Raring2go! Raring2go! 24 raring2go.co.uk 25 TOP TIP Make an egg pin drying board out of foam board and pins, push pins all the way through to the other side then turn the board over and pierce the egg with the pin, the eggs will dry with no marks on them! Chuck the chocolate eggs and go for the real thing this year! Cultures round the world have been painting eggs of all sorts as part of their Springtime celebrations for centuries. If your children are very young it’s probably best to use hard-boiled eggs and crayons, stickers or the age-old method of vinegar and food colouring to do the job – if you’ve used non-toxic materials, you can always use them up in sandwiches later. Hard-boiled eggs are also perfect for stashing around your home and garden for an egg hunt. If your children are older, or you just fancy a bit of a challenge, try preparing your eggs the traditional way, by blowing out the yolk. It’s easy and fun to colour hard-boiled eggs and you can use items you probably already have in your kitchen. Age Guideline: 3 years and up Time Required: 30 minutes (does not include drying time) Create your own Easter-Eggstravaganza! You will need hard boiled or blown out eggs, food colouring, vinegar and water. In a cup, mix half a cup of water (room temperature water), 1 tablespoon of vinegar and several drops of food colouring. We used about 20 drops of each colour, but you can adjust this for lighter or darker. Prepare several different colours in this manner. Carefully place the eggs (individually one at a time!) in each cup of food colouring. Remove the eggs when they reach the desired shade with a spoon to remove the egg and place it in an egg holder or on a paper towel to dry. Easter Cookies Makes 15 Portions • Suitable for freezing Preparation 10 minutes 12 minutes cooking time Oven: 180°C, 350°F, Gas Mark 4 INGREDIENTS 185g plain flour 1 ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 50 g butter (room temperature) 85g soft light brown sugar 1 large egg yolk 2 tbsp golden syrup Assorted Decorations e.g. Mini Smarties, M&M’s, currants or raisins Writing Icing or white and pink icing made with Royal Icing mixed with water METHOD • Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Fan 160 o C. • Line or grease two large baking sheets with non-stick baking paper. • Sift the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. • Cut the butter into chunks and add to the bowl. • Rub the butter into the flour using your fingers until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. • Stir the sugar into the mixture, then add the egg yolk and golden syrup and mix everything together using a wooden spoon. (Tip If you heat your spoon in hot water before you measure the syrup it will slide off the spoon easily). • Sprinkle a clean work surface with flour and knead the dough until it is smooth. Cut the dough in half. • Sprinkle the work surface with a little more flour and roll out the dough starting at the centre of the dough and rolling evenly outwards. • Repeat with the second ball of dough. • Cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Re-roll the trimmings until all the dough is used up. You can add currants for eyes before the cookies are baked if you like. • Place on the lined or greased baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. • Allow to cool then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. • Once cool, ice, decorate and enjoy!
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