The Sweet Treat

One of the best things about the Easter Weekend break is the opportunity to take stock and catch up.

Diary schedules have meant that this was the first time, in a long time, to meet up with my sisters and their families.

Base camp was the Kitkat Ranch and Saturday was the day that I could indulge and meander through a whole day of preparing and cooking. Providing me with a rare opportunity to utilise my previously mentioned guilty pleasures.

My main prompt was a recipe book from a small business in Padstow – the Chough Bakery. Getting over my choke that there is a business in Padstow, that doesn’t include the name Stein, I emptied my store cupboard of enough ingredients to add to the ‘sweet’ element of Easter Sunday.

The pre-Easter egg course included – two tarts (Treacle and Bakewell), Cherry Sponge, Trifle and Walnut Bread for the cheese. Excessive, maybe – but it’s not often that I have the opportunity to work my inner Julia Child.

On the ‘plat de viande’ front, one of my recent ‘finds’ has been spiced beef. Using the cheaper cut of brisket, the method starts with a good long, twelve day, soak in brown sugar, salt, allspice, mace, cloves, nutmeg and seasoning; followed by an open topped simmer for approximately half the subject’s weight in time.

The marinade seems to tenderise and mask the earthy under-carriage flavour that can cause me to side-step around this cut of meat.

Easter Sunday itself, proved to be a loud, unabashed day filled with food, wine, laughter, family team-games and of course, an egg hunt. A far less stressful version of Christmas day - but with the same opportunity to add to the Good Memories folder.

And what’s the other best thing about the Easter Weekend? If you’re lucky – you still have Easter Monday to recover!

Why not tell me about your Easter Weekend?