Sunday 4 April 2010

The Easter Tree and Baking

Nothing will ever come close to a Christmas Tree in my books. When I put all the decorations away back in January I counted how many I carefully wrapped in tissue paper and stowed safely in shoeboxes, I've close to 200 now. I've been collecting Christmas tree decorations for 14 years, so it's no wonder really.

I've always loved the little wooden painted eggs and rabbits you see at this time of year and I finally got round to getting a couple of sets a few years ago. And now, every Easter I have an Easter tree! It's just a twig arrangement in water, but I enjoy the same aspects of it that I do with my Christmas Tree. Choosing the right twigs has become an art - I look for hazel branches in the forest that have shed their catkins and whose leaves are just beginning to unfurl. Then the Easter decorations are hunted down (never a mean feat, they always seem to hide!) and the tree is assembled.

I have eggs, rabbits and few larger wooden decorations in pastel colours. But I'm always on the lookout for more - I have some way to go with Easter decorations before I have a collection to match the Christmas ones.

I'm of the opinion that chocolate Easter eggs are a complete rip-off and so every year I like to bake something chocolatey on Easter Sunday. Last year I made a huge chocolate cake, topped with primroses, which was really a bit too extravagant! This year, I just made cupcakes - Chocolate, with chocolate icing, and topped with hundreds and thousands and a mini egg, and Apple and Lemon curd ones too - topped with tiny sugared violet flowers.

They almost look too pretty to eat, sitting under the Easter Tree, but, I can be persuaded.

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