Easter lunch taken care of

Your friendly neighbourhood foodie is back to help you with some recipes for Easter. Whether you’re having Easter lunch or dinner I hope you’ll find something to use here. To start you off there’s a recipe for some scrumptious chocolate cake provided by the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), a gorgeous roast leg of lamb recipe from the chefs at Capsicum Culinary Studio followed by a recipe for hot cross bun.  

Chocolate cake

Serves 8—10

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 1½ cups (330g) caster sugar
• 1 cup (200g) plain flour
• ½ cup (50g) cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• 110g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (240g) sour cream

For the chocolate cream cheese icing:

• 75g unsalted butter, softened
• 375g cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups (480g) icing sugar, sifted
•  cup (50g) cocoa powder, sifted
• 150g milk chocolate, melted and cooled

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 22cm round cake tin (base measurement) and line with non-stick baking paper.
2. Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on high speed for four minutes or until thick and pale. Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt and whisk to just combine, don’t overdo or it will make the batter tough. Add the butter, sour cream and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
3. Spoon the batter into the greased, lined tin and smooth the top. Bake for 45—50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Set aside in the tin for 10 minutes to cool before transferring to a cooling rack. Turn out and allow to cool completely before icing.
4. For the icing, before starting, ensure the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature.
5. Place the butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and cocoa in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low until combined and smooth. Increase the speed to high and beat for five minutes until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate and beat for a further two minutes until combined. Ice the cooled cake and serve or decorate with chocolate shavings and edible flowers.

Roast leg of lamb

This roast leg of lamb, seasoned with rosemary, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and garlic, makes for the perfect Easter lunch or dinner that will have family and friends lining up for seconds.

Ingredients

1.8kg trimmed lamb leg, boneless, rolled and tied

5 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed

3 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp olive oil

1½ tsp kosher salt, more or less to taste

fresh ground black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 190ºC. Line a roasting pan with aluminium foil and place a rack in the pan. Combine crushed garlic, rosemary, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper, mix well and rub mixture all over lamb. Roll the lamb, using string to tie it together, and tuck a few sprigs of rosemary under the string. Roast on the rack for 70 minutes until medium-rare (60ºC on a meat thermometer).

Adjust timing depending on the size of the roast. Remove, cover in foil and let it rest on a cutting board for 10-15 minutes. Remove string, slice and serve with Hasselback potatoes and your favourite veggies.

Hot cross buns

Ingredients for the buns

320ml milk

50g butter

500g bread flour

1 tsp salt

75g caster sugar

1 tbsp sunflower oil

7g sachet yeast

1 egg, beaten

75g sultanas

50g mixed peel

zest 1 orange

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients for the cross

75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

Ingredients for the glaze

3 tbsp smooth apricot jam

Method

Bring 300ml of the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, place the bread flour, salt, caster sugar and yeast into a bowl and mix until all ingredients are combined. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk and butter mixture then add the beaten egg.

Mix well with a wooden spoon, then bring everything together with your hands until you have a sticky dough. Tip dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for five minutes until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for one hour or until doubled in size. With the dough still in the bowl, tip in the sultanas, mixed peel, orange zest and cinnamon and knead into the dough, making sure everything is well distributed.

Cover and leave to rise for a further hour or until doubled in size. Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces and roll each piece into ball on a lightly floured surface. Arrange the balls across two baking trays lined with baking paper, leaving enough space for them to expand. Cover with a clean tea towel to prove for 60 minutes. Heat oven to 220ºC. Mix 75g plain flour with five tablespoon water to make the paste for the cross.

(Tip — add the water one tablespoon at a time until you have a thick paste.) Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle and pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses. Bake for 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, until golden brown.

Gently heat three tablespoon of smooth apricot jam and while still warm, brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.