Easter Special: The sweetest feeling

As soon we've got all the Christmas festivities out of the way, it seems that the promotional drive for Easter begins. But apart from buying lots of chocolate and Easter eggs for the children, we don't really celebrate with much else these days.

Maybe it's because religion isn't as present in our lives as it used to be, and so these festive occasions get missed off the social calendar. In Italy and other European countries, however, they seem to be more symbolic and important. In the food world, Easter also marks the beginning of spring, which is the time when we start eating spring lamb - a common Easter Sunday roast all over Europe (though in countries such as Greece, it's more likely to be kid goat).

In Italy, an Easter Sunday meal may consist of a dish of capon broth with tortellini - and that is something I will be trying at Easter; it may even go on the menu at Daphne's, our restaurant in South Kensington.

Here, in part one of my Easter special, are some traditional festive recipes to get you in the mood; next week, I'll be cooking up Easter Sunday lamb recipes down on Alex James's farm in Oxfordshire.

Hot cross buns

Makes 12

Easter breads, often containing a spice of some description, are made all over the world and they are a great opportunity for bakers to show off their skills. Our most popular Easter bread is the hot cross bun. Originally the custom was to cut a cross on the top to ward off evil spirits; this was discontinued after the Reformation and only remained on hot cross buns as a symbol of the crucifix. They are traditionally served on Good Friday, but these days you see them in shops and bakeries weeks before Easter which slightly spoils the sense of anticipation and celebratory feel.

These are really best eaten on the day they are made; just pop them under the grill for a few minutes and spread with butter.

500g strong white flour
1tsp salt
40g demerara sugar
1tsp mixed spice
60g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small dice
50g raisins
50g currants
30g good quality mixed peel, chopped
7g dried yeast
200ml milk and 100ml water, gently heated to a warm temperature f

For the glaze and cross

70g plain flour
40g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small dice
1tbsp golden syrup

Put the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt, sugar and spices and mix well. Rub in the butter with your fingers to achieve a breadcrumb-like consistency. Stir in the dried fruits and the yeast. Mix in the milk mixture with your hands to form a smooth dough. Turn out on to a floured table and knead for 10 minutes, then place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave for about 2 hours in a warm place such as an airing cupboard or on a radiator until it has risen to about double its original volume.

Lightly grease a baking tray (or use a non-stick one). Knock back the dough briefly and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on the baking tray spaced out to allow for them rising again. Put them in a warm place again for about 45 minutes to an hour until they have risen to almost double the volume again.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7.

To make the pastry for the cross, put the flour into a bowl and rub the butter in with your fingers, then add about 1-2 tbsp of cold water to form a dough. Roll out the dough into a rectangle and cut into rough ^1/2cm wide strips. Press the strips lightly into the risen dough to form crosses and trim as necessary. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until golden.

While the buns are still warm, heat the golden syrup over a pan of water and brush the buns. Transfer the buns on to a wire rack and leave to cool.

Easter biscuits

My gran used to make these religiously at Easter time - and as you can imagine, they didn't hang around for very long. Any excess used to be packed into my school lunch box with a few extra for school mates.

185g butter
185g caster sugar
3 egg yolks (keep the whites)
4tsp orange flower water
6-8tsp milk
125g currants
1tsp mixed spice
400g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
Pinch of salt

To glaze

1 egg white, lightly beaten
Caster sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5.

Butter a couple of large baking trays, or use non-stick ones. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then carefully beat in the egg yolks and orange flower water and milk. Add the currants, then sift the flour into the bowl and mix to a stiff dough. Roll out to about ^1/3cm thick and cut into 6-8cm rounds and place on baking trays. Re-knead and roll the trimmings, cutting more rounds from them.

Bake for 10 minutes, and then brush with egg white and scatter with caster sugar and return to the oven for 6-7 minutes. Turn out on to wire racks to cool.

Amedei chocolate mousse

Serves 4-6

Many of the chocolate mousses I've tasted over the years are too sweet. That could be down to our use of poor chocolate as well as our practice of masking the flavour with sugar. These days we have really good chocolate available; I used Amedei chocolate (available from Harvey Nichols or www.chocolategourmet.co.uk).

As some chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa may naturally be slightly bitter, you could add a tablespoon of caster sugar to this recipe, but I quite like the purity of a no-sugar chocolate mousse.

275g dark chocolate (70-75 per cent), cut into small pieces, plus about 40g of grated chocolate to finish
150g unsalted butter
8 medium egg yolks, at room temperature
1tbsp caster sugar (optional)
8 medium egg whites

Melt the pieces of chocolate and butter either in a microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Don't let any water get into the chocolate. Leave to cool a little, then whisk the egg yolks and sugar, if using, and stir into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks have formed (you may want to do this with a mixing machine) and then very carefully fold into the chocolate mixture with the grated chocolate, ensuring you don't lose any volume - what you want is a mousse that stays nice and light. Transfer into a serving bowl and chill for a couple of hours.

Next week, part 2: Easter lamb recipes with Mark Hix and Alex James

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