Rich Easter Crown

Babiche Martens

This rich Easter Crown is easy to make and best eaten warm, straight from the oven with a good coffee. If you have children who dye eggs for Easter, push three to four into the dough just before cooking to create a colourful crown effec - make sure the dye is non-toxic and the eggs are raw. You can also make sticky buns from the same dough. Simply slice, pack into a tin and cover with a honey glaze before cooking.

Dough

1 Tbsp	Active yeast
1 tsp	Sugar
60 ml	Water, warm
125 ml	Milk
60 g	Butter
1	Egg
375 g	Flour (Main)
½ tsp	Salt
50 g	Sugar

Filling

60 g	Currants
60 g	Sultanas
2 Tbsp	Glace ginger, chopped
2 Tbsp	Mixed peel
½	Lemons, zest of
45 g	Brown sugar
½ tsp	Cinnamon
¼ tsp	Nutmeg

Icing

½ cup	Icing sugar
3 Tbsp	Water, hot

Directions

1. Mix yeast 1 tsp of sugar together. Sprinkle over warm water and leave for 15 minutes until frothy.
2. To make filling, mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside until ready to use.
3. Melt butter and add to milk, then allow to cool. Whisk in egg.
4. In a large bowl combine flour, salt and sugar. Make a well in the middle and add yeast and milk mixtures. Mix with a fork and then your hand, slowly drawing in flour until you have a firm dough. Place in a warm place covered for 1 hour until doubled in size.
5. Roll out dough to a 23cm x 40cm rectangle. Spread filling over evenly leaving a 2cm border around edge. Roll with rolling pin lightly to press filling. Roll rectangle in a cylinder along the long side, sealing edges with a little water.
6. Curve the roll into a circle and seal ends together.
7. Using a sharp knife cut almost through dough creating 12 scrolls. Twist the scrolls to lie them flat. Cover and return to a warm area for 1 hour until well risen.
8. Preheat oven to 200C.
9. Place in hot oven for 25 minutes.
10. To make icing, add enough hot water to icing sugar to dissolve it. Use a brush to cover scrolls with icing. This is best done when they are hot, straight from oven.