.
Place the cake on a parchment lined baking sheet and quickly press the chocolate sprinkles and chocolate caraque into the sides, over the top and into the hollow of the cake â it should now resemble a birds nest.
Fill the centre with speckled eggs and decorate with fluffy chicks.
Put the butter and sugar into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt gently on a low heat. Simmer for about 5 minutes, remove from the heat and gradually stir in the cream and the vanilla extract. Put back on the heat and stir for 2 or 3 minutes until the sauce is absolutely smooth. Allow to cool.
Melt 150g (5oz) of chocolate in a Pyrex bowl over simmering water (not boiling) and stir until smooth. Pour the chocolate onto a flat baking sheet, and tap the tin gently to spread. Allow to cool. Once cool, using a cheese slice, or the blade of a chopping knife, pull the blade across the chocolate creating âcurlsâ as you go.
Sweetbreads are definitely a forgotten treat. The salty tang of the anchovies in this recipe gives another dimension and adds lots of complementary flavour without compromising the sweetness of the sweetbreads.
To prepare sweetbreads: Put the sweetbreads into a bowl, cover with cold water and let them soak for three hours. Discard the water and cut away any discoloured parts from the sweetbreads.
Dice the carrot, onion and celery and sweat them in butter; add the bouquet garni. Then add the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
Poach the sweetbreads gently in the simmering stock for 3â5 minutes or until they feel firm to the touch. Cool, then remove the gelatinous membranes and any fatty bits carefully. Press between 2 plates and top with a weight not more than 1kg (2lb) or they will be squashed.
Prepare the salad: Wash and dry the lettuces and salad leaves and whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.
Slice the sweetbreads into escalopes, dip in well-seasoned flour and then in beaten egg. Sauté in a little foaming butter and oil in a heavy pan until golden on both sides.
Toss the salad leaves in the dressing, divide between 4 plates and lay the hot sweetbreads and then potato crisps on top. Sprinkle with chopped anchovy and wild garlic flowers or chive flowers and serve immediately.
Cut the lambâs liver into 4cm (1Âœ inch) cubes. Dip the cubes of liver in well-seasoned flour and lots of freshly cracked pepper. Shake off the excess.
Cut the bacon/rashers in half crossways, stretch with a knife, wrap around each piece of liver and secure with a cocktail stick.
Cook in a preheated oven at 250C (500F) for 5-6 minutes or until the bacon is crispy and the liver still a little pink in the centre.
Serve on a bed of watercress sprigs.
Cut the kidneys in half, remove the âplumbingâ and cut each one into four pieces and wash well.
Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a small frying pan, add the kidneys and cook for a minute or two, tossing them occasionally.
Add the sherry, allow to bubble for a moment and follow up with a splash of wine or cider vinegar. Stir in the redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and mustard.
Season with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add the cream and bubble for another minute or two, shaking the pan occasionally until the sauce is slightly reduced.
Taste and add more cayenne and black pepper and lots of parsley if you like.
Serve on char-grilled sourdough bread with some sprigs of watercress. For a more substantial supper dish, serve with plain boiled rice and a crisp green salad. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.
Making chips at home is definitely worthwhile â a few potatoes produce a ton of crisps and nothing you buy in any shop will be even half as delicious. A mandolin is well worth buying for making chips â but mind your fingers! When these are served with roast pheasant they are called game chips.
Wash and peel the potatoes. For even-sized crisps, trim each potato with a swivel-top peeler until smooth. Slice them very finely, preferably with a mandolin.
Soak in cold water to remove the excess starch (this will also prevent them from discolouring or sticking together). Drain off the water and dry well.
In a deep-fat fryer, heat the oil or dripping to 180C/350F. Drop in the dry potato slices a few at a time and fry until golden and completely crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat until they are all cooked.
If they are not to be served immediately, they may be stored in a tin box and reheated in a low oven just before serving.
Seakale is a sublime vegetable, as precious and rare as new seasonâs asparagus, but available during the âhungry gapâ in April, when the winter vegetables are ending, but the summer vegetables are barely seedlings. Weâll have some for sale at our stall at Midleton farmersâ market.
The Galway Food Festival is on over Easter, until April 6. Thereâs a packed programme of markets, foraging trips, food trails, talks, tours, tastings, demonstrations, and workshops. See www.galwayfoodfestival.com
At Ballymaloe Cookery School we have courses in April: âStart Your Own Guest Houseâ, Monday, April 20 to Friday, April 24; or how about an afternoon class? âCafĂ© Sandwiches and Saladsâ (April 13), or âTeashop Cakes and Biscuitsâ (April 14), or â10 Great Brunch Recipesâ (April 17). See www.cookingisfun.ie
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