Posh Cross Buns French Toast - An Easter Breakfast

I love hot cross buns and can happily eat them all year round. At Easter they are an essential part of my shopping list. This year Aldi have lovingly created a hot cross bun that is out of this world! If you love a good, rich hot cross bun you must take a trip to your local store and pick up a pack of their brioche hot cross buns. Priced at just 99p for 4 you cannot go wrong.

You do not have to take just my word for how great these hot cross buns are. They have been dubbed the 'Posh Cross Bun' for Easter 2017. These indulgent, sweet buns are packed with juicy sultanas, raisins and currants and combined with the all butter brioche you will find them to be simply irresistible! Over the last few years brioche breads have certainly become the most popular sweet bread on the market and during 2016 Aldi sold 16 times more brioche than the likes of Marks and Spencer and Waitrose! Aldi's brioche range accounted for 37% of sweet bread sales in the UK!

To celebrate their 'Posh Cross Buns' Aldi have teamed up with Great British Bake Off finalist Miranda Gore Browne to bring you some delicious recipes, both sweet and savoury, and all featuring their 'Posh Cross Buns'. When I was asked to feature one of the recipes I could not resist trying the French toast recipe. It was so delicious I am going to share it with you!

This is what I did...

Dairy Free, Free From Refined Sugar Easter Fruit Oaty Snack - An Alternative #FreeFromEaster with Aldi

Recently I have been experimenting more and more with free from baking so when Aldi challenged me to create an alternative Easter bake I jumped at the chance. At the end of the week the children break up for the Easter holidays and we all know how important it is to keep them busy. This weeks Aldi recipe is perfect to make with the children and I even had a little helper when I made these.

These lovely little fruit oaty snacks are a bit like a soft flapjack that can be cut into a range of shapes and decorated as you wish. They are dairy free and free from refined sugar. We added fruit and honey to give them a natural sweetness. Aldi have got lots of delicious Easter recipes, including some free from treats, in their Easter section. But for now let me and my little helper show and tell you what we did...

#CookBlogShare 2017 - Week 13 Plus 4 Delicious Easter Treats

Hello and welcome to week 13 of #CookBlogShare.

Week 13 means we are finally getting more hours of sunlight! Even though we lose an hour of sleep I am always so happy to see the days lengthening and welcoming in the better weather. During the weekend there was a lovely feeling of spring in the air. Everything seems so much better with the extra hours of sunlight. We spent a lot of time in the garden and I even got my bake on. Baking bread is something that I have not been doing recently. But on Friday the twins, who had the day off school due to illness, wanted a pizza and as they had not been eating much I could not say no. Even though I had no pizza, I did have bread flour so I made some fresh pizza dough and rediscovered my love of baking. I adore the whole bread making process, how the ingredients come together and how you can feel them change as you knead. After my pizza baking I made more dough on Saturday and also made a focaccia as well as a banana bread.

On Mother's Day I was treated to a day off from cooking. The hubby made an amazing meal, he slow cooked a joint of beef in red wine with carrots, onions, garlic and fresh bay leaves from the garden. If he agrees I will definitely blog the recipe!

Last week the CookBlogShare linky was hosted by Eb from Easy Peasy Foodie. There were so many delicious recipes shared and as Easter gets closer there are more and more lovely Easter recipes coming through. This week I could not resist featuring Easter treats and I am sure that you will also find them all irresistible!

Here are my four favourite recipes from week 12 of CookBlogShare...

26th March - 1st April 2016 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

This week I am a little later with my Project366 post, last week was manic. The children are on their Easter holidays from school so getting time to sit and write is proving a little difficult! But on we plod! Last week we finally saw some lovely days and the children have enjoyed being able to go out in the garden to play. Fingers crossed we have more days like that next week!

Here is my week in pictures...

Saturday 26th March 2016

On Saturday we spent the day at my mother in laws and enjoyed a delicious Easter lamb dinner. While we were there I discovered that I have been nominated for The MADS best food blog! To say I was gob smacked is an understatement. I haven't written a post about the awards so this was a real surprise!

Using Leftover Easter Chocolates

I don't know about your house, but here, each and every year we end up with leftover chocolate from Easter. It is usually down to me to use them in bakes and desserts.

So when Aldi challenged me to come up with a way to use leftover chocolate, I knew it would be fun. Today I will be sharing my ideas for how to use up some chocolate decorating cakes. After reading this you will be looking for leftover chocolate to use!

Sultana and Apricot Hot Cross Buns

One thing I love about Easter has to be the food. When I say food I don't just mean the chocolate eggs! I love simnel cake, I love lamb, I love fish and I love hot cross buns!

I find hot cross buns to be such a satisfying enriched bread to make. It is a harder dough to work with, but when you have worked through the sticky phase it is a lovely dough to handle. When baking they leave your house smelling of cinnamon and Easter scents.

This is what I did...

Sultana and Apricot Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

500g strong wholemeal flour

300mls milk

50g butter

1 tbsp coconut oil

7g yeast

75g caster sugar

1 egg, beaten

1tsp cinnamon

100g sultanas

100g dried apricots, chopped

75g plain flour

I have used ingredients from Aldi

Method

1 - Gently heat the milk, coconut oil and the butter until warm to touch

2 - Place the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon and beaten egg in a large mixing bowl

3 - Pour in the milk and melted butter and using a wooden spoon start to mix into the flour

4 - As the dough starts to come together stop using the spoon and start using your hands to get a rough dough together

5 - Remove the dough from the bowl and on a lightly floured worktop start to knead the dough. The dough will be very sticky, but keep working through it and continue to knead, adding a little flour if needed, until you have a smooth finish to the dough

6 - Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size

7 - Remove the dough from the bowl and flatten out

8 - Evenly distribute the dried fruit over the top and fold into the dough

9 - Knead the dough until the fruit is evenly spread throughout the dough

10 - Roll the dough into a long roll and cut into 16 rolls and roll them into balls

11 - Place the flattened balls on 2 lined baking trays, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30 minutes

12 - Pre heat the oven to 200C

13 - Once the rolls have roughly doubled in size again, prepare the mixture for the cross by mixing the plain flour with about 55 tablespoons of water and mix until you have a smooth batter

14 - Place the flour mixture in an icing bag and pipe over the crosses on the buns

15 - Beat the egg and brush over the top of the buns to glaze

16 - Place in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for 20 minutes

These really are delicious buns that are full of flavour from the cinnamon and the fruit. If you do not like fruit, or have children who don't you can substitute the fruit for chocolate drops.

Keep an eye out next week, as I will be sharing a great recipe for leftover hot cross buns and leftover chocolate!

Enjoy x

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.

Easter Lamb Stew

When Easter time comes so many foodie delights come to mind. One of these has to be lamb. I love to slow cook a leg of lamb for an Easter Sunday dinner. But with lamb being in season I like to have it more than as just a Sunday dinner.

Aldi have got in store a wide range of Easter food. One being lamb! So this week I thought that I would share with you a deliciously warming lamb stew. On days like we are having at the moment there is nothing better than sitting down to a slow cooked stew. Pure comfort food!

I know that traditionally lamb has been from New Zealand but I was pleased to see that Aldi stock 100% British farmed lamb. This not only helps farmers in our country but also reduces the carbon footprint that has been made.

I cooked this in the oven, only because my slow cooker broke, but it can be cooked in either the oven in a casserole dish with a lid or in the slow cooker.

This is what I did...

Catering for the Party Season

We all know that the party season is almost upon us. So I thought that I would write a post telling you how to make catering easier. This will include my tops tips for the food and drink, but also for the all important serving plates, cups, cutlery and how you can make your life so much easier!

These are my top tips and how I am going to cater for the parties that are on the way!

Plates and Table Settings

In the past when I have catered for birthday parties, summer barbecues and Christmas I have used my regular plates, bowls and cutlery. This not only means that I run out of serving platters and we all have different style plates but, wow, the dirty pots at the end of the party certainly so stack up! This year I am planning to do things differently. 

This year I will be looking at catering supplies for plates, serving platters and cups. Catering supplies are available in various designs, colours and styles and are so much better that they used to be. I have found them to be a great way to ensure that, even if you have a lot of guests, everybody will have matching plates, bowls, cups and even wines glasses!

Minted Roast Lamb - Family Favourites

I always love cooking lamb at Easter but after the huge success of this years minted roast lamb I am going to cook it more often and not just at Easter!

That is why I have decided to share with you how we all enjoyed our lamb this year. I had all of the children, including Joseph who is not a big eater, wanting seconds.

This is what I did...

Silent Sunday

Easter Rock Cakes

Having a long weekend is the perfect time to bake with the children.

Joseph loves getting in the kitchen with me but we simply do not always have the time. I usually do my baking while he is busy at school. But we have started the long weekend with a bit of Easter themed baking.

We have made some Easter style rock cakes. Rock cakes are a great easy recipe for children to make. A great recipe for them to get their hands in quite literally!

Easter Recipes

Easter is a great time to get together with family and friends to enjoy a lovely spring meal. I thought that this would be the perfect time to share with you a collection of my favourite Easter foodie treats.

Cumin Topped Lamb Steaks

These lamb steaks make a tasty change to the traditional roasted lamb

Easter Simnel Tea Loaf

My favourite thing to bake at Easter has to be a simnel cake. I love the combination of fruit with the marzipan.

This year I decided to add a little twist to the traditional bake. Instead of making a simnel cake I have made a simnel tea loaf. The dried fruit has been soaked in a delicious Tarocco Sunrise Tea which contains Rose Hip peel, Hibiscus flowers, apple pieces, safflower and natural blood orange flavours. The tea adds a zingy citrus tang to the cake.

This tea loaf is a lovely alternative to the traditional simnel cake. This is what I did...

Mini Egg Chocolate Cheesecake

When it comes to Easter time I always go straight for the mini chocolate eggs! They have to be my favourite. I usually use them to decorate cupcakes but thought that this Easter I would try something different. This year I have used them to top a delicious chocolate cheesecake!

If you are a chocoholic then this cheesecake is for you. The base is made from double chocolate digestives, the centre is made using Cadbury's Philadelphia and mascarpone then topped with chocolate mini eggs. I really is a chocolate feast!

This is what I did...

Mini Egg Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

300g double chocolate digestive biscuits
50g butter, melted
160g tub of Cadbury Philadelphia cream cheese
250g mascarpone cheese
2 x 90g bags of Cadbury mini eggs, lightly crushed

Method

1 - Place the biscuits in a bag and crush them using a rolling pin

2 - Once the biscuits have a breadcrumb appearance pour over the melted butter and mix in, I find it easier to mix the biscuits and butter using my hands

3 - Place the biscuits mixture into a flan tin with a removable base and press down until they are firmly compacted in

4 - Place the tin in the fridge and chill for 2 hours

5 - To make the topping simply place the Cadbury Philadelphia and mascarpone cheese in a bowl and mix together

6 - Once they have been thoroughly mixed together spoon onto the biscuit base and smooth over the top

7 - Return to the fridge for at least an hour

8 - Before serving add the lightly crushed mini eggs to the top

This is such a simply dessert to make but will definitely impress any guests that you have over Easter.

Enjoy x

I am sharing with Honest Mum - Tasty Tuesdays

Point + Shoot - Easter Weekend 18th - 21st April 2014

As we have just had a long weekend I thought I'd make this week's Point + Shoot about Good Friday to Bank Holiday Monday.

We have had such a lovely time together and have really made the most of the time we have had together as a family.

Here is our Easter weekend in pictures...

Joseph and I enjoyed some time together making
an edible Easter basket/nest for our
Center Parcs entry

The finished basket/nest

The twins couldn't wait to take a look!

A very proud Joseph!

We enjoyed a minted lamb dinner

Isabella got her first hair clip!

Taylor discovered a gap between the conifers
and the fence so now he can sneak into the
vegetable garden!

Joseph and Isabella had some colouring fun

Isabella's pretty picture

Taylor had some snuggles to sleep

As Sunday was a cold and windy day we put off doing the
children's Easter egg hunt until Monday. Thankfully it was
a glorious day! So when the twins were napping the hubby
and I went into the garden and hid plastics eggs filled with
chocolate treats around the garden.

We hid pink eggs for Isabella, blue eggs for Taylor
and green eggs for Joseph

To make it a bit harder for Joseph we hid his eggs
and gave him clues to follow to find the eggs.

"Got one!"

For the twins birthday we got them a play tent
and tunnel. As it was a lovely day we put it up
for them and they loved it!

 

We have had such a lovely weekend and have enjoyed so much quality family time together.

 

I am sharing our weekend in pictures Point + Shoot post with Snowing Indoors Point + Shoot pop over and see what others have been up to!