Welcome to April. I am looking forward to the fast-approaching Easter weekend. It still seems unusual to me to work on Good Friday and Easter Monday as these days are both public holidays in the UK, most of Europe, Canada and Australia. Despite this I always love Easter weekend with dressing up in pastel colors for church and cooking family lunch for everyone.
I have just about got used to the American tradition of preparing a ham instead of British roast lamb on Easter Sunday, but I do miss the English tradition of enjoying hot cross buns. These are now generally eaten throughout the Easter season, although they were first baked in England during the 14th century to be served on Good Friday.
These small, lightly sweet yeast buns contain raisins or currants and sometimes chopped candied fruit.
Before baking, a cross is slashed in the top of the bun and a paste of flour and fat added to the cross shape. An alternative is that once baked, a confectioner’s sugar icing can be used to fill the cross. It is possible but not easy to get hold of these in Coastal Georgia, and this year I do not have time to try baking them. Back in the UK, my British friends tell me that Marks and Spencer, a very popular store with high quality “food halls’, have been getting quite adventurous with their new “fusion baking” hot cross buns. These include versions filled like a donut including red velvet and lemon curd flavors, tiramisu versions infused with coffee and enriched with mascarpone and chocolate as well as various cheese and apple varieties. None of these new-fangled changes really appeal so I think if I do score any hot cross buns this year, I will stick to my favorite currant version lightly toasted and spread with high quality unsalted butter. Yum!
Another traditional British sweet treat for Easter is Simnel Cake, dating back to medieval times.
Its name is believed to be derived from the Latin word “simila,” meaning fine flour—highlighting the high-quality ingredients used in this celebration cake. The ingredients include raisins, currants, and sultanas, candied peel, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. What makes it different to other fruit cakes is the incorporation of marzipan (almond paste) not just on top but also baked into the center. The most iconic element of the Simnel Cake is the 11 marzipan balls arranged on the top. These small, spheres represent the 11 loyal apostles of Christ, purposefully omitting Judas Iscariot, the betrayer.
Exchanging and eating Easter eggs is a popular custom in many countries but before they were replaced by chocolate, real eggs were used, usually chicken’s eggs which were hard-boiled and dyed in bright colors and patterns to represent spring and light. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are an important part of Easter celebrations across the globe, but English and European chocolate differs dramatically in both taste and composition. Why the big difference? It’s due to a combination of factors including European chocolate having a much higher cocoa content than the USA, and also much less sugar levels than American-style chocolate. Milk variety and quality, emulsifiers, flavoring choices and cultural preferences all play a part but a major reason dates back to early 20th century America.
As refrigeration wasn’t reliable or widely available, the chocolate brand Hershey’s adopted a milk-stabilization process to keep milk usable for large-scale chocolate production as it traveled across this vast country, but it also created butyric acid as a by-product. Butyric acid is perfectly safe to consume, but it’s the same compound responsible for the smell of rancid butter and Parmesan cheeses. To my British-raised palate, the tangy flavor of American chocolate is unpleasant and I much prefer the taste of chocolate from the land of my birth.
While chocolate is a relatively recent addition to the traditional Easter basket, the giving and receiving of these baskets date back to the 17th century, when Europeans began to tell stories to their children about a hare who would lay eggs only for well-behaved children in a nest, usually made from a basket or hat. Dutch immigrants brought this tradition with them to America, where the Easter hare became more commonly known as the “Easter Bunny.” The Easter Bunny exploded in popularity during the Victorian Era, when its image began to appear on greeting cards, papier-mache eggs, candy wrappers and more. There is a lot more information at www.history.com and www.bbc.co.uk I will leave you with a quote from 20th Century American humorist Evan Esar: “Easter is the only time when it’s perfectly safe to put all your eggs in one basket.”
God Bless America and Happy Easter!
Lesley grew up in London, England and made Georgia her home in 2009. She can be contacted at lesley@lesleyfrancispr.com or via her PR and marketing agency at www.lesleyfrancispr.com.