Marbled Eggs and Hot Cross Buns

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This is Good Friday so dinner of course is beer battered fish and chips from a local eatery that holds a special dinner each Good Friday. Early tomorrow morning we will make the journey to our kids and grandbaby to celebrate Easter. One of our kids will be coming with us while the others will meet us there. Our second grandbaby is due April 4 so this will make it easier for them not having to travel. I'm really looking forward to it. So I've spent the day making homemade dinner rolls and hot cross buns to take tomorrow. I also made a marbled egg tray.

Marbled Eggs

Pictured is the marbled eggs I made today and yes I did remove the background. I was in such a rush to take the picture I ended up with a lot of clutter in the background that I didn't see until I sat down to blog so thanks to a bit of Photoshop work, you see the lovely eggs and not the cluttered background.

Marbled eggs are so easy to make. They make a perfect tray for Easter entertaining. The muted marbled colours are very spring toned. Leave them whole on a bed of greens for snacking. I used beet juice for the pink eggs, coffee for the yellowish eggs and blue food colouring for the blue eggs.

Marbled Eggs

12 eggs or desired number
1 c beet juice*
1 c very strong coffee**
food colouring (optional)
1 c warm water per colour (if using food colouring)

Place eggs in large sauce pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. Cover and let sit 20 minutes. Run under cold water. If using food colour, drop several drops of desired colour into 1 c of warm water. Mix. Line the colours you are using in a row for easy handling. I used three colours in total. Remove one egg from the cold water and dry. Hit all over the egg shell with the back of a spoon to make several cracks. Place the egg in the colour for about 3 minutes. Remove and let dry enough to carefully peel off the shell.

* beet juice gives a lovely pink colour
** strong coffee will give nice yellowish marble compared to yellow food colouring that barely shows up

Hot Cross Buns

Pictured are dinner rolls using the modified basic white bread recipe and hot cross buns cooling. Any bread recipe can be made into buns and by far our favourite one is the basic white bread. However, hot cross buns are special. Even though I could easily make them other times of the year, they tend to be an Easter treat. Hot cross buns are an Easter must have for Easter brunch but are a family favourite throughout the Easter celebration. Like most breads I make hot cross buns from scratch. The enticing aroma tantalizes the taste buds. These hot cross buns are at their finest when fresh from the oven!

Hot Cross Buns

1¼ c milk
¼ c butter
⅓ c sugar
1 lg egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
3½ c unbleached flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 c raisins
3 tsp instant yeast

Place dry ingredients into mixing bowl of KitchenAid^® stand mixer. Mix at stir speed to blend. Mix milk, egg and butter together. While on sstir slowly pour into the dry ingredients. When dough leaves sides of bowl, increase to speed 2 and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Remove dough hook. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Form each piece into a smooth roll. Place each roll on a lightly greased baking sheet or use a Silpat. Let rise until double. Slash top of each bun to form a cross. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until double. Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle the cross with icing sugar glaze while hot.

Icing Sugar Glaze

¾ c sifted icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
2 drops almond flavouring

Combine ingredients and stir until smooth.