Easter!

I wanted to bake something related to easter, but I couldn't find recipes that I was exceptionally interested in. So instead I baked Pate de Fruit from a recent blog I found:http://bouledecoton.free.fr/index.php/index-des-recettes, using blackberries! They were only slightly difficult to work with; sticky and had to move quickly before the pectin set, but other than that,pretty basic! I bought pectin that also used calcium water to help "set" the gell. To be honest, I know very little about using pectin and this was my first time. I haven't used it in jam prep before, but maybe now I will! It seemed to work well! I thought the color made it easter themed!

I also made Russian cake bread, which is an enriched bread similar to brioche, though significantly less rich. It requires three rises which gave the end result a very flaky and light texture. It lends itself more towards a being a breakfast bread, served with coffee or tea and jam, in the bottom picture cheese was melted over and paired with a fried egg. I loved this bread! Though you can't really use it for sandwiches it is a nice alternative to traditional loafs while avoiding the dense richness of brioche.