On Good Friday we have Hot Cross Buns - and even though these appear in the shops just after Christmas I make a point of never having them until Good Friday, I hate that these special foods lose their uniquness and special feeling (this applies to all seasonal foods not just Hot Cross buns :-)) ) As we will be in Spain on Good Friday I am having to take them over with us, and will freeze them when we get over there LOL
On Easter Sunday it is traditional in my family to have Simnel Cake, although historically this is also associated with Mothering Sunday which was a couple of weekends ago here. Here is a recipe from the UK version of iVillage Simnel_Cake_Recipe
I rememeber Mom would make up a baked ham glazed with cloves and cherries and brown sugar, clean the house and take a picnic basket to the church to have our Easter meal blessed on Easter Saturday. No easy feat for the mother of four roudy children, but somehow she did it, even down to the hard boiled eggs for breakfast!!
For easter here in Finland, people usually eat lamb (and chicken if they can't afford lamb, so I was told), pasha and mämmi. Eggs are also a part of easter.
I'll post the recipes for pasha (the one I've used) and mämmi/memma (never made it before).
I'll also tell a bit about the Finnish tradition of witches when I've got a bit more time (meaning when I'm not at work).
Here's a recipe for Pasha/Pashka, pronounced , not paska! that's a dirty stinky brown word in Finnish.
I was going to translate the recipe I have..but that would have taken me forever! LOL. So I instead found the same basic recipe online and copied it here..making sure the ingredients are basically the same.
There are many variations to this basic paskha recipe, some of them adding various extra flavourings in the mixture, like chopped almonds or nuts, raisins, fresh, canned or candied fruit, cocoa, chocolate etc.
However, recipes like those are deeply frowned upon by many Finnish families with old Russian and Orthodox heritage, including mine. Mixed in the dish, the nuts and fruits feel like pebbles and unpleasant lumps, ruining the smooth, creamy texture and the delicate taste of paskha.
1/4 cup dried mixed fruit (for ex. papaya, pineapple, orange peel)
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla sugar *)
Preferably use quark with a high fat content (about 7 - 15 %). Wrap the quark in cheesecloth, hang it over the sink or a bowl and strain for several hours at cool room temperature — or overnight in the refrigerator — so that the extra liquid (whey) comes out, making the quark firmer. This is an important step, especially if you are using a soft and watery Finnish-type quark. (The whey may be used as liquid in making bread dough, pancakes or other batters.)
Melt the butter and let it cool down thoroughly. Stir the drained quark until smooth. Mix the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar with the quark. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer to make it very fluffy and smooth. Add the melted, cooled butter in the mixture, beating thoroughly. It is very important to let the butter cool before adding it in the mixture, otherwise it will cause the other ingredients to melt, making the mixture too runny. To give the paskha an even softer taste, some whipped cream may be folded into the mixture as well.
After thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture into a special pyramid-shaped paskha-mould lined with a layer of thin, clean cheesecloth dampened with boiling water (see pictures below). In lack of a traditional paskha-mould, you can use some other suitable dish — a fine round or conical strainer lined with cheesecloth, for example. Cover the top with cheesecloth and place a light weight on.
Place the paskha-mould in refrigerator for overnight, letting the extra liquid run out into a bowl underneath the mould (see pictures above). The longer you strain the quark in advance, the less liquid will come out of the final paskha, resulting in a firmer, more even-shaped dessert.
On the next day, uncover the paskha mould and place a serving platter on top of it. Holding the platter firmly against the mould, turn the mould and the platter upside down. Open the mould and carefully remove it, letting the paskha slide on the platter. Gently peel off the cheesecloth from its surface.
*) Never use vanilla extracts or essences to flavour paskha. Because the essences are made by steeping vanilla pods in alcohol, they always give a strong, bitter taste of alcohol to the paskha mixture, overpowering the very delicate taste of sweetened quark.
The quality of the essence/extract has no significance, even the best products will ruin the dish.
To see the actual site I got this nicely written recipe from, which has the basica same directions I have in Finnish, check out:
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My dessert is so easy, a child can do it
On Good Friday we have Hot Cross Buns - and even though these appear in the shops just after Christmas I make a point of never having them until Good Friday, I hate that these special foods lose their uniquness and special feeling (this applies to all seasonal foods not just Hot Cross buns :-)) ) As we will be in Spain on Good Friday I am having to take them over with us, and will freeze them when we get over there LOL
On Easter Sunday it is traditional in my family to have Simnel Cake, although historically this is also associated with Mothering Sunday which was a couple of weekends ago here. Here is a recipe from the UK version of iVillage Simnel_Cake_Recipe
I rememeber Mom would make up a baked ham glazed with cloves and cherries and
brown sugar, clean the house and take a picnic basket to the church to have
our Easter meal blessed on Easter Saturday.
No easy feat for the mother of four roudy children, but somehow she did it,
even down to the hard boiled eggs for breakfast!!
Ha
Hugs
WEEELLLLL, since this is Memphis, and we KNOW what to eat on ANY holiday, we will be making BBQ Ribs!
I'll post the recipes for pasha (the one I've used) and mämmi/memma (never made it before).
I'll also tell a bit about the Finnish tradition of witches when I've got a bit more time (meaning when I'm not at work).
< =< -->
I was going to translate the recipe I have..but that would have taken me forever! LOL. So I instead found the same basic recipe online and copied it here..making sure the ingredients are basically the same.
There are many variations to this basic paskha recipe, some of them adding various extra flavourings in the mixture, like chopped almonds or nuts, raisins, fresh, canned or candied fruit, cocoa, chocolate etc.
However, recipes like those are deeply frowned upon by many Finnish families with old Russian and Orthodox heritage, including mine. Mixed in the dish, the nuts and fruits feel like pebbles and unpleasant lumps, ruining the smooth, creamy texture and the delicate taste of paskha.
500 g (2 cups) firm quark
2 egg yolks
200 g (4/5 cup) sugar
4 tsp vanilla sugar *)
200 g (4/5 cup) unsalted butter
(whipped cream)
This is what my recipe calls for:
250 g (1 cup) rahka/quark
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbl sugar
1 zest of an entire lemon
2 Tbl lemon juice
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup crushed almond
1/4 cup dried mixed fruit (for ex. papaya, pineapple, orange peel)
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla sugar *)
Preferably use quark with a high fat content (about 7 - 15 %). Wrap the quark in cheesecloth, hang it over the sink or a bowl and strain for several hours at cool room temperature — or overnight in the refrigerator — so that the extra liquid (whey) comes out, making the quark firmer. This is an important step, especially if you are using a soft and watery Finnish-type quark. (The whey may be used as liquid in making bread dough, pancakes or other batters.)
Melt the butter and let it cool down thoroughly. Stir the drained quark until smooth. Mix the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar with the quark. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer to make it very fluffy and smooth. Add the melted, cooled butter in the mixture, beating thoroughly. It is very important to let the butter cool before adding it in the mixture, otherwise it will cause the other ingredients to melt, making the mixture too runny. To give the paskha an even softer taste, some whipped cream may be folded into the mixture as well.
After thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture into a special pyramid-shaped paskha-mould lined with a layer of thin, clean cheesecloth dampened with boiling water (see pictures below). In lack of a traditional paskha-mould, you can use some other suitable dish — a fine round or conical strainer lined with cheesecloth, for example. Cover the top with cheesecloth and place a light weight on.
Place the paskha-mould in refrigerator for overnight, letting the extra liquid run out into a bowl underneath the mould (see pictures above). The longer you strain the quark in advance, the less liquid will come out of the final paskha, resulting in a firmer, more even-shaped dessert.
On the next day, uncover the paskha mould and place a serving platter on top of it. Holding the platter firmly against the mould, turn the mould and the platter upside down. Open the mould and carefully remove it, letting the paskha slide on the platter. Gently peel off the cheesecloth from its surface.
*) Never use vanilla extracts or essences to flavour paskha. Because the essences are made by steeping vanilla pods in alcohol, they always give a strong, bitter taste of alcohol to the paskha mixture, overpowering the very delicate taste of sweetened quark.
The quality of the essence/extract has no significance, even the best products will ruin the dish.
To see the actual site I got this nicely written recipe from, which has the basica same directions I have in Finnish, check out:
Nordic Recipe archive
There are also the pictures described in the directions.
I hope you enjoy this. I know I like making it! And eating it!
(2 cups)








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So would Quark be the equivalent of Ricotta cheese?
Patty
That looks good Heather! The cake that the site links to looks good too! I am going to look out for any Spanish specialities this week - I think
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