Divine Mercy Cookies

This afternoon, following the completion of our Divine Mercy Novena, my children enjoyed decorating cookies. 

We just used some soft molasses cookies I had in the cupboard, trimming them into the shape of a heart with kitchen scissors, though any heart shaped cookie would work.  Then we simply added red and white cookie icing to represent the rays of blood and water that flowed from Jesus' pierced heart.    

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

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Golden Peach Coffee Cake for Easter

Back in 2008 I shared the recipe for our favorite Cherry Cheese Coffee Cake.  It is always one of the first things requested, especially by my husband, every holiday!  This year my aunt asked me to include it in our Easter Menu and so I decided to try a variation as well, incorporating the liturgical Easter colors of "white" and "gold!"   The cherry is still my personal favorite, but the peach was  also very good!  

Golden Peach Coffee Cake

adapted from Cherry Cheese Coffee Cake

Ingredients: 

Cake & Filling
2 (8 oz. each) pkgs. refrigerated crescent rolls
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
21 oz. can peach pie filling

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons milk

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Unroll crescent dough and arrange 12 of the triangles in a circle with wide ends toward the outside edge of the Large Round Stone or Baking Sheet - the points will not meet in the center.  Lightly flour and roll out the seams making a 14" circle with a 3" hole in the center. 

Note:  I use my Pampered Chef Large Round Stone, though any 16" stone or pizza pan will work.  You may need to reduce the bake time by a couple minutes if you are using a metal pan instead of the stone.

Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg & vanilla and spread over dough. Top with pie filling. 

Cut each of the 4 remaining triangles into thirds (starting at the wide end opposite the point and cutting lengthwise to the point). Arrange over filling evenly in spoke-like pattern. Press ends to seal at center and outer edges. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly. 

Mix powdered sugar and milk until glaze consistency and drizzle over coffee cake.

Enjoy! 

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A Paleo Strawberry Coconut Trifle

This post was written by past Catholic Cuisine contributor Amy.

It is a little late for this Easter, but I wanted to share this with you anyway.  It would be a great dessert for many feast days, including Valentine's Day or Pentecost.  Add some blueberries and it would be a fun dessert for Divine Mercy Sunday as well!

In our family we have people with gluten intolerance and one poor little muffin who is lactose intolerant.  So I generally have to get a bit creative with our holiday treats. 

All I could think about was the fact that I wanted to have that wonderful trifle here at Catholic Cuisine we have every year on Easter.  So I searched the net, but nothing looked very good (well to me, that is, I was being picky).  Then I found, on Pinterest, a link on how to make whip cream from canned coconut milk.  With that and a gluten free cake mix from Pamela's I knew I had it!

A Paleo Strawberry Coconut Trifle

• 1 package Pamela's Vanilla Cake Mix
• 3-4 pounds strawberries (you can do less, but we went for it)
• 1/2 to 1 cup almond or coconut milk
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice  (you could use agave or another sweetener I am sure to your taste)
• 2 cans Native Forest unsweetened FULL FAT coconut milk

Bake the cake according to directions.  Do this the night before and let it cool completely.  I had to hide mine on top of the fridge.  In the morning cut up into 1 inch cubes.  Poor the almond or coconut milk over the cubed cake till it is moist but not soaked.  Cut the strawberries and sprinkle with coconut and sweetener, mix.  Make the coconut whipped cream.  Follow these directions.  They work and it is AMAZING.  I didn't have enough whipped cream for the top because one of my cans got shook up, which was a huge disappointment.  So we only had one layer of the coconut whipped cream instead of two.  I ended up drizzling the other can a little over everyone's servings instead.

On the bottom of your trifle or glass bowl, put half the cake.  Put half the strawberry mixture on top of that, then half of the 2 cans worth of whipped coconut cream.  Repeat.  On top place a decorative strawberry and some toasted coconut.



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Russian Cheese Pashka

I know Jennifer posted a Pashka recipe already, but I wanted to add what we made this year. It was a very simple, traditional Russian recipe that I altered to suit our tastes. I used melted chocolate to add the decorations. An Orthodox Pashka is usually decorated with a Russian cross and the letters XB which represent the first letters of the Pascal greeting "Христос воскрес!" (Christos Voskres!) On our Pashka, I used the letters C & R to represent "Christus Resurrexit" and a Latin cross but I also included the usual symbols around the sides and even an XA for the Greek "Χριστός ἀνέστη!" ( Khristós Anésti!)

Russian Pascha

2 boxes cream cheese, softened

8 oz. small curd cottage cheese

7 oz. plain greek yogurt (the original calls for sour cream)

1/4 C. unsalted butter, melted

7 oz. sugar (a little less than 1 C.)

1/4 tsp. almond extract (the original calls for lemon)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 oz. blanched almonds, finely chopped (opt., I opted not)

2.5 oz. currants (opt., I opted not)

cheese mold

cheesecloth

If you don't have a cheese mold, you can use two layers of cheesecloth inside of an empty 35.3 oz. yogurt carton. First, poke a lot of little holes in the bottom of the tub. I used a metal shish kabob skewer. I think I poked it about 20 times each from the inside and the outside.

In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream/yogurt and butter. Fold in sugar, extracts, almonds and currants. Scoop your cheese into your prepared mold. I recommend folding paper towels or kitchen towels and setting your tub of cheese on top of those to help soak up the extra liquid. Refrigerate overnight. You might want to change the towels out once or twice before unmolding. 

When you are ready to serve, place the upside down tub on a plate and remove tub. Carefully pull the cheesecloth off. Decorate if you want to.

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Basic Paska for Easter

After reading a Ukrainian folktale to my girls this morning, we got busy baking our Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday, Easter Doves, and Paska!  Jennifer recently posted her beautiful Paska recipe, but since I didn't have all the ingredients necessary, and I wasn't going to be able to make it back to the grocery store, I decided to adapt "Mary Urim's Paska" recipe from Romancing the Stove incorporating some of the decorating tips from Ukrainian Classic Kitchen.  I just love how pretty the Paska turned out, and it smells heavenly!

Basic Paska

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 4 eggs, beaten and separated
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 9 1/2 – 10 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, scald the milk. Add the sugar, stirring with a whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool.

In another bowl, mix 3 eggs (saving one for the egg wash), butter, oil, and salt. Add the yeast mixture, and milk mixture, and whisk to combine.

Add 9 1/2 cups of flour to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Gradually add the egg/milk/yeast mixture while mixing. Mix the dough for 10 minutes. Adding up to 1 to 1 1/2 cups of additional flour. The dough should pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and not stick. If it is sticking, gradually add more flour. (Note: My stand mixer was not quite large enough for this recipe so I ended up kneading the dough by hand. If needing by hand, knead well, letting the dough rest a couple times between kneading to let the gluten work. Continue kneading until the dough no longer sticks to hands.)

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with oil, turning to cover all sides of the dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1-2 hours).

After the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl, punch it down a little, and shape into loaves, reserving a little dough to create decorations. Place loaves into well oiled round baking dishes, filling only 1/3 full. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until once again doubled in bulk (about 30-45 minutes).

Note:  I had to be creative finding deep round baking dishes!  I ended up using an Oven-proof Batter Bowl, a white casserole we were given for our wedding, my new Round Covered Baker, and an old Pampered Chef Bread Crock! 

Meanwhile create decorations for the top of the paska.

Note: Adding decorations after the shaped Paska has risen prevents the decorations from rising unevenly.

To make a braided cross: Using 3 small pieces of dough, roll each piece into a rope, then braid the 3 pieces together. Repeat to make a second braid. Place one of the braids over the dough ball in the pan, tucking the sides under the ball. Place the second braid over the first in the form of a cross, again tucking the ends under the dough ball.

 

Additional decoration suggestions/designs can be found in Jen's post.

 

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Make egg wash - beat 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of water. Brush the tops of the loaves with egg wash. Bake for 45 minutes or until the bread is golden.

 Let cool in the pan.

Remove from pan, place on wire rack and cool completely.

NOTE:  This recipe will create 2-3 Paska, depending on pan size.  I used the leftover dough from our Easter Doves to create a 4th small Paska.  

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Easter Doves (Paska Dinner Rolls)

This morning I asked my girls to choose a book for us to read from our Lent and Easter Book Basket and they picked The Birds' Gift: A Ukrainian Easter Story.  This sweet book, unfortunately out of print at the moment, is a folktale describing the origin of pysanky.   After reading the story we were talking about other Ukrainian Easter traditions and decided to add Paska to our Easter menu this year.   We also learned that in earlier times in Ukraine "birds made from dough were baked representing the larks, who were migrating back to the north.   Today, these bread “doves” are seen made for Easter. "

I posted the recipe we used below, but you could also save some dough from your favorite paska recipe, or even make Dinner Roll Doves out of Rhodes Rolls!  Ours didn't turn out as well as I would have liked - you have to look at them just the right way to see that they are actually birds - but the children are looking forward to enjoying them with our Easter dinner!

 

Easter Doves (Paska Dinner Rolls)

Adapted from Ukrainian Classic Kitchen 

Ingredients: 

• 1 package dry yeast (1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 cups flour

Directions: 

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and honey in lukewarm water. Let stand 10 minutes till yeast begins to work.

Beat eggs until foamy. Add the honey, oil, milk, and salt, and beat until well mixed. Add 2 cups of the flour and blend in well. Knead in by hand the 3 additional cups of flour or enough to make a workable dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. (I used my stand mixer with the dough hook.)  Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.

Shape doves; place on greased cookie sheet and let rest 10 to 15 minutes. (The doves will keep their shape best if they are not allowed to rise too long. They will rise some in the oven.) Just before baking, insert cloves or raisins (push in deeply to avoid burning or popping out) for eyes. Brush with an egg yolk wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. Bake at 350˚ F for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

HOW TO SHAPE DOVES

Doves may be shaped in two ways:

1. Roll out the dough into snakes about the thickness of a finger; cut into 4 inch sections. Place one strip horizontally on your work surface; lay another strip on top like a cross. Pull the arms of the strip beneath up and cross to the opposite side) left side becomes right, right side becomes left); flatten and shape slightly as for wings. Shape one end of the straight strip of dough like a head (pinch for a beak); flatten the other end and make three or four slits for tail feathers.

 

 

2.  Roll out the dough into snakes about the thickness of a finger. Cut in strips 5-6 inches long, tie each in a knot. Shape one end like a head (pinch to form beak); flatten other end to make three or four slits to form tail feathers, spreading them apart a bit.

NOTE:  I only used some of the dough to bake a couple batches of the Easter Doves.  I used the remaining dough to make an extra loaf of Paska! 

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GF Lenten Tea Menu

The following post was submitted by Summer from Home.  Thank you Summer! 

When we discovered that our seventh baby had gluten sensitivites, one of my first thoughts was, "What about our liturgical feasts?" I know, a little crazy, but my family loves to celebrate with a special saint day treat here and there. So, when Lent rolled around this year, I was determined to adapt Jessica's Lenten Teas for Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Here are our plans:

Holy Thursday
Palm on the Road- read Little Colt's Palm Sunday book, always gf!
Costly Oil- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
30 Pieces of Silver- banana pennies for a little extra fruit
Unleavened Bread- thick gf flour tortillas
(We are going to use this recipe from Spark Recipes. We haven't tried it yet, but it has excellent reviews.)

The Mount of Olives- black olives
The Cock Crows Twice- chicken pot pie
An excellent pie crust recipe from King Arthur Flour
My favorite chicken pot pie recipe, yum!: Allrecipes (just be sure to substitute sweet rice flour for wheat flour)

Gethsemane Figs- fig butter to spread on the tortillas
Sleepy Apostles- Celestial Seasoning Sleepytime Tea
Judas' Kiss- fresh strawberries
Clouds of Heaven- home whipped cream
Peter's Tears- sunflower seeds

Good Friday
Water Bowl- water, easy!
The King's Crown- refried beans with cheese sprinkled on top and organic tortilla chips
Out of Envy- guacamole
The Purple Cloak- boysenberry fruit leathers (the TJ's version has no added sugar)
The Crown of Thorns- Glutino crackers with cream cheese and tortilla chip thorn bits
Golgotha Eggs- boiled eggs
The Seamless Garment- rice flour or corn tortillas with cheese cubes
The Two Robbers- spinach leaves
Vinegar to Drink- balsamic vinegar
The Temple Curtain- tear a napkin
The Roman Centurion- red grapes (my children do not like fresh tomatoes)
Laid in a Tomb- drop biscuits with jelly in the middle
(We love biscuits and have them every Saturday morning for our big breakfast with daddy. However, a tasty gf recipe is tough to find. Trust me, I have made a lot of hockey pucks! This recipe from Hodgson Mill is the best by far.)

GF Drop Biscuits Recipe
Preheat oven to 375
Grease standard 12 muffin pan

3 cups all purpose GF baking flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. xantham gum
1 tsp. baking soda
Blend above ingredients well

1/2 cup cold butter
Use a pastry blender or two forks to blend into a coarse meal with dry ingredients
(I always cheat and use my butter warm)

1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 lg egg, beaten
In a large measuring cup, mix wet ingredients together. Pour into dry ingredients. Batter will be moist and very thick. Evenly spoon batter into muffin tin. Lightly flatten the tops of biscuits using fingers dipped in milk.

Bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cool.

Holy Saturday...
Will be spent baking our traditional Lamb Cake, just with GF Betty Crocker helping out.

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