Happy Easter / Sretan Uskrs / Hristos Vaskrese

Chocolate Eggs / Easter Cupcakes Recipe    ^

Decorative Bread / 'Sunflower Bread'

This is a simple way of making everyday bread look special. Along with braiding, it's most common way of decorating bread in central and Eastern Europe (usually during Easter and Christmas). You can use any recipe for basic white bread, that calls for 5-6 cups of flour. Pan for baking is a pizza size pan, only much deeper (5 cm).

 Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sugar
1,5 teas salt
2 teas yeast
5,5 cups flour
- extra oil (or melted butter), for brushing each layer
Beaten egg white for brushing the top + seeds for sprinkling
Coloured boiled egg for centre (optional)
Method:
Put all ingredients in a bread maker, and program it for dough only (or make a dough by hand, and let it rise on a warm spot for 1 hour). When ready take out, and divide into 4. Roll out each into a circle, brush with oil or butter. Stack them onto one pile; Don't brush the top layer. Cut the dough as you would slice pizza, only leave the edges non-cut through. Now, make cuts in the middle of each 'slice'. Turn the corner of dough through that cut and place onto same spot. Repeat with other 7. (You can place an boiled egg in the middle)  Cover with a clean tea towel and let it rise on a warm spot.
Preheat oven to 180*C. Brush risen dough with beaten egg white, decorate with seeds and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Dekorativni Hljeb /Kruh  ('Suncokret pogača')

Jednostavan nacin za uciniti svakodnevni hljeb / kruh specijalnim. Uz 'pletenje', ovo je jedan od najuobicajenijih nacina dekorisanja u centralnoj i istocnoj Evropi (obicno za vrijeme Uskrs i Bozica). Mozete koristiti bilo koji recept za bijeli hljeb / kruh, koji koristi 5,5 -6 solja brasna (oko 850 gr). Pleh je velicine pice, samo nesto dublji (oko 5 cm).

Potrebno:
1 solja (250ml) vode
1 solja mlijeka
2 K maslinovog ulja
1 K secera
1,5 k soli
2 k instant kvasca
5,5 solja brasna za hljeb/kruh
- ulje (ili otopljen maslac) za premazivanje svakog sloja
bjelance umuceno za premazivanje povrsine + sjemenke za posuti
Obojeno jaje za centar (ako zelite)
Nacin:
Stavite sve sastojke u masinu za mijesenje i programirajte na tijesto; ili umijesite rucno i ostavite na toplom 1 sat. Kada je spremno, podijelite na 4 dijela. Razvaljajte svaki na krug i premazite maslacem ili uljem svaki osim posljednjeg. Slozite ih jedan na drugi. Izrezite tijesto kao sto biste picu, tj na 8 dijelova, s tim sto krajeve ostavite ne prorezane. Sada svaki komad prorezite po sredini. Kroz taj prorez zavrnite tijesto i vratite ga na mjesto. Ponovite isto sa ostalih 7 dijelova. Pokrijte tijesto i ostavite na toplome. 
Ukljucite rernu na 180*C. Premazite kruh sa umucenim bjelance i ukrasite sa sjemenkama. Pecite oko 45-50 minuta.

Easter - Food ideas for a large group

Photo credit: naftels / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

 Most important thing in organising a party for a big group is planing. At least 7 days before the date, put everything on paper; number of people ( and kids), what you want to serve, then what are you going to cook on what day. Make a list of groceries that you need to buy and get them in advance.

First make food that you can freeze; bread, cakes and other.  Couple of days in advance  make food that you can store in fridge, and for  last day plan making food that needs to be fresh (example green salad, roasts...).

Serve all food as a buffet, so everyone can help themselves easily.

Here is the list and order of food that I made for my Easter party.

Sorry for mess in this post; I tried to fix it, but I couldn't!

Planiranje je najvaznija stvar u organizovanju zabave za veliki broj ljudi. Najmanje 7 dana prije datuma, stavite sve na papir; broj ljudi (i djece) koji ce vam doci, sta zelite servirati, i sta cete kuhati koji dan. Napravite listu namirnica koje trebate za proslavu i kupite ih.

Najprije napravite hranu koju mozete zamrznuti; hljeb, kolace i ostalo. Par dana prije zabave, skuhajte hranu koja moze stajati u frizideru, i za posljednji dan ostavite pripremu hrane koja mora biti svjeze napravljena - salata, pecenje...

Servirajte svu hranu na jednom mjestu (Svedski sto / samoposluzivanje) tako da je pristupacno i lako za rukovanje.

Evo liste i redoslijeda hrane koju sam pravila za moju posljednju zabavu.
Zao mi je zbog loseg posta; pokusala sam ispraviti, ali ne ide!

Coloured/ hard boiled  eggs can be prepared up to 5 days in advance.

Bojena jaja mozete pripremiti do 5 dana u naprijed.

Eggs cooked with onion skins get beautiful brownish - red colour.

Freezer / Zamrzivac


Apple, Date and Caramel Cake

Pear and Almond Tart

                        

Light Ray Bread Rolls (recipe coming)

Corn Bread with Sage and Sheep Cheese (in form of muffins)

Fridge / Frizider

(2 days before) / 2 dana unaprijed

Bosnian 'Pita' (in form of small scrolls)

Mayonnaise (for Waldorf salad)

Home made Pastrami

Peanut Butter Truffles

10 Minutes Truffles

  

Raffaello Truffles 

(1 day before) / jedan dan prije

Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse Cake

Waldorf Salad

On the day / Na sam dan

Ham - bought ready for serving and other deli products (olives, cheeses,dips...

  

Sunka kupljena spremna za serviranje  i ostale delikatese (masline, sirevi i slicno)

Easter bread (recipe in next post)

Swedish Potato bake (recipe coming)

Tabouli

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets (recipe coming)

Hot Cross Buns and Easter Decorations

... from different parts of the World...

In Bosnia, Easter is unimaginable without coloured / dyed eggs. Hard boiled eggs are coloured with special dye, and often decorated with stickers, scratching surface to make patterns or other ways. Both Catholics and Orthodoxes prepare eggs in this way.

U Bosni, Uskrs / Vaskrs se ne moze zamisliti bez saranih jaja. Tvrdo kuhana jaja su obojena i dekorisana sa naljepnicama, struganjem povrsine jajeta, ili nanosenjem sara na druge nacine. Katolici i Pravoslavci pripremaju jaja na ovaj nacin.

In Austria, decorations are made from empty egg shells; Eggs are pierced with a nail on both ends of egg, then air pressure is applied by blowing the content out (with a mouth). Egg is then decorated by acrylic paint, tiny sting is inserted trough the egg and hung onto branches, or placed into a bowl.


Dekoracije u Austriji - ljuske jajeta (sadrzina ispuhana) obojene i postavljene na granu ili posudu.


In Australia, Hot Cross Buns are favorite and mostly served for breakfast.



Ingredients:
Dough-
4 cups bakers flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tbs milk powder
1 tbs cinnamon
2 tsp yeast
3 tbs oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups water
For mixing in - 1 cup sultanas, mixed peel (optional)
'Cross' batter-
1/4 cup flour
3 tbs water
pinch of sugar
Method:
Make a dough from all ingredients by hand or bread machine. let it double, then punch down, knead for 2-3 min and mix in sultanas. Divide and shape into 15 balls. Place them onto prepared baking tin, cover.
Switch oven to 190*C. After 30 min of resting, mix all ingredients for crosses. Place into a strong plastic bag, cut edge off and pipe a cross on top of each bun.
Bake for 15- 20 min. Enjoy warm!



U Australiji su topli prekrizeni hljepcici najdrazi i uglavnom servirani za dorucak!

Potrebno:
Tijesto-
4 solje brasna
1/3 solje braon secera
3 K mlijeka u prahu
1 K cimeta
2 k kvasca
3 K ulja
1/2 k soli
1 1/3 solje vode
Za umijesati - 1 solja grozdjica, malo kore citrusa (po zelji)
Tijesto za kriz / krst-
1/4 solje brasna
3 K vode
prstohvat secera
Nacin:
Umijesite tijesto, ostavite na toplome da se udvostruci. Premijesite, umijesajte grozdjice. Podijelite na 15 loptica. Smjestite ih na pripremljen pleh, ostavite da naraste.
Ukljucite rernu na 190*C. Pomijesajte sve sastojke za krizeve, smjestite u jaku plasticnu vrecicu. Odrezite joj vrh, pa istiskajte krizeve na povrsinu svake loptice.
Pecite 15-20 minuta. Najbolje je konzumirati ih tople!

Last years Easter decorations in Barcelona!


Proslogodisnje dekoracije u Barseloni.

Chocolate Eggs / Easter Cupcakes

I love holidays. In my family I have Catholics, Orthodoxs and Muslims, which means a lot of cellebration during one calendar year.

Easter is my favorite. It reminds me of Spring, new beginnings, hope for a better future. It allows creativity to show off.

Easter is celebrated mostly by Christians (as resurrection of Christ), but the truth is that the celebration of Easter actually comes from paganism. Eggs (as a symbol of life cycle) and rabbits (symbol of fertility) were used for worshiping the mother goddess Ishtar, celebrating spring, warmer days and hoping for a good fertile year.

I love spending time with my family, decorating eggs (European style) and making all those delicious traditional meals, that only at Easter have special taste.



Chocolate cupcakes baked in egg shells



(I used 1/2 of following recipe, which is enough to fill 12-14 egg shells, cracked at the very top and rinsed)



Ingredients:

5 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup cream

375 g dark chocolate

1 cup + 1-2 tbs flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

dash of vanilla

Method:

Heat cream and chocolate, stir until melted. Cool.

Beat eggs with sugar and vanilla, add creme/ chocolate mixture. Sift flour and baking powder on the top and fold gently. Transfer mixture to the piping bag, or strong plastic bag. Pipe into egg shells (muffin tins or similar will hold them upright), filling 3/4 of each egg shell. Bake at 170*C 12-15 min.







Ja obozavam praznike. U mojoj porodici imam Katolike, Pravoslavce i Muslimane, sto znaci puuuno praznika u toku jedne kalendarske godine.

Uskrs / Vaskrs mi je najdrazi praznik. Nekako me podsjeca na proljece, novi pocetak, nadu za bolju buducnost. Takodje dozvoljava creativnosti da se pokaze.

Uskrs je slavljen kod mnogih Kriscana (kao Kristovo uskrsnuce), ali zapravo ima korijen iz paganskih dana. Jaja (kao simbol novog zivotnog ciklusa) i zecevi (simbol plodnosti) su bili koristeni za slavljenje majke bozice (Ishtar), proljeca, dolazak toplijih dana i nade za bolju plodniju godinu.

Volim provoditi vrijeme sa mojim deckima, dekorirajuci jaja (nas nacin) i spremajuci ona specijalna jela, koja samo za vrijeme uskrsa imaju poseban ukus.



Čokoladni 'Cupcakes' u ljusci od jaja



(Koristila sam 1/2 od sljedeceg recepta, dovoljno za 12-14 ispraznjenih ljuski od jaja, koje ste razbili pri samom vrhu i isprali ih.)



Potrebno:

5 jaja

3/4 solje secera

1 solja pavlake/ kajmaka/ krema

375 gr tamne cokolade

malo vanile

1 solja + 1-2 K brasna

1/2 k praska za pecivo

Nacin:

Zagrijte pavlaku i cokoladu, mijesajte dok se ne otopi, zatim prohladite.

Umutite jaja sa secerom, dodajte istopljenu smjesu i vanilu. Prosijte brasno i prasak za pecivo na povrsinu, pa rucno sjedinite. Prebacite smjesu u jacu plasticnu kesu i punite jaja do 3/4. (postavite jaja u male kalupe za mafine ili slicno, kako bi uspravno stajala.) Pecite na 170*C oko 12-15 minuta.