Easter Tea-time Treats

Easter usually arrives some time during April, bringing its unpredictable mixture of showers and sunshine which heralds the arrival of spring. Hot cross buns and freshly baked biscuits and cakes make it an ideal time for gathering friends around the table to sample your Easter baking. Here are some mouth-watering recipes for an Easter tea, which reflect the aroma of Easter baking as we turn from the hot warming foods of winter.

Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 1 egg yolk, then beat in brandy. Sift together flour, bake-
ing powder, salt, cinnamon and
ginger. Fold this mixture into wet
mixture. Add currants, sultanas and peel. Place in a plastic bag and
refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove
dough and give a gentle knead. Roll
out on a well-floured surface to 1/8
inch thickness. Cut into rounds with
2 1/2 inch cutter. Place rounds on
greased baking tray. Place in centre
of preheated oven 400F, 200 C, Gas Mark 6 and bake for 10 minutes. Brush top of biscuits with
egg white and dredge surface
lightly with caster sugar, and bake
for a further 9- 10 minutes until
golden brown. Cool and place in
airtight tin when cold.

SPICY EASTER TEABREAD Ingredients: 225g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
75g butter, softened 75g caster sugar 50g sultanas
50g dates, chopped 1 egg, beaten
6 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375F, 190C Gas Mark 5. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin. Mix together flour and spices. Chop butter into small pieces and cut roughly into flour with a knife. Add sugar, sultanas, dates, egg and milk and mix to a soft consistency. Turn into prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Delicious sliced with butter.

Ingredients:
575g rhubarb
200g butter
150g caster sugar Few drops of vanilla essence
Pinch salt
2 medium eggs
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
75g cornflour
75g ground almonds Icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350F, 180C, Gas Mark 4. Cut rhubarb into 1 inch chunks. Cream 125g butter with two thirds of sugar, vanilla essence and salt until fluffy. Gently stir in beaten eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and half the cornflour and fold into creamed mixture. Add half the ground almonds. Grease a 23cm spring-form cake tin. Put cake mixture in tin, smooth over and arrange the rhubarb on top. Rub together remaining sugar, butter, almonds and cornflour. Spread crumble mixture over the rhubarb. Bake on the lowest shelf for about 75 minutes until firm and golden. Cool and dust with icing sugar before serving.

AFTERNOON TEA

would not be complete without a selection of dainty sandwiches filled with delicious savoury mixtures and crusts neatly trimmed. You can choose a variety of types of bread, spreading the slices
with flavoured butters and then adding the chosen filling. These flavoured butters are always
good to have on hand, and keep well frozen if tightly sealed.
Add any of the following ingredients to 125g butter, blending in a bowl or a food processor
until smooth. Chill or freeze until required.

Chive Butter: 2 tablespoons minced chives and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Shrimp Butter: 75g finely chopped shrimps and 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Blue Cheese Butter: 5Og blue cheese, and (optional) add 1 teaspoon chopped garlic

Walnut, Cheddar Cheese and Lettuce
Ingredients:
124g walnuts, chopped
225g Cheddar cheese, grated
A little mayonnaise
A few crisp lettuce leaves, shredded
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Mix together with chopped walnuts and cheese. Prepare slices of bread with plain or flavoured butter and spread with a little mayonnaise. Cover half the slices with the cheese mixture, lay a little shredded lettuce over and season with salt and pepper. Makes enough to fill 6 double rounds of bread.

Sardine and Parsley Spread Ingredients:
2 x 125g tins sardines 225g cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mash the sardines well and add cream cheese until well blended. Then mix in all other ingredients Put into dish and chill until required. You can omit the parsley and add 2 tablespoons chopped green olives and 1 teaspoon grated onion. Makes enough to fill 6-7 double round of bread.

To finish your tea try these easy to make

FRUIT SCONES traditionally served with warm jam and clotted cream. Ingredients:
225g self-raising flour
50g sultanas
Pinch salt
50g butter, softened 25g caster sugar
1 egg beaten
75ml milk Beaten egg to glaze

Preheat oven to 450F, 230C, Gas Mark 8. Mix flour and salt. Rub in butter as lightly as possi- ble until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar and sultanas, add egg and bind together, adding enough milk to give a fairly stiff dough. Roll out to a thickness of 2 1/2cm Cut circles using a 6cm fluted cutter Place scones on greased tray and brush with beaten egg. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and well risen. Makes approximatey 12 scones. For variation: Use basic scone recipe, leave out sugar and add pinch of dry mustard and 50g grated Cheddar cheese.

Enjoy these tea-time treats guaranteed to bring tea-time back on your menu.