For me, the days before Easter and Christmas are spent cooking, with both Christmas Eve and Good Friday being my favourite "in the kitchen" days.

Overall I think I prefer Easter cooking. There's less pressure and it's usually accompanied by lovely spring weather. I particularly enjoy Good Friday baking accompanied by a Carry On film.

If you're baking for guests ( or family ) this year and are looking for some failsafe recipes with the wow factor, I've linked to my favourites below.

Vegan hot cross buns

I've spent years trying to find the perfect hot cross bun recipe. Paul Hollywood's recipe came close >> Read Paul Hollywood's Hot Cross Bun Recipe Here  

But then one year I had a houseful of vegan guests staying and discovered a vegan hot cross bun recipe, which became my favourite, even as a non vegan. Though, I must admit, when I'm not cooking for vegan guests, I replace the dairy free spread with butter and the oat milk with full cream dairy milk.

Check out my vegan hot cross bun recipe here 

I adapted the recipe to make in my bread machine, and also worked out a method to freeze the uncooked buns so I could bake just as many as I needed in the morning.

I use my Panasonic Breadmaker to make most of my bread dough, then shape by hand. As gadgets go, this is the one that has had virtual daily use for years! 

Panasonic Bread Maker

Best every chocolate brownies

I used to have some repeat guests who visited the B&B several times a year. One morning he announced that he was always on the lookout for the perfect brownie.

"Aha", I announced, "I have a recipe for that!"

It's from the BBC Good Food Magazine and is one of the few recipes I've never adapted, as it's just perfect as it >> Best ever chocolate brownies recipe

Incidentally, the recipe is by Orlando Murrin who used to be the editor of the magazine. His recipe book, A Table in the Tarn is one of the few recipe books that I use again and again, and contains our go to gratin dauphinois recipe.

You can get the book here on Amazon Orlando Murrin A Table in the Tarn

Orange and rhubarb muffins

As Easter is also rhubarb season, these rhubarb muffins usually make an appearance on the breakfast table at this time of year.

I'm not a rhubarb fan but I do love these rhubarb muffins!

Check out the orange and rhubarb muffin recipe here 

White chocolate cupcakes

On the search for some special cupcakes for guests who were here on honeymoon, I stumbled upon these romantic rose cupcakes from BBC Good Food.

Whilst some cupcakes can be a bit dense, these ones are lovely and light and definitely my absolute go to cupcakes.

For Easter, I pop mini eggs on the top rather than faffing around with icing flowers 😉 Though they would look really pretty with some edible flower petals.

White chocolate cupcake recipe from BBC Good Food

The ultimate chocolate cake?

Some more of my regular "several times a year' guests were one of the few couples that didn't want a lemon drizzle cake, so they always ordered a chocolate cake instead.

This Guiness Cake rapidly became a family favourite, with mini eggs thrown on top for Easter. It's wonderfully moist and squidy!

I make it with a local Shropshire porter ( beer ) but I replace the icing with the BBC Good Food buttercream icing with a tablespoon of the coffee liqueur, Kahlua.

I also find the all in one method works perfectly well - chuck all of the cake ingredients into a mixer and beat together for 2 minutes on high - though start at a low speed if you don't want to get covered in Guinness and chocolate.

Chocolate Guinness Cake recipe

Chocolate buttercream recipe

On to what to cook for Easter lunch 

I have a very old recipe blog which I really need to update and transfer over to this one. But it contains some of my family favourite recipes that aren't cake or breakfast!

Quite a few years ago I was asked by a cookery website to write up my favourite recipes using Welsh Ingredients for St. Davids Day. They also happen to make the perfect Easter lunch.

For the vegetarians, I recommend my cheese and caramelised onion tart. It's a labour of love and seems to take all day to make - one for Good Friday baking day - but it's worth it. It could well convert even the non quiche eaters in the family.

See the recipes here:

Caramelised Onion Tart

Slow cooked shoulder of pork with apple gravy

Leeks in a Welsh cheese sauce

Slow cooked shoulder of welsh lamb

Boulangere Potatoes

Please note that this blog contains affiliate links. If you buy any products I recommend I receive a small commission ( at no cost to you ) which goes towards the upkeep of this blog. I only recommend products I love myself or are recommended by friends and colleagues.