Baking for a sweet Easter, East to West

IN THE KITCHEN by Pat Tanner:  Recipes for sweets to break the Lenten fast with ingredients symbolic of rebirth — the theme of Easter and of spring, including eggs, yeast and the very things banned during Lent.

"Illustration

Illustration by Judy


Martin


   This Sunday is the date most Christians — but by no means all Christians —
celebrate Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church, such as the Greek, Russian, and Antiochian churches, observe
an old liturgical calendar that can place the beginning of Lent (the 40 days leading up to Easter) as much
as five weeks later than their Western counterparts, such as the Roman Catholic Church. That is exactly what
is taking place this year: Orthodox Easter ("Pascha") falls on May 5.
   But what both East and West do share is a wealth of recipes for sweets to break the Lenten
fast, which in Western churches these days is noted by abstaining from eating meat or forgoing some other personal
indulgence. The traditional rules for fasting among Orthodox faithful, however, include abstaining from not
only meat, but eggs, dairy of any kind (including butter), olive oil, and sometimes even fish.
   Traditional Easter cakes, breads, and cookies East and West share several ingredients that
are symbolic of rebirth, which is the theme of Easter and of spring, including eggs, yeast and the very things
banned during Lent: butter, cheese and oil.
   Greek Easter bread, for example, is made from eggy, brioche-like dough, its ring shape often
studded with eggs dyed red to symbolize the blood of Christ. Russians celebrate with, among other things, pashka
and kulich, a wonderful pairing of sweetened cheese and a saffron-scented sweet bread in the shape of a cylinder.
   The recipes below come courtesy of two women, one Eastern, one Western.
   Connie Abodeely of Skillman is a member of an Antiochian Orthodox church in Little Falls
(Passaic County), where most members, including herself, are of Middle Eastern heritage. A few years back,
the women of her congregation published a cookbook of Middle Eastern specialties that includes several kinds
of Easter cookies, including these delicious yeast cookies filled with dates. They are made with two Middle
Eastern ingredients worth getting to know: smeed and mahlab. Traditionally the dough is formed into a crown
shape, its surface pinched at points to resemble the thorns on Christ’s crown.
   The recipe for Italian Eastern buns, on the other hand, is unusual in that it does not contain
yeast. "Ciambelle" refers to ring-shaped cakes, buns, cookies or donuts with a hollow center. Here it is actually
a form of quick bread that replaces yeast with baking powder and whipped egg whites. The recipe was given to
me three years ago by Karen Child, a pastry chef who is now an adjunct faculty member at Mercer County Community
College.
   At the time, Ms. Child was pastry chef at the then-new Witherspoon Bread Company in Princeton.
Shortly after its opening, she was inundated with family recipes for holiday baked goods from customers anxious
to share their Easter pastry traditions.
   The sweet, lemony bun below is one such recipe; unfortunately, the name of the customer who
proffered it has been lost.
KA’EK BI-AJWEH (MIDDLE EASTERN DATE-FILLED COOKIES)
adapted from "Middle Eastern & International Recipes," St. George’s Antiochian Orthodox Church, Little
Falls
For the dough:
   1½ cups smeed (finest-grade semolina — see note)
   1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
   1½ teaspoons baking powder
   1½ tablespoons mahlab (ground cherry-pit centers — see note)
   1 cup clarified butter (instructions follow)
   ½ package dry yeast, mixed with ½ teaspoon sugar in ¼ cup warm water
   ½ cup warm water
For the filling:
   1 pound dates, pitted
   ½ tablespoon butter, softened
   1. Mix together all the dough ingredients in a bowl. Knead dough well, until soft. Cover
and let rise for about 1½ hours.
   2. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Put the dates and butter in a bowl and blend well with
your hands or a fork. Roll the mixture into small oval shapes (about 30), as thin as your pinky, and place
on wax paper.
   3. When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take a small amount (about one-thirtieth
of the dough) and flatten it to a thickness of about 1/8-inch. Put a roll of the dates in the center and bring
up the dough to enclose the dates.
   4. With your palm, roll the cookie to smooth the seam. (You can then pinch the cookie to
make "thorns" or use a wooden cookie mold to make a design on top of each cookie.)
   5. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes on the lower rack of the oven.
Transfer the cookie sheet to the top rack and bake for 5 minutes more, or until cookies are light brown.

Makes about 2½ dozen cookies

   Note: Smeed and mahlab are available at Middle Eastern specialty stores,
including the Phoenician Market, 608 Georges Road, North Brunswick.
CLARIFIED BUTTER (also called ghee):
   Place 5 pounds of sweet butter in a 4-quart pot over medium heat and allow to come to a boil.
Lower the heat and let the butter simmer until the milky white solids fall to the bottom of the pot and the
foam on the top turns a pale brown color (about 10-12 minutes). The clarified butter will be clear and translucent.
Remove the butter and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Using a double fold of cheesecloth, pour the butter through
the cheesecloth into a clean jar. Be careful to stop before any of the solids fall into the jar.

Yield: 3.75 pounds clarified butter

CIAMBELLE DI PASQUA (EASTER EGG BUNS)
adapted from Karen Child, Pastry Arts Instructor, Mercer County Community College
   5¼ cups all-purpose flour
   5 teaspoons baking powder
   Pinch of salt
   1 cup (2 sticks) butter
   1 cup sugar
   4 eggs
   Zest of 1 lemon
   2 egg whites
   ½ cup milk
   4 washed and dried eggs, raw
   Egg wash, made with one egg and 2 tablespoons milk
   Granulated sugar or colored sugar crystals or sprinkles, for decoration
   1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour cookie sheet (or cover cookie sheet with
parchment).
   2. Melt butter over low heat and allow to cool.
   3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
   4. Combine sugar, eggs, melted butter, and lemon zest and beat until light and fluffy.
   5. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold them into the egg mixture.
   6. Fold the egg mixture into the flour and work in the milk a little at a time until you
have smooth, soft, sticky dough. (You may not need all of the milk to achieve this consistency.)
   7. Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces. With floured hands, form 4 of the 5 pieces into
4-inch doughnuts, allowing for a 1-inch hole in the center. Place one washed and dried raw egg in the hole.
   8. Use the remaining dough to roll 8 tubular pieces, equal in length and no thicker than
a pencil. Place 2 pieces crosswise over the eggs on each bun. Use water to adhere the pieces to the dough.
   9. Brush buns with egg wash. Sprinkle sugar or decorations on the buns. Bake for about 45
minutes, or until golden brown.

Yield: 4 6-inch buns

   Pat Tanner discusses food and dining on the radio each Saturday on "Dining Today," from
9 a.m. to 10 a.m. over MoneyTalk 1350 AM and 1040 AM.