Easter is a bright and, perhaps, the most long-awaited holiday of the year for every Christian. The main decoration of the Easter table is Easter cake, colored eggs and curd Easter.
Kulich is a tall butter bread that symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Easter cake - its symbolism and meaning
By the main Christian holiday, according to tradition, they are baking kvass bread - an artos, on which they depict a cross and a crown of thorns that symbolize the sacrifice of Christ.
On the first day of Easter, Artos is surrounded around the church. Then he is left on the analogue, where he is for a week. In the holy week it is cut and distributed to all parishioners of the church. Artos symbolizes the bread of life. Acceptance of arthos is comparable to communion.
Kulich is an analogue of homemade arthos. On pure Thursday, yeast dough is made, baked on Friday, and then blessed in the temple. Kulich is a kind of personification of bread that Christ shared with his disciples during the Last Supper.
This tradition is so great that even during the war, when people had nothing, they brought black bread for consecration for Easter.
There are many varieties of Easter baking in the Christian tradition. But only Russian Easter cake is a unique product. It is light in structure and well absorbed.
This Easter cake has a cylindrical shape. Dried fruits or candied fruits are added to the dough, and the top of the pastries is decorated with icing, on which the letters ХВ, which symbolize Christ's Sunday, are laid out.
By tradition, some of the Easter cakes were sacrificed to the poor. To do this, small pies are baked, which are transferred to children's homes, hospitals and places of detention.
It is worth noting that it is very important to properly cut the cake. Many cut it into longitudinal slices, but this is only permissible if it is eaten whole. Basically, the top is cut, and the cake is cut into vertical slices. Moreover, the top is eaten last, as it protects the crumb from chapping.
An important stage in the preparation of Easter cakes is decoration. This will make the baking unique.
The best ideas for decorating Easter cakes
1. Icing sugar. This method was also used by our grandmothers. Due to its simplicity, it is popular in our days. It is enough to take the powder and sift it through a strainer directly to the Easter cake.
2. Squirrels whipped with sugar. This method is also from the past. Squirrels separate from the yolks. Beat them, gradually pouring sugar until a thick, dense foam is obtained. It covers the surface of Easter cakes. Yolks can be used to make dough for Easter cakes.
3. Glaze with decorative powder. It is simple to prepare the icing: they take powdered sugar, mix it with starch and citric acid. Egg whites are beaten into a stable foam, gradually pouring in them a dry mixture of powder and starch. The baking surface is covered with glaze and decorated with decorative powder. Powder will not hold if the glaze dries.
4. Candied fruits, beads and sugar figures. Today you can buy sugar beads in silver and gold. They look just great on a white background. If you have children, pay attention to sugar figures of flowers or animals. Use not too large figures. They look best on Easter cakes.
5. Sugar pencils. This invention allows you to create a true masterpiece on the baking surface. In addition, decorating with pencils will be interesting for children, which will allow the whole family to spend time with interest and benefit.
6. Marshmallow Mastic. For cooking, take 250 g of ordinary white marshmallows. Pour it with 50 ml of lemon juice and place in the microwave for 25 seconds. It will become soft and begin to melt. In the resulting mass put 30 g of butter and begin to knead, gradually adding powdered sugar until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. You can add a little sour cream to make the mass elastic. Then the finished product is packaged in a bag and sent for an hour in the refrigerator. If necessary, it can be painted with food colors or juice of vegetables or berries. From mastic, you can sculpt a variety of figures.
7. XB letters. They are applied with sugar crayons, or made from dough for Easter cake. To do this, tear off a small piece of dough, roll it into a sausage of the same thickness and lay out the letters on the surface of the Easter cake, after having greased it with yolk.
8. Chocolate glaze. Melt 1/3 of the white chocolate bar. Pour it thinly onto foil and cool completely. Pour the melted bar of dark chocolate. Break the frozen layer of white chocolate into small slices and sprinkle a layer of dark chocolate on them.
9. Lemon frosting. Combine lemon zest with 110 g of powdered sugar. Dissolve 30 g of plums. oil and add to it a mixture of zest and powder. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon here and pour in the warmed cream. Whisk well. Pour hot cakes with the resulting mixture and leave to cool for an hour.
10. Original composition for decoration "Chickens and testicles". Grate 85 g of cheddar on the finest grater. In 120 g of sifted flour, add 55 g of plums. butter and knead the dough. Add half the grated cheese. Shake the egg yolk with a little water. Pour a little yolk mixture into a bowl, put the rest in the refrigerator. Roll out the dough in a thin layer, chop with flour and cut out figures of chickens and testicles with molds. Grease them with yolk mixture, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 minutes in the oven at 180 C. Decorate Easter cake with cooled figures.
11. DIY decorative powder. Prepare it from the base and food-grade paint. The basis may be semolina or white sugar powder. The base is stained. To do this, place it for several minutes in paint diluted in water. Then laid out on paper and dried. The resulting lumps crumble to form a powder.
12. Dough decoration. Not only letters are made from the dough, but also various figures that are attached to the surface of the baking dish using whipped protein. The dough is used the same as for Easter cakes, or prepared according to a different recipe. The decor is also fixed after baking. In this case, it is glued with sugar syrup.
13. Lemon Chocolate Fondant. Melt 65 g butter. Add to it squeezed juice from half a lemon and pour 225 g of powdered sugar. We also send 75 g of cocoa here. Mix. It should be a sticky mass. We decorate the surface of Easter cake with it.
14. Multicolored chocolate icing. The basis for the preparation of glazes of different colors is white chocolate. However, do not use catchy colors; soft tones of green, yellow or pink are best. On top of the icing, you can sprinkle with finely chopped nuts or candied fruits, confectionery powder.
Melt the bar of white chocolate. Cool to a warm state, introduce dye and mix. Optionally, add condensed milk or butter. As a dye, you can use juices of vegetables or berries. If the glaze is too thin, add starch to it.
15. Glaze "Toffee". In a quarter cup of milk, add 220 g butterscotch and put on a slow fire. Keep until sweets melt completely. Pour 60 g of powdered sugar gradually. Cook the icing until smooth.
16. Chocolate and walnut decor. Melt 120 g of dark chocolate. Pour in 55 ml of cream and cook, stirring, until smooth. Cover the surface of the cooled pastry with chocolate icing and sprinkle with finely chopped nuts.
17. Coffee fudge. Brew 120 ml of black coffee. Pour 320 g of sugar into it and keep on low heat until it dissolves. Pour the resulting mass into a bowl, whisk and grease the Easter cakes.
18. Fruit fudge. Beat ¾ tbsp. powdered sugar with protein until lush. Enter a few tablespoons of the juice of the berries until a uniform color is obtained.
Serving - the finishing touches
Now you know how to decorate Easter cake beautifully and unusually. It remains to add a few strokes to make the feed even more spectacular:
• Tie the finished Easter cake with satin, openwork or embroidered ribbon. Tie a magnificent bow. You can attach a live spring flower to the ribbon. Spread wheat and colored eggs on a plate next to it.
• You can decorate a plate with a round knitted napkin or an embroidered towel.
Recently, various figures have been used for decoration, starting from flowers and ending with figures of fairy-tale characters. Decorating Easter with all kinds of elves and other fictional characters is not recommended. It is better if it will be spring flowers, letters or figures of chickens.
The main thing is to decorate Easter cakes with love and in a good mood, and you will definitely get a real work of confectionery art.
