Happy Easter! Easter Rocky Road and Simnel Cake

The end of lent. Hope you have enjoyed my lent prompts about dementia through lent. Also hope you have enjoyed the Eastermass posts from and including Palm Sunday a week ago. Hopefully you have learnt something about dementia or Easter.

I have made Easter Rocky Road and Simnel Cake.

Easter Rocky Road

• I used microwave to melt chocolate and butter.
• 
• Smashed biscuits up.
• You need to be prepared with everything going to stir into chocolate so it does not set.
• Stirred in marshmallows, sultanas and crushed biscuits. It is stiff to stir.
• 
• Then placed it into a flat rectangular dish and squashed down.
• Placed mini eggs on top.
• 
• Put it in fridge to set. Ideally best to leave overnight.
• Once set cut into pieces.
• 

Simnel Cake

I made this last year from Bero book as it describes as a round cake. I used same recipe to make buns.

• Used microwave to start combine sugar and butter.
• 
• Mixed together butter and sugar.
• Added eggs one at a time, with a bit of flour in between.
• 
• Added pinch of salt, mixed spice and milk.
• Added golden syrup.
• 
• In the recipe the main fruit is current, I did not buy more currents and did not have many left. Therefore my fruit mix contained less currents and more raisins and sultanas than recipe.
• I used more glacé cherries than in recipe and only halved them as that is messy enough and I wanted to have lots of juicy cherries in it.
• 
• Added remainder of flour.
• 
• Used spoon to put blobs of mixture into bottom of bun cases.
• Rolled out marzipan and used cutter to create circles.
• Placed a circle in each buncase.
• 
• Topped each buncase with mixture over the marzipan circle.
• 
• Baked in oven as this was different to the recipe, I did not glance at time when put them in and just kept an eye on them. They did not take long so this was easier than making a round cake which takes 2 and half hours!
• Left to cool.
• Spread apricot jam on each cake.
• Stuck another marzipan circle on to apricot jam on each cake.
• 
• Put under grill to brown slightly.
• Ate one cake as a tester. That left 11 cakes representing disciples apart from Judus; see yesterday’s post for clarification, regarding this.
• 

I had hot cross buns for breakfast. I have the Rocky Road and Simnel cakes packed up now, to take home for my family. Now need to get them there and have traditional family Easter Sunday Roast.

Happy Easter 🐣 Or although not the same, just happens to fall at same time, this year: Happy Passover. Or just Good Sunday all!

Eastermass 🐣 Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I can recite the first verse because I had it on a bookmark, which I currently can not find.

As I wandered lonely as a cloud ☁️ ,

All at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils 🌼 ,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze,

Beside the lake, beneath the trees 🌳 🌲

Eastermass 🐣 Traditional English meets Millenial cool

Not really a recipe and probably not very original, but first time i have made was this Easter week. There is traditional English crumpets with spring green avocado and a fried egg on top.

I toasted the crumpets.

Mashed the advocardo with lemon.

Fried the egg.

Placed advocardo then egg on the crumpet.

Fantastic biting through and getting crunch of crumpet and chewy texture. The egg texture both runny yolk and then white and taste and the taste and texture of avocado with tang of the lemon juice.

Eastermass: Do you decorate / send cards?

My next-door neighbour, where I use to live started sending me Easter cards. Therefore I reciprocated and still send him cards.

This is what, I have sent this year.

I now have some Easter baubles so it is nice to put them up. but I have not got round to that yet. Easter seems to have arrived so quick! What is happening to this year?!

What about you? Do you decorate / send cards for easter?

Traditionally, sending cards and decorating for Easter is not common. However in recent years the amount of cards and decorations been sold in shops has increased (commercialisation).

Eastermass 🐣 It is begining to look a lot like Easter at john Lewis

The gooey chocolate cake, has undergone a spring make over. It was splattered I gold for Christmas. Now it has pink sprinkles down side for spring.

The rocky road has mini Easter eggs on top. There is Simnel cake with mini eggs on top. It is tasty, but I would call them Simmnel bites rather than cake as quite small.

There is retro pineapple upside down cake. It is lovely soft sponge.

There is apple pie. Which is a good version of the English classic.

The rhubarb framgipane is soft, gooey and tasty.

The carrot cake, looks very pretty with some blue strands on top. It also has pecans on top, so I would have to pick those off as I’m allergic to nuts. Nothing wrong with it, but it is quite boring, compared to the other options.

There is a strawberry tart which has some tasty cream in.

Eastermass 🐣: Dream Easter eggs

I like the look of the one, that was the winner in Sixer,

These eggs are pretty.

I can remember as a child being thrilled with a Thornton’s egg with my name written on in white icing. I got a free egg from Thornton’s through O2 priority. It meets expectations for milk chocolate. You can get different designs on including butterfly, cupcake and more.

I have entered a raffle to win a Lindt eggs. There is 2 to win each has a big egg and some mini Lindt eggs in different flavours.

I have entered a Facebook competition to win this chocolate egg from Cocoa in Sheffield. Apparently it weighs nearly 3kg and is worth £95.

For the third year, in the row, I have had some free mini eggs for being a My John Lewis card holder. They are good quality chocolate, with some tasty goo in the second of various flavours.

I would love Belgian Easter treats from Leonidos or Godiva.

What about you, have you spotted your dream egg? If so, what is it?

Eastermass 🐣- Palm Sunday

With Easter Sunday a week away, I think I can probably manage a Easter / spring related post each day until then. In addition to my last lent prompts regarding dementia.

Today is Palm Sunday. It marks the start of Holy Week; the last week of lent before holy Sunday.

I was remembering this morning, going to Palm Sunday services when I was younger and getting a Palm cross. Then, I found a Palm cross, whilst I was clearing tables at work. I put it in my apron; as it was sticking out colleague’s asked about it. My explanation about Palm Sunday was … it was when Jesus came into Jerusalem a week before Easter Sunday on a donkey’; I was bit stumped when they asked why.

I have refreshed my memory / Googled. Basically before his death Jesus was becoming popular and was therefore thought of as a threat by the Romans. Rather than go into hiding from the Romans Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey. The donkey is symbolic; if he had rode in on a horse that would have been like he was a King preparing for battle. A donkey is a symbol of peace. Crowds gathered and waved branches from palm trees 🌴 and laid down palm leaves to make it easier for the donkey to walk. Palms are a symbol of peace. In the Old Testament from before Jesus was born it was stated that people would recognise the Messaih when he cane and wave palms.

Today Palms like the one, I found today are given out at church services to remember Jesus coming into Jerusalem. I’m pleased I was the one who found it and I did not throw it in the trash as apparently they are sacred and should be kept until the following Ash Wednesday and burnt in a special church ceremony.

Hope this is not too religious for you. Personally, I’m not keen on blogs all about God. I last went to church on Christmas Eve, but I’am a Godmother to my nephew and niece so feel, I should keep abreast. Also I think, it is not bad to use religion to do good hence my lent prompt series last year regarding homelessness and this year regarding dementia.

Sixer Magazine and Dream Easter Eggs

This magazine is very exclusive, you only get it delivered through door in my area of Sheffield. It is free, so lot’s of adverts. This edition good content that, I’m tearing out.

There is an article about Tramlines that is going to be in the local Hillsborough park. So excited to see Noel Gallagher there. Still waiting for a reply to my letter to him.

Tore out the films as although have not seen first Paddington, could fancy the second. It has Hugh Grant in, so that is a plus for me.

Also tore out about about the Bradfield music festival in June.

I wish, I had the money to try out Easter eggs for blog purposes. The winner does look amazing! Or those pretty little eggs with flower decorations!

Lent Conclusion Easter Sunday 2017

I have become more aware of issues around homelessness but, still find it a complicated confusing subject. From the daily prompts I found on the charity DePaul’s website I collected £7.60 for example by collecting change to represent number of journeys taken in a day because some homeless people sleep in cars or on buses or counting conversations with family.

£7.60 is not enough to pay for one nights accommodation from DePaul as this costs £15. I will of course donate £15.

Although important to help those without homes I believe, it is even more important to try to prevent homelessness for example, by being aware of government policies such as reducing budgets for mental health issues or addiction which means people do not get the help they need and this can lead to homelessness.

Lent Contemplation: Saturday 15th April Prevention of Homelessness and Sucess Stories

Lent Contemplation: Friday 14th April

Homelessness research

When the daily prompt was to reduce stigma I designed the below. I wanted to make point that people who become homeless are the same as others but may have been less lucky in life; losing parents or being in care then having to leave care as a child of 16years.