Happy Easter everyone! Hurrah, the day is finally here! Today is literally perfect weather, such a nice surprise after how it has been the past week, and we've already gone on a nice walk to Chadwick Lakes with the family.
Despite the fact that it was raining on Friday afternoon by evening the weather had cleared so the procession went out as planned. Some other towns, like ones in Gozo and a few in Malta cancelled unfortunately.
Saturday was such a busy day - I was on my feet from morning to night with 'house stuff'. The big project is finally (well, almost) finished and we've been busy putting things back in their place. Some books, though, and diaries, will undoubtedly find themselves in a new location, as we have so many it's easy to forget where was where. In addition to that the university books have been placed in the outer wall unit, to make an impression on guests haha.
I then later baked some figolli - which are a type of traditional Maltese desert - vary as much as you like with the sugar! Some recipes use over a hundred grams, others like to add icing. We use 50 for the dough, 50 for the filling, and like to keep the top plain, just for the sake of keeping a healthy diet. They are so good the whole lot practically finishes in a day or two... and that's a lot of butter!
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| NOT MINE!! |
Unfortunately this year the usual heart shape cutter we always used got lost somewhere in the decluttering process, and is put away in a box, so we had to be a bit original with the shapes. I ended up making 4 big rectangles that fit in one dish, 2 smaller rectangles, 2 small 'sandwich' like triangles and a heart I cut without a shape. The heart actually came out pretty good!
If anyone would like to try it out, here is the recipe>>
For the dough
- 600g white flour
- 250g butter
- 50g brown sugar
- Lemon zest
- Water
For the mix
- 200g pure ground almonds (intrita)
- 50g sugar
- Lemon and orange zest
- Some orange juice
- Water
For the dough start by mixing the flour and the butter. You can use the rubbing in method, or alternately chuck everything in the mixer and let it do the mixing. After the butter is nicely 'dissolved' add in the sugar, and lemon zest. Then, add some water, until the mixture looks dough-like and good enough to roll open.
For the mixture, simply add the crushed almonds and sugar in a separate bowl. Grate the rest of your lemon, and an orange, and squeeze some orange juice out of it. Add a bit of water until the mixture is a bit more moist, but not too moist!
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper, or whatever you like to use, and on a surface roll out your dough. I like to make the base thicker. Once done, spread the mixture over your base and place the thinner rolled dough on top. Seal the perimeter with your fingers or use a fork for a more elegant design.
Bake in the oven (at 180? I think) for about 45m.
