Holy Week is upon us. It is a time to reflect on what happened to us during Lent: How have we been changed? How have we experienced the poverty of fasting? In reflecting upon these things, we can truly be thankful for all we have. We can make room in our hearts for a celebration of the Risen Christ.
Using a recipe from Cooking for Christ, CRL’s beloved cookbook, is a beautiful way to prepare for the Easter celebration. First created by Florence Berger in 1946, this “kitchen prayer book” leads you through the liturgical seasons and applicable recipes surrounding special feast days, holidays and other traditions. Included are many recipes for the Easter season.
CRL will be releasing a new edition of the cookbook later this year. This new edition of the vintage cookbook preserves the original stories and recipes, but also includes new recipes, reflections, and Church traditions. Faithful to the liturgical year, this book celebrates food, family and faith.
EASTER CAKE
This Easter cake is very good with whole wheat flour. We always use a tube pan and, when the cake is iced with a nut icing, we insert a candle holder in the center. In this holder we place a decorated Christ candle, and thus we have the perfect symbol of the new life and light arising from the circle of death. Little things like this make the “Exultet” visible. We know that the angelic choirs of heaven now rejoice; and we on earth in our little way, “also rejoice illuminated with such resplendent rays and enlightened with the brightness of the eternal King.”
(Serves 6 to 8)
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, separated
3 ½ cups sifted all-purpose or whole wheat flour
4 tsps baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a tube pan, and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat the egg yolks, and fold them into the sugar mixture. Sift together the flour and baking powder, and set aside. Stir the milk into the shortening mixture alternating starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the walnuts, and when well mixed, fold in the egg whites. Pour the batter into the tube pan.
Bake for about 1 hour, or until the cake is lightly browned and shrinks away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven, and invert the pan; let the cake cool for about an hour. Remove the cake from the pan, and when thoroughly cooled, frost with an icing, preferably nut flavored.
Give this great recipe a try for your Easter celebration. Don’t forget to post pictures and comments below! Order a copy of the cookbook here.
