Easter: baking, brunching and dyeing eggs

Anyone thinking of baking themselves or their loved ones a few Easter goodies can make delicious carrot brownies from simple ingredients. The good thing is that if they’re packaged well and refrigerated, the brownies still taste great a week later and can also be frozen.

Baking carrot brownies

While the classic carrot cake is a standard favourite at Easter, carrots can also be hidden in carrot brownies. This makes the chocolate variation well worth a try.

Ingredients

• 0.5 tsp. baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 180g chopped almonds
• 80g flour
• 3 carrots
• 150g chocolate, dark, chopped
• 3 tbsp. full-fat cream
• 120g sugar
• marzipan carrots
  

Method

1. Mix the sugar, egg yolks and cream with a mixer until a light-coloured creamy mixture forms.
2. Peel, trim and finely grate the carrots and add. Melt the chocolate and add with the almonds.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold carefully into the mixture.
4. Combine the flour and baking powder and add to the mixture.
5. Spread thickly in a greased baking tin.
6. Bake at 30 minutes at 200 degrees.
7. Take out and leave to cool.
8. Top with a layer of icing or marzipan carrots according to taste.
   

Dying eggs with natural dyes

Especially with children, it’s exciting to discover which ingredients produce which result. The best results are achieved with white eggs. If you wish, you can cook the eggs directly in the dye. However, with children, it’s advisable to use a dye solution that has cooled down.

Making natural dyes

Simmer the ingredients for 30-40 minutes in hot water, depending on your target colour. Then leave the solution to cool.

Dyeing eggs is child's play

1. Hard boil the eggs in boiling water for around 10 minutes.
2. Shock under cold water and clean with diluted vinegar.
3. Place the eggs in the dye and, depending on how intense you wish the colour to be, remove after 10 to 30 minutes.
4. To shine the eggs, rub with a little oil.
   

Tip: Pretty patterns are created by tightly fastening leaves or flowers to the eggs during dyeing, using a nylon stocking. Another option is to use rubber bands or adhesive strips to create decorative effects.

Colourful ideas for Easter brunch

It's the little things that count: a beautifully decorated Easter table puts everyone in a spring mood, makes a colourful change for the home and gives the little ones a welcome chance to get creative.

Fruit yoghurt rainbow

Children particularly like making rainbows as a sign of hope. To make this pretty fruit salad, select a range of different fruits and arrange them by colour. The picture is completed by yoghurt clouds.

Cherry tomato tulips

For this effect, cherry tomatoes filled with cream cheese and spring onions or chives are formed into a pretty bouquet. Season the cream cheese with salt and a little garlic. Cut the cherry tomatoes crosswise with two long cuts. Fill the tomatoes with cream cheese and arrange them on the plate to form a pretty bunch of flowers.