Hot Cross Buns

Though I love to make bread, rolls, and basically any yeast-based dough, I’ve somehow never gotten around to making hot cross buns, the sweet rolls you see in bakeries throughout Lent. Growing up, hot cross buns from the bakery were a staple in our house every Sunday in the weeks leading up to Easter. They are wonderful 

plain – after a short warm-up in the toaster oven — or split in half and toasted, topped with a good salted butter and a little marmalade or jam. There is a good deal of folklore and superstition associated with these little buns, which over the years have been said to bring the ill back to good health; protect against shipwreck on sea 

voyages; protect against fires when hung in the kitchen; and ensure friendship to recipients throughout the coming year. In 16^th century England, the sale of hot cross buns was even outlawed except for burials and on Good Friday and Christmas. Nowadays you can enjoy them every day of the year, though they do require a bit of 

effort to make. To ensure tender buns, make sure not to over-knead the dough when adding the dried fruit and when rolling the buns into rounds.

Happy Easter Chocolate Caramel Tarts

I love Easter for lots reasons, many of which involve sweets: big chocolate bunnies, small caramel-filled eggs, malted eggs, pastel jelly beans and marshmallow chicks. I love the Easter bunny, 

hunting for Easter eggs, and seeing little kids in their brand-new Easter outfits. I remember once, in fact, when my sister told me that she saw the Easter Bunny's tail going out the back door in the 

middle of the night. I was so excited I almost fainted.  If I had to pick one flavor combination that transports me to the Easters of my childhood, though, it would have to be chocolate and caramel. It’s 

one of my preferred pairings, and I’ve featured it in a few recipes (like this one) on this blog. Here’s another one of my favorite recipes, which comes from Claudia Fleming’s wonderful book, The Last Course (Random House, 2001). Happy Easter to all!!

Recipe notes: I found the tart dough to be a little crumbly and hard to work with, so I added a little cold water to the dough, as directed below. I also found that there was too much caramel

filling in the original recipe, so I cut it in half. The original recipe also called for using 2-inch tartlet pans, which I think are a bit too small, so I used 3-inch pans instead.