Easter Time Again

This Easter we had no long visiting list to tick off as we went. Mother-in-law invited to Easter Dinner and in the evening we dropped by my grandparents. Today we were also invited to dinner by friends.

As Mother-in-law asked for me to bring a trifle dessert and nothing else, no Easter Lamb was required there. But I baked one for my grandparents and friend. And another one for the grandparents of Son #2's friend, as I was feeling in a baking mood on Saturday. 

This year I did not only drape fake grass around the lamb but added some Easter sweeties as well.

For those interested in the recipe, here is how I make mine (I got it from Chefkoch, submitted by lone_bohne, here it is in German):

A packet of butter (in Germany they are 250g)

250g sugar

375g plain flour + one packet of baking powder OR 380g self-raising flour (never tried that one myself though, as in Germany you don't really get self-raise, unless you go to the English Shop or something similar)

1 packet of vanilla sugar

5 eggs

5 tbsp milk

1 packet of lemon zest

You basically mix the butter until soft, then add the sugar and lemon zest and mix, then sift the flour into the bowl and mix. The original recipe states that you should add the eggs one at a time and mix them before the rest are added but I never do, I add them all at once to mix in and the results are also very good. Then the five tbsps of milk are mixed in and off you go. 200°C in a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. When the lamb has cooled off, dust as you wish with icing sugar. You get 3 lambs out of this mixture easily!

My tips for baking Easter lambs:

• Grease the tins well! Easter lamb tins have two parts that are held together with special tin clips. Even if the tins state that they are non-stick - do not believe. I've done that before and ended up with numerous headless lambs before eventually greasing.
• Coat the lamb part of the tins with very fine, dry breadcrumbs. If you haven't got that to hand, lightly coat with sifted flour (but really lightly). This helps getting the lamb out of the tin in one piece after baking.
• Especially when using plain flour and baking powder - fill the tin with the mixture but leave 2-3 cm space up to the rim - otherwise the mixture will start dropping down the sides of the tin about minute 20...
• Before easing the lamb out of the mould after baking, using a sharp cake knife, slice off the cake that has risen above the tin (the Easter lamb tins 'stand on their heads' during baking) - it's easier to do this then than when you have prised the lamb out - and ensures that it stands straight and not lopsided ;-)