Classic hot cross buns

The perfect Easter recipe comes from a lovely book called A Good Egg by Bristol-based cookery writer Genevieve Taylor who describes herself as an 'urban henkeeper'.

This isn't the eggiest of them but there are some brilliant ideas for how to use eggs imaginatively, written in diary form to tie in with the seasons.

Genevieve writes: "Why go to the bother of making your own hot cross buns? Well, first, you can add as much spice as you like, and secondly your house will smell divine as they bake.

This recipe, like a lot of breads –particularly the sweet ones, uses an egg to enrich and soften the dough. The flour-paste cross on the top adds nothing in the taste department but is completely necessary all the same."

makes 12 buns

150ml hand-hot water (use half boiling & half cold)

1 tbsp dried yeast

40g caster sugar

500g strong (bread) flour

1 heaped tsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp salt

50g butter, melted

1 beaten egg

75ml warm milk

Vegetable oil for greasing

75g raisins or currants

50g chopped mixed peel

For the topping:

4 tbsp plain flour

4 tbsp cold water

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp boiling water

"Measure the water into a jug, stir through the yeast and a teaspoon of the caster sugar. Set aside for about 10 minutes until a foamy head forms on the surface. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir through the spice, salt and the rest of the caster sugar. Make a well in the middle and set aside.

In another mixing jug or small bowl, beat together the melted butter, egg and warm milk. Pour into the well in the flour, along with the foaming yeast. Mix together with a spoon until the dough comes together in a rough ball, then tip on to the work surface. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes, pushing away with the heel of your hand and rolling back towards you until it becomes stretchy and smooth. If it is sticking to the worktop, add a little flour, but be careful not to add too much or it will become dry. The fluffiest lightest bread comes from dough that is a bit sticky and wet to work with. Place the dough in a bowl which you have lightly oiled, and cover with a clean tea towel or piece of clingfilm.

Set aside in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size. Depending on the temperature of the room, this will take an hour or two, maybe longer. Once the dough has doubled in size, tip on to the worktop and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Sprinkle over the dried fruit and mixed peel and gently knead into the dough. Using a knife, cut the dough in half, then cut each half into 6 equal-sized pieces. Gently roll each piece into a ball, tucking any fruit under the surface as much as possible because it can burn in the oven, and place in a deep-sided baking tin lined with baking paper. (You need a deep tin so that when you cover it, the buns have room to rise without sticking to the clingfilm.)

Repeat with the remaining dough until you have 12 buns equally spaced in the baking tin. Cover lightly with a double layer of clingfilm, tucking it under the tray to keep the air out. Leave to prove again for 30–45 minutes until the buns have risen by half. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas 7.

Once the buns have proved for the final time, prepare the flour paste for the ‘crosses’ by mixing the flour and cold water until smooth. Spoon into a small sandwich bag and snip off a tiny corner to create a quick piping bag. Pipe crosses on to each bun. Transfer to the hot oven and bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown. While they are cooking, dissolve the caster sugar in the boiling water. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, glaze them by brushing with the sugar syrup. Put them on a rack to cool."

As you can see the recipes are really clear in this book and the photography charming. A lovely gift to take someone as an Easter present.

What to drink: My original thought was black tea, drunk English-style with milk but I'm rather taken with M & S wine buyer Jeneve Williams' idea of Marsala

For more Easter wine pairing ideas see 15 Easter pairings to learn by heart

From A Good Egg by Genevieve Taylor, published by Eden Project books. Photograph © Jason Ingram

Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake with Turkish Delight, Halva & Dates

If you're looking for a cake to bake for Mother's Day - or any other special occasion - I can't think of a more glamourous recipe than this one which comes from one of my favourite cookbooks of 2020, Claire Thomson's brilliant Home Cookery Year.

"Truly a great cake, fudgy and moist" enthuses Claire. "The egg whites are whipped as for a meringue, then folded through with chunks of Turkish delight, pieces of halva, chopped dates and dark chocolate. Cardamom works its characteristic and ethereal magic with all of these ingredients.

SERVES 8–10

6 egg whites

200g (7oz) caster (superfine) sugar

125g (4½oz) ground almonds

¼ tsp ground green cardamom seeds

pinch of salt

300g (10½oz) halva, crumbled or chopped into small pieces

200g (7oz) Turkish delight, ½ finely chopped, ½ chopped slightly bigger to decorate

150g (5½oz) dried pitted dates, finely chopped

200g (7oz) 70% dark (bittersweet) chocolate, finely chopped

TO DECORATE

100ml (3½fl oz) double (heavy) cream

150g (5½oz) 70% dark (bittersweet) chocolate, finely chopped

30g (1oz) pistachios, roughly chopped

rose petals, optional

Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/325°F/Gas Mark 3.

Grease and line a 24cm (9½in) springform cake tin with baking paper.

Using an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously, then continue to beat for 5 minutes, until you have a thick and glossy meringue.

Fold in the ground almonds, cardamom, and pinch of salt, then add the halva and the finely chopped Turkish delight. Next, add the dates and finally the chocolate.

Stir briefly until just combined. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and bake for 1 hour–1 hour 10 minutes, until the cake is set and firm to the touch (it will still be moist in the centre, so a skewer will not come out clean).

Cover with a loose square of foil if the cake catches too much before it’s ready.

To decorate, first make a ganache. Pour the cream into a saucepan and place over a high heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Little by little (but still fairly rapidly), whisk in the chocolate, so that the cream doesn’t cool too much and will melt all the chocolate.

Once all the chocolate has melted, allow the ganache to cool for 10 or so minutes in the pan, by which time it will stiffen a little to a thick pouring consistency.

Transfer the cooled cake to a large serving plate and pour over the chocolate ganache, allowing it to drip down the sides.

Decorate with the chopped pistachios and the remaining Turkish delight. Some fresh rose petals will add extra va-va-voom, if you have them.

What to drink: I'd be perfectly happy to drink coffee or tea with this cake but given you could serve it as a dessert you might want a sweet wine with it. Andrew Quady's Elysium black muscat, an exotically scented sweet red would be perfect or possibly a well-chilled glass of pink port.

From Home Cookery Year by Claire Thomson (Quadrille) Photography: Sam Folan. You can follow Claire on Instagram at 5oclockapron

Max’s (well, actually Felicity’s) chocolate pots

One of the things that’s compensated for not being able to go to restaurants, as I explained here, is cooking with friends on Zoom.

With one of the groups I hang out with, however, we all cook individually but choose a theme. Last week it was French bistro food a tribute to Bar Buvette, a much-loved Bristol natural wine bar and restaurant that closed last year and which we all very much miss.

They used to have an absolutely awesome chocolate mousse on the menu which a number of us recreated. We thought it came from Max (Ososki) the owner but turns out it was my Guardian colleague Felicity Cloake’s.

Here’s Max’s version as written on a scrap of paper. You can find Felicity’s version, with an account of why she made it that way, on the Guardian website.

Max's chocolate pots (before we discovered they were Felicity's)

Serves 6

250ml whipping cream

100ml whole milk

150g dark 70% chocolate

40g dark muscovado sugar

3 fresh organic egg yolks

Simmer cream and milk

Add choc to cream/milk

Let sit for a minute then whisk vigorously until mixed

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes

Whisk yolks and sugar until voluminous

Pour chocolate over yolks and sugar and mix in well

Pour into coffee cups or ramekins, tapping each one to remove air bubbles

Cover and refrigerate

Serve with creme fraiche

So you see, really easy. And insanely delicious. Trust me.

What to drink: I know I’m an advocate of pairing wine with everything but honestly I wouldn’t in this case. Maybe a black coffee. Or a brandy if you’re feeling particularly indulgent.

Max and her partner Peter Taylor run the wonderful Auberge de Chassignolles in the Auvergne which hopefully will be up and running again before too long.

Polish spiced Christmas cookies

Even if you don't normally bake it's worth taking the time at Christmas and what could be more perfect than this Polish spiced Christmas cookie recipe from Ren Behan's lovely book Wild Honey & Rye

I first met Ren years ago when she came along to a writing workshop I was giving at a blogger's conference and it's great to see how she's gone from strength to strength. Do visit her lovely website renbehan.com

POLISH SPICED CHRISTMAS COOKIES (PIERNICZKI ÅšWIÄ„TECZNE)

These Christmas cookies very quickly became the most popular recipe on my website when I first posted them in November 2011, just a year into starting my food blog. Since then, I’ve loved receiving emails and photos of the cookies that friends and readers have made for their own trees, or to give as gifts ahead of Christmas. Instead of making the icing to decorate the cookies, you could buy writing icing. Since I use wild honey and rye (flour) in my cookies, the title of my book was hidden within this recipe – long before I knew it!

Makes about 24 cookies, depending on the size of cutters used

115g/4oz/½ cup unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

115g/4oz/generous ½ cup soft dark brown sugar

8 tbsp runny honey

450g/1lb/scant 4 cups plain (all-purpose) flour or rye flour, plus extra for dusting

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp mixed spice

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 egg

To decorate

150g/5½oz/generous 1¼ cups icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

1 egg white

1 tbsp water

food colouring (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease three large baking sheets with butter.

Put the butter, brown sugar and honey in a small saucepan over a gentle heat. Stir only until the butter has melted. Set to one side.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together, mix well, add the egg and mix again. Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until the dough starts to come together.

Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead to form a ball. If the mixture is too crumbly, add a tablespoon of water at a time and knead again until it comes together. Roll out the dough to about 3mm/1⁄8in thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and carefully lift the cookies onto the baking sheets; leave about 1–2cm/¾in around each cookie – they don’t spread too much. Bake the cookies for 7–8 minutes per batch, until golden.

While the cookies are baking, make the icing by stirring together the icing sugar, egg white and water. If you like, divide the icing into different bowls and add a little food colouring to one or more bowls. Mix together really well until you have a thick paste that will pour evenly off a spoon. Fill a piping bag fitted with a fine nozzle with the icing and set to one side.

When the cookies are baked, they will still be a bit soft. Using a palette knife, carefully lift them onto a wire rack and leave to cool. If you are decorating the cookies for the tree, use a chopstick to make a small hole in the top of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven, but be careful not to break the top off the cookie by pressing too hard.

Once cooled, decorate your cookies with the icing. Store in a tin for up to 2 weeks, as they will soften. If used as Christmas tree decorations, they can be left on the tree for the season.

Extracted from Wild Honey & Rye: Modern Polish Recipes by Ren Behan published by Pavilion at £20. Image credit Yuki Sugiura (cropped to fit from the original)