Owner of Bouchon restaurants Thomas Keller's cook book "Bouchon Bakery" provides basic and simple recipes for some delicious Easter treats.
What's Easter without Easter eggs, hot cross buns and carrot muffins. After 40 days of Lenten abstention, Easter is the time for fun and feasting. Renowned chef Thomas Keller, owner of Bouchon restaurants known for its baked goodies, says that while Easter treats are a bit more refined than Peeps and jelly beans, his cookbook "Bouchon Bakery" provides some basic and simple recipes for delicious Easter treats. And when we say simple, we mean by Keller's standards. So, in reality, even his simplest dish would need extra prep work and maybe some shopping for new kitchen tools.
The first advice Keller gives all bakers is that in baking, one of the most crucial aspects is scale. Flour has a tendency to shift in density; hence measuring it in cups can be very inaccurate. So, it is important for every baker to have a gram scale instead of measuring cups. Other than that, some of the basic items needed to bake include acetate sheets and powdered food coloring, which makes cooking easier and cleanup less stressful.
The first recipe that is a must-know during Easter is of hot cross buns. They are made especially on Good Friday. The cross on the bun is not the only religious significance of a hot cross bun, Keller reveals. He notes that having a hot cross bun with a friend means that they'd be friends for life. There is another popular myth associated with the hot cross bun. According to beliefs, once should preserve a hot cross bun for over a year. Of course, it would get moldy but legend has it that if you happen to fall sick, you can eat this bun and it would cure your illness.
Easter eggs are another favorite during Easter. Keller reveals he has fond memories of especially marshmallow eggs in his childhood.
The last, but one of the most popular recipes during Easter, is the carrot muffin.
"Bunnies eat carrots. We've got to have carrots involved in Easter, because that's Bugs Bunny's favorite vegetable," he jokes. And there's a benefit to having carrot muffins on your table of holiday indulgences: "Everybody loves it, because in many ways you think it's really, really healthy for you," Keller says. "It's a way of being sinful, but also being responsible to some health concerns."
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