Easter Ham

Christ is risen, Alleluia! He is risen, indeed, Alleluia!

My mother hosted our Easter family celebration this year. For the main meal, she decided to have roast beef and ham, and I offered to bring the ham and bake it for her. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but many glazes on hams have allergens, particularly wheat. Some hams have injected juices, so it’s important to read labels before buying ham.

I bought one at Costco. I follow the reheating instructions, 325 degrees at 8 minutes per pound, but I do not use the glaze packet, instead I follow the recipe from the old version of Joy of Cooking for Spirit Glaze for Ham. This is really taste, keeps the ham moist, and is my family’s favorite. When serving dinner, the question came “Is this Jenn’s ham? Allright!”

Spirit Glaze for Ham

1/2 to 1 cup dry red wine
1/2 to 1 cup bourbon whiskey (I use Maker’s Mark)
1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar
6 bruised cloves
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan until sugar is melted. Pour over the ham and baste throughout the cooking cycle, about every 15 minutes.

The best thing about ham is that it can do double or triple duty for meals. So this ham was part of our Easter feast on Sunday, then a repeat meal on Easter Monday at home. On Wednesday we had Red Beans and Rice, one of my favorites.

Holy Thursday Meal

On my other blog I’ve talked about planning the Holy Thursday meal. Should I or should I not have a Passover meal? I know it’s a week later, but I thought I would share our menu.

I decided to not do an official Seder, but just incorporate elements that would remind us of Jesus’ Last Supper, and the reading and Gospel from the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Holy Thursday Dinner Menu:
Lamb Chops with Artichoke Hearts (Reminder of the Passover Lamb, and Christ the Paschal Lamb)
Mashed Potatoes (allergy free)
Spinach (reminder of the bitter herbs)
Applesauce (reminder of the Charoses, the bricks and mortar in Egypt)
Bread (reminder of the Unleavened Bread and the Eucharist)
Grapes (reminder of the wine and Blood of Christ)
Dessert (Because it’s a festive day in the eyes of the Church)

As a family of three, with a messy 3 year old, we rarely eat in our dining room. But I set the table with a white tablecloth, our china and silver, even for our son. I made a resolution to make sure I do this more often with just us, because my son asked “Are people coming over for dinner?” when he saw the table.

Since dh and I don’t really have a taste for lamb and we’re a small family, I only made a few lamb chops (frozen from Trader Joe’s). The recipe I used was Lamb Chops with Artichoke Hearts, without the olives and tomatoes. It was quite easy and tasty, although it didn’t cover up the lamb aftertaste.

Since we were leaving for the Mass that evening, we didn’t have wine. We read from the book of Exodus 12:1-20 is read —the story of the first Passover before the meal. We also washed feet, reading John 13:1-17. We also talked about the events that happened with Christ that night, using some picture books to tell the story.

This was just a simple meal, but it was wonderful in preparing our son for the Mass that evening. He recognized the white vestments, like our tablecloth, heard the bells and triumphant singing, watched as Father washed the men’s feet, followed Father as he took the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose.

Was my son well-behaved thoughout? No. It was a struggle through the whole night, wanting to talk, play and wiggle. He was loud, and we had to take him out several times. Dh and I weren’t able to enter very deeply into the Mass. But it still was a beautiful Mass, and a wonderful experience for ds.

Easter Lamb Cake

I had huge success for my lamb cake this Easter, and really I have to give all credit to Elizabeth Foss, since she shared her recipe on the Easter Menu discussion from the 4RealLearning Forums. I have a different cake mold than the Wilton version, but the recipe and directions worked out perfectly. I had no breakage, no floppy cake. The cake itself was firm but moist and tasty. The decorator icing was delicious…a bit on the sweet side, but that’s typical for decorator icing. I used the No. 21 tip and made stars to recreate the fluffy lamb’s wool. I used jellybeans for the eyes and mouth, dyed coconut green and sprinkled on the top of the base to recreate grass.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your family’s secrets. I’m reproducing the recipe so I can keep it for my records (every year I forget what I did the last time).

Pound Cake:

1 1/2 cups butter
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
2 3/4 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat eggs, one at a time. Sift flour and add to batter. Add vanilla; mix well.
Place batter into a greased and floured pan; follow Wilton baking instructions.

I didn’t need to double the recipe. The leftover batter was enough to fill one 10 inch layer to use as the base for the lamb. Next year I might double to make a layer cake. The pan cooked much more quickly than the lamb, so watch that carefully.

I didn’t ice right away. From my decorating class I had the recommendation to wrap up the cake in many layers of plastic wrap and then freeze the cake. I do believe I was supposed to “crumb” the cake, which was to put a thin layer of frosting all over the cake before freezing, but I skipped that part. The freezing would make the cake firm for decorating and keep it moist.

Hazelnut Frosting

1/2 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Butter
5 cups Confectioner’s Sugar
4 Tbsp. Frangelico (or more to get the right consistency)

Cream butter and shortening with mixer for 3 minutes on high speed. Add Frangelico. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Mix on high speed for 5 minutes.

I did double this recipe and had only a little leftover. I LOVED the Frangelico addition. I think next time I might add a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness, but I’ll have to think that one over.

I used decorator bags, which turned out to be hard for me to squeeze. Next year I’m going to try to use a Decorator, perhaps like the one from Pampered Chef, which will not require as much thumb movement.