Easter Bread with Chocolate Chips

Found in many a heritage is the tradition of baking an Easter bread that contains colored or dyed eggs. Bread, being the "staff of life" as symbolized by Christians, and eggs representing renewal are both iconic of the religious meaning of the Easter holiday for many. My Catholic mother-in-law, Rose, bakes this bread every Easter and helped me out with tips when I developed the recipe. Not being able to resist modifications, I decided to pack the bread with chocolate chips, per Rose's blessing as I didn't want to appear sanctimonious in my quest for a tasty holiday treat. Use non-toxic dye when coloring the eggs as the dye may rub off on the bread (see recipe and note below). Also, the eggs are raw when dyed, as opposed to the traditional method for coloring Easter eggs where they are hard-boiled before the coloring process. Finally, I suggest storing this bread in the refrigerator to keep the encrusted eggs safe for consumption. If the bread happens to stay out overnight or on a shaded brunch table for more than 2 hours, remove the eggs and discard as children are drawn to them.

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 (1/4 oz.) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup warm milk
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

For Decoration:

• 5 uncooked eggs colored with non-toxic Easter egg dye (see recipe below)

Combine sugar, yeast, salt, and 1 cup flour in a large bowl. Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until milk is lukewarm 110F and butter has melted. Pour milk into dry ingredients and beat well, for about 2 minutes. Add eggs and 1/2 cup flour and beat for additional 2 minutes until batter thickens.

Add remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and stir until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn out dough on to lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic but not sticky. Use more flour if necessary.

Oil a large, clean bowl and transfer dough into bowl. Turn dough over once to oil top of dough. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area. Let dough stand until it doubles in size, about 2 hours.

Butter a baking sheet. Punch down the dough in bowl and return to a lightly floured surface. Knead in chocolate chips until incorporated throughout dough.

Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a 2-foot rope. Loosely twist the two ropes together and form into a ring on a prepared baking sheet. Pinch ends together to close ring. Carefully split twist in ropes to make a place for each egg. Gently push eggs down into splits in ropes as deep as possible. Loosely cover bread with wax paper and let rise in a warm, draft-free area until bread doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Brush surface of bread and Easter eggs with canola oil. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in bread comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes 1 round loaf

Home-made Easter Egg Dye

Combine 1 cup water with 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar. Stir in drops food coloring until liquid is desired color. Immerse egg in dye for 30 minutes. Pat dry with paper towel.


Photo Credit: Crisco.com. Check out Crisco's Easter Bread Recipe.

Honey Ham

Just in time for Easter, this easy Honey Ham recipe is absolutely delicious with ingredients like brown sugar and ginger in the glaze that coats it. Purchase ham labeled "fully-cooked" and preferably smoke-cured. Even though Easter is celebrated today as a Christian holiday, its origins are rich in folklore with multi-religious beginnings. Ancient Anglo-Saxons would feast with the onset of springtime at a pagan festival honoring the goddess “Eastra” or “Ostra.” Idolized on earth as a rabbit, she was the deity of spring and renewal. Hence, the symbolism associated with Easter reflects rebirth or fertility such as the egg and the bunny. I'll be writing more about Easter traditions in these holiday recipe headnotes, such as the big old bunny who fills baskets with candy and how he came to be. My 5-year-old daughter insists that he is pink, whereas I have always pictured him as white.

• 1 (8 lb.) half ham shank, fully-cooked, bone-in, cured
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, peeled, minced
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  

Preheat oven 350F (175C).

Trim the fat on ham to 1/4-inch thick layer over surface. Score surface into diamonds. Insert meat thermometer in thickest part of ham. Place ham on a wire rack in a roasting pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Combine ginger, honey, and vinegar in a small bowl. Brush glaze over surface of ham. Pack brown sugar over glaze. Bake for 30 minutes and baste ham with glaze. Bake 15 to 30 minutes more or until meat thermometer registers 140F.

Transfer ham to a nice wooden cutting board and let stand 15 minutes. Place carving board on buffet table and carve a few slices sized to fit on bread roll as a sandwich.

Makes 12 servings

Photo credit: Azgalarneau on Flickr