Whatever you do this Easter, don’t offer Nadine Ingram a chocolate egg. The Sydney baker and the talent behind one of the city’s favourite bakeries, Flour and Stone, was brought up with standard Easter traditions – egg hunts, chocolate, more chocolate – but these days, she prefers her treats straight from the oven. “Chocolate?” she says. “You can have that any time of year.”
Easter is a busy time for Ingram. The bakery goes into a hot cross bun production frenzy and this year she’s bringing brioche into the picture, too. (Whack it in the toaster for a few minutes on Easter morning, she says – “wow”). Work duties aside, come the first Sunday of April it’s all about spending time with family. And baked goods – lots of baked goods.
“Now, for Easter, we borrow from Europe more than Australia,” Ingram says. “We steer away from chocolate and try to find out more about what the Europeans eat. I think it’s far more interesting.” One of her favourite Easter recipes is derived from the Italian myth of Parthenope (see the Italian Eastern tart recipe), a mermaid from the coast of Naples who would rise from the watery depths to serenade the city. The people of Naples repaid her with ricotta, orange blossoms, flour and spices, which the sea gods then crafted into the Easter tart known as pastiera. “It’s just the most amazing story,” Ingram says. “I’m much more into myths than the Easter bunny.”
It’s recipes like this – warm, homey and laden with tradition – that take centre stage in Ingram’s Easter spread. In the pages to follow she shares some of her greatest hits, sweet enough to convert even the most committed egg-lover. And no, she won’t advise leaving space for store-bought chocolate afterwards. “A well-baked cake trumps it any day,” she says. “Or ice-cream. That’s my vice.”
Saffron and sour-cherry brioche
Walnut, maple and milk chocolate fudge
Salted caramel chocolate éclairs
Trifle with madeleines, lemon curd and peaches
This article initially appeared in our April 2015 issue and has since been updated.
