Hop into Easter with these Fun Family Activities
The Fabric is a multicultural community made up of a wonderful array of cultures and backgrounds. To celebrate the diversity within our community, we have curated a collection of ideas from around the world to keep the family entertained whilst at home. From making fragrant Chai through to Easter hats and hunts, join us in feeling inspired with our four egg-cellent Easter long weekend tips.
Friday Family Bake Off
Get your ingredients ready for a family Hot Cross Bun Pudding bake off this Friday. There’s even a video to guide the first-time chefs along below!
Gather your ingredients
• 6 x fresh hot cross buns
• 50g butter (or a dairy free alternative)
• 100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 125g of your favourite Easter eggs
• 200g fresh or frozen raspberries & blackberries
• 600ml full cream milk (or coconut milk for dairy free option)
• 300ml thick cream (or coconut cream for dairy free option)
• ½ cup maple syrup (or honey or sugar)
• 1 vanilla bean, sliced in half (or 1 tbs of vanilla paste or extract)
• Zest of 1 orange
• 4 eggs, lightly whisked
• Serving suggestion: cream, ice-cream or natural yoghurt
Divide up steps between the family – who is going to be the best chef?!
1. Place a baking dish into a larger baking dish or pan.
2. Slice the hot cross buns in half and butter each side.
3. Add half of the buns to the bottom the tray and sprinkle over half of the dark chocolate.
4. Add the remaining buns and sprinkle the remaining dark chocolate.
5. Add the milk, cream, maple (or sugar), vanilla, zest, and eggs to a large saucepan and whisk to combine.
6. Place the saucepan on low to medium heat and gently simmer for 5-6 minutes.
7. Pour the custard mixture over the buns and let sit for 30 minutes to allow the custard to soak into the hot cross buns.
8. Add the berries and Easter eggs.
9. Next, add some hot water to the bottom baking tray creating a water bath for the pudding.
10. Bake the pudding at 170C for 45 minutes.
11. Remove the pudding from the oven and allow to cool.
12. Serve with cream, yoghurt or ice cream and the best chefs gets the first piece
The perfect Saturday afternoon warm up!
Warm up with a traditional Indian chai tea recipe.
• 1 ¼ cup water
• ¾ cup whole milk
• Sugar to taste (about 2 heaped teaspoons per serving, traditionally)
• 1 large tablespoon of black tea empty out tea bags to make a tablespoon if you don't buy loose leaves
Add any (or all) of the following:
• 4 cardamom pods smashed with side of a knife
• Small piece of cinnamon stick
• 5 cent piece sizes of fresh ginger
• Pinch of fennel seeds about 10 seeds
Method
1. Bring water and milk to a simmer with desired spices in a medium saucepan.
2. Reduce heat to lowest setting and add tea.
3. Let the ingredients absorb the water and milk until tea takes on a deep, pinkie-tan colour, (approximately 3 minutes) stirring occasionally.
4. Strain into a cup and stir in sugar to taste.
Decoration Idea: How to dye Easter Eggs
Red-dyed eggs are an important part of Greek Easter celebrations, so why not incorporate a different cultural tradition – paint beautiful patterns on eggs with loved ones and use them as food platter decoration.. Kathy Tsaples, owner of Sweet Greek at Prahran Market, Melbourne, shares her method.
• 2 dozen small to medium white eggs (room temperature)
• 2 packets of Greek red egg dye and any other colours you have at home.
• 1 cup of sunflower oil
• 2 cups of vinegar
• Variety of leafy herbs (e.g. parsley and dill), washed
Method
1. Start working the night before. Firstly, have your eggs at room temperature. Wash and dry them thoroughly. Check for any cracks and get rid of eggs that are damaged.
2. Prepare your leaves. Using a wet sponge, moisten your leaves and attach them the egg. Get a piece of stocking, cover the egg with it and, using some string, tie a knot at both ends so it looks like a bon-bon.
3. The next day, prepare your dye according to the packet’s instructions. For two dozen eggs, add two cups of vinegar, for a more intense colour.
4. Put the eggs into the dye mixture and boil as you would normally prepare hard-boiled eggs. They will need to simmer for a little longer than a normal hard-boiled egg (about 10 minutes).
5. Remove the eggs from the heat and let them stand in the dye for several more minutes before taking them out.
6. Using a cloth dampened with oil, start wiping and polishing your eggs after removing the stockings. The oil helps to remove the leaves and makes your eggs shine.
7. Display these on your coffee table, or as the centrepiece for your Easter lunch.
Easter hat making tips and ways to connect this Easter Sunday
Make an Easter hat for the kids to wear during your Easter Egg hunt this Sunday – and don’t forget the wider family, they could connect virtually too.
Nothing says Easter more than making an Easter hat with your family and proudly parading your creation. It’s also a great way to use your old decorations and craft items from around the house.
We are encouraging you to parade your family creations via Facebook messenger, FaceTime or Zoom with your loved ones as everyone hunts for those delicious Easter Eggs, at the end, pick a winner for best hat and most eggs and post a picture to our Facebook page here.
What you’ll need:
• Paper plate
• Paper cup
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Colouring-in pens
• Glue, tape or stapler
• Decorations
• Recycle old decorations
Here’s some great ways in which you can use leftover Christmas and Birthday party decorations to make Easter themed hat toppers.
• Turn Christmas wrapping paper into cute Easter eggs or bunny ears.
• Use old gift boxes, shoeboxes or cereal boxes to cut egg shapes out of cardboard.
• Add tinsel to create sparkle.
• Leftover napkins, tissue paper or cellophane can be turned into flowers.
• Blow-up balloons to look like Easter eggs.
• Decorate eggshells as Easter eggs.
• Find any leftover crafts like pom poms or paper shapes.
How to create your hat
Now that you’ve got all your decorations ready, it’s time to build the base of your hat.
1. Grab your paper plate and make two small holes at each side, thread the ribbon through and tie a knot. This will keep it on your head, with the plate forming the base and brim of the hat.
2. Using glue, tape or a stapler, secure the paper cup to the centre of the paper plate.
3. Add your decorations using glue, tape or a stapler.
Virtual Easter Hunt and Parade
Now that your hat is ready, it’s time to show it off and see what your friends and family have created while you search for the hidden eggs by the Easter Bunny!
Organising a virtual hunt is easy and can be done using several apps including Facebook Messenger, FaceTime or Zoom.
May the best Easter hat win and make sure you post a picture of the winner of best hat and most eggs to our Facebook page here.
Whatever you may be doing this Easter long weekend, the team at Mirvac hope you have a save and happy one.