Good bye - Easter Calendar 2019

As a follow up on my Easter calendar 2019 I hereby share the top 3 list of the most popular Easter Calendar 2019.

Top 3 list Easter Calendar 2019

Number 1: Easter eggs-scones

Number 2: Easter egg cakes

Number 3: Citrus gin tonic

And finally you can see a photo of the two Easter eggs, which I got here in 2019 :-) which I can use for Easter decorations in 2020 :-)

Easter decoration items of 2019 - Easter Calendar 2019

In my previous blog post Easter decorations you are able to see, how my various Easter decorations have been displayed for Eastern 2019. So perhaps you are wondering, if I have found some new Easter decoration items here in 2019 ?

Yes, I have so. On the photo above you can see two ceramic Easter egg in silhouette, which is made by LiCa ceramics, and I brought in the local handicraft shop Danmark & Norden. They fit perfect into my narrow window stills.

On a small Easter holiday to Hamburg just before the Danish Easter days (Maundy Thursday - Easter Monday) I found both these green glass eggs (photo above) and as well these handicraft Ester eggs (photo below to the right). The white egg with holes is from the area of Spreewald, Germany.

The photo below to the left shows snow drops in metallic. These decorations I have found in a chocolate shop in Haderslev.

Finally I have brought the some of the Royal Copenhagen annual Easter eggs from 2019, as I really like the flower decorations of magnolia and Fritillaria meleagris (vibeæg in Danish).

Now all my many Easter decorations have been stored away in a big box, where they will rest until Easter 2020 :-)

Easter decorations - Easter Calendar 2019

It is another Danish tradition to decorate your home with various lambs, eggs, chickens in the time up to Easter. It is also a Danish to tradition to bring tree branches to the living room, which when is decorate with various eggs decoration.

 

It is not typical Danish to decorate your outdoor surroundings with colourfull eggs. This is much more tradition in Germany. However, I really like these outdoor decorations with eggs, so I have been doing this for the last 5 years. 

I typically "dig out" my big plastic box with Easter derocations items one month before Easter happens. As this gives me plenty of time to both enjoy all my many Easter decorations, where some dates back to my childhood and other items have been brought in different countries in connection with either business or holiday travels.

I like to bring different tree branches, which I place in big vases and when decorate with various eggs. Another time is, that I use my many window stills for varous still-leben displaying the various eggs and chicken decoration items.

And usual every year I find some new Easter decoration items for my collection. I will quiet soon share the item of 2019 with you :-)

Easter afternoon tea 2019

I typical meet with my good friends from Horsens on one of  the Easter days for an Eastern afternoon tea, and this year is was on Easter Monday or second Easter day, as we enjoyed some good hours in great company eating various afternoon tea treat with Easter as theme.

As usual in connection with an afternoon tea we started off with a glass of sparkling wine. First we tried to add 1½ cl Easter aqua vita into the glass of sparkling wine. We when evaluated this combination sipping through straws, BUT this is NOT a good idea !!! The taste of the this cocktail was too bitter.

At the photo to the right side you can a champagne glass filled with tasting straws. So here we are wondering, if manufacturers of champagne and sparkling wine will "hunt us down", when they those of photo ?? Lets see :-)








At the Easter afternoon tea we enjoyed the following baked goods:

Bun with milk chocolate

Easter eggs scones

Easter egg cakes

My good friends from Horsens camed their arms full of tulips, biscuits from Møn and this wonderfull Easter greeting cards, which you can see below.

Easter egg's scones- Easter Calendar 2019

Today is Easter Monday or second Easter day, which is the the final Easter vacation day here in Denmark. So tomorrow the normal working day starts again for many of us, so lets say happy Easter to each other with a nice cup of tea.

To make these scones I have again used the latest addition equipment in form of a silicone form in egg shape.

As starting point I have used this recipe on saffron scones with various modifications. Instead of saffron I have used almonds and the very last rest of marzipan. A very fitting combination to use almonds and marzipan, as we have a saying here in Denmark, that Christmas lasts until Easter.

Saffron Scones: - 12 pieces

• 400 g cake flour
• 75 g almonds - blended into flour size
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• 50 g sugar
• 55 g marzipan - roughly grate
• 100 g cold butter
• 1 egg
• 2 dl milk
• 8 candy almonds for decoration

1. Heat the oven (conventional) to 220'C.
2. Mix the flour, almond flour, salt, baking powder,marzipan and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
3. Cut the cold butter into small pieces. 
4. Add the butter pieces and rub the butter into the flour mix, until it look like fine breadcrumbs.
5. Whip the egg and milk together to a homogeneous mass.
6. Mix milk-egg and flour-butter together without kneading it a dough.
7. Place the dough on a pieces of baking paper.
8. Flatten the dough into a height of 3 cm.
9. Place one candy almond into the each egg shape of the silicone form.
10. Place the scone dough into each egg shaped form of the silicone form.
11. Turn the silicone form up side up side down, so the silicone form covers each scone.
12. The remaining scone dough is shaped round shape and placed on the baking tray covered with baking parchment..
13. Bake the scone at 220'C for 15-20 minutes.
14. Cool down.
15. Serve together with a nice cup of tea.

Easter egg cakes - Easter Calendar 2019

Today it is Easter Sunday, which is the fourth day in the Danish Easter vacation.

Today it is time to make some Easter eggs in form of a baked cake version using the latest addition equipment in form of a silicone form in egg shape. I have used a Tupperware recipe, which I have got from my cousin with a few flavour modifications in form using lemon zest and liquorice powder as flavouring ingredients.

The amount of liquorice powder should be increased from 1/4 teaspoon to min ½ teaspoon, as it was impossible to the liquorice in these cakes.

Easter egg cakes: - 8 cakes

• 100 g soft butter
• 100 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100 g (cake) flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 50 g dakr milk chocolate -melted
• 1/4 teaspoon liquorice powder
• ½ organic lemon - only the zest

1. Heat up the fan oven to 180'C.
2. Whip the soft butter and the sugar together into a foamy white mass.
3. Add in the eggs one by one, whip between each addition of egg.
4. Add in the (cake) wheat flour and baking powder.
5. Divide the cake dough into two portions, approx. 200 g per portion.
6. Add lemon zest into one pf the cake dough portions.
7. Melt the chocolate using the micro wave oven.
8. Stir in the melted chocolate and liquorice powder into the second cake dough portion.
9. Fill half the egg silicone form with the chocolate cake dough. And fill the remaining part with the lemon cake dough.
10. Bake the cake in fan oven at 180'C for 20 minutes.
11. Cold down the cakes prior to serving them.
12. Store in airtight container.

Citrus gin tonic - Easter Calendar 2019

Today it is Good Friday (Langfredag) being the second day of the Danish Easter vacation. So today, I will enjoy my vacation time with a gin tonic as the third blog post for my Easter Calendar 2019.

The colour of Easter is really yellow in my opinion, and at the same time various citrus fruits also have the colour or yellow/orange, so the theme for this gin tonic is citrus

Citrus Gin Tonic: - 1 serving

• 6 cl Malfy Gin Rosa - Sicilian pink grapefruit
• 9 cl Fentimans Valencian Orange tonic water 
• 1-2 slices of (bllod) orange
• Ice cubes

1. Start by adding the ice cubes into the large gin bowl.
2. Fill in the gin followed by the tonic.
3. Add in slices of (blood) orange.
4. Happy Easter.

Easter cakes - Easter Calendar 2019

Today it is Maundy Thursday (Skærtorsdag), which is a public holiday here in Denmark and starting off the Danish Easter vacation with 5 days off from work. And at the same time it is also the day for the second blog post in my little Easter Calendar 2019 Easter Calendar 2019, where I every Easter day will be sharing a new recipe having a relation to Easter of some kind (according to my definition).

I found this recipe on Easter cakes at Dansukker påskeforme, which I decided to bake as the decoration part looks very easy. Sprinkle the surface of the small cakes with icing sugar, place a small fresh flower and the finishing touch of a small Easter candy egg.

Easter cakes: - 12 small cakes

Pastry:

• 250 g (cake) wheat flour
• 125 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 125 g cold butter - cut into small squares
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Cake filling:

• 3 egg whites
•  1oinch of salt
• 50 g sugar
• 125 g butter - soft
• 100 g almond flour
• 100 g (cake) wheat flour
• 1 dl jam - orange jam

Decoration:

• icing sugar
• Easter egg candy
• fresh flowers

1. Add flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, egg yolks, salt, butter and water into blender bowl with a cutting knife. Blend everything together, until the dough comes together.
2. Place the dough in bowl with lid or plastic bag. Let the dough rest cold in the refrigerator for minimum 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile whip egg whites and salt into firm foam.
4. Add in the sugar, as you keep whipping.
5. Add in the soft butter and whip into a homogeneous mass.
6. Add in the almond and wheat flour and stir into a homogeneous mass.
7. Heat up the oven to 175'C.
8. Divide the pastry dough into 12 pieces.
9. Cover the surface of silicone muffin forms with pastry dough.
10. Fill 1 teaspoon full orange jam into the bottom of the pastry dough.
11. Finally fill the remaining part of the cake form with the cake filling. I use two teaspoon to the add the cake filling on top of the orange jam.
12. Bake the cakes at 175'C for 30 minutes.
13. Remove the cakes from the oven, and let them cool down.
14. Decorate the surface of the cakes with icing sugar (passed through a sieve), fresh flower and Easter egg candy.
15. Serve together with coffee & tea.

Easter aqua vita - Easter Calendar 2019

Easter aqua vita - Easter Calendar 2019

Both Christmas and Easter in Denmark involves people meeting up with family and friends in order to spend time together at the annual celebrations. And in Denmark such celebration involves eating dinners or lunches together. For the lunches the aqua vita plays a crucial role as company for the eating of the marinated herrings and the other lunches dishes.

Therefore quiet some people will make various versions of infused aqua vita for lunches either at Christmas & Easter. I typical make infused aqua vita for Christmas like this Christmas aqua vita. However, it I think it is the fist time, that I will be making an infused aqua vita for Easter. Well, I think making an Easter aqua vita will be a great thing to make on this Sunday, which is Palm Sunday.

I found this recipe on Easter aqua vita in the weekly magazine Søndag (issue 13/2019). I have have no changes to the recipe. The only issue is, that the aqua vita needs a resting time of 2 week after the the four days of infusion !!! Well, I have time enough for the four days if infusion.

Easter aqua vita: - 1 aqua vita

• 3 organic lemons
• ½ g saffron
• 70  cl unflavoured aqua vita

1. Wash the surface of  the organic lemons. Remove the peel of the lemons with a potato peeler. Only peel the surface and avoid the bitter white of the lemon peel.
2. Add the lemon peel together with the saffron to a 1-liter glass.
3. Pour the aqua vita into the glass container.
4. Let the aqua vita infused for four days, shaking the glass from time to time.
5. Filter the aqua vita through a sieve.
6. Pour the aqua vita into a glass bottle.
7. Let the aqua vita rest for 2 weeks, before serving it.

Welcome - Easter Calendar 2019

 

Welcome to Easter Calendar 2019

Easter is just about to start. In Denmark we have public Easter holiday in form of 5 Easter days incl. two days in the week-end (Thursday - Monday). The schools are closed the three days just before Easter, so so many Danes will have be on vacation as a family in this upcoming week.

As usual I will be celebrating the Easter with a small Easter calendar, where I will share a recipe from my kitchen on each of the Easter days. I hope you will look from time to time, so I am busy with in my little kitchen. 

And the first blog post for the Easter Calendar 2019 will be tomorrow Palm Sunday :-)