Easter Sweet Baskets. Delicious as well, easy to prepare and perfect to serve on Easter and Easter Monday.
If this year you want to surprise your loved ones with an original and irresistible recipe, these delicious Easter baskets are just for you.
Imagine a crunchy shortcrust pastry enclosing a soft cream, all decorated with colorful sugar eggs. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can fill them with whatever you like best, hazelnut cream, pistachio cream, jam, it’s your choice!
I used paradise cream and decorated them with colorful sprinkles and chocolate eggs, but of course, you can get creative. You can also decorate them with fresh seasonal fruit for delicious fruit baskets.
A small masterpiece of sweetness that will make every festive moment even more special. And the best part? It’s simple to prepare and perfect for involving even children in the preparation.
These single-serving desserts are very easy to serve either at the end of a meal or for a buffet or a moment of indulgence. Maybe alongside the classic Easter dove cake or Neapolitan pastiera.
Recipe with two cooking methods: oven or air fryer.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 15 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Electric oven, Air frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter
- Energy 304.88 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 28.15 (g) of which sugars 14.97 (g)
- Proteins 3.48 (g)
- Fat 20.73 (g) of which saturated 8.83 (g)of which unsaturated 3.25 (g)
- Fibers 0.44 (g)
- Sodium 13.64 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 85 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Easter Sweet Baskets
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter (cold from the fridge)
- 7 tbsps sugar
- 4 large egg yolks (about 4)
- to taste lemon (grated zest)
- 1 cup mascarpone
- 1 cup heavy cream (alternatively, use plant-based whipping cream)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp honey
- to taste colored sprinkles
- to taste eggs
- sprinkles
Tools
- Mold
- Food Scale
- Piping Bag
- Electric Whisks
- Cookie Cutter
Steps
Easter Sweet Baskets
Start preparing the easy and soft shortcrust pastry:
The first step is to begin with the sablage: in a bowl, pour the sifted flour, sugar, a pinch of salt, and the cold butter from the fridge roughly cut into cubes, along with the grated zest of a lemon.
Work until you obtain a sandy-looking mixture.
Add the egg yolks.
Then start mixing everything together.
Knead briefly, just long enough to compact the dough for a perfect pastry.
Form a block and wrap it in plastic wrap, place it in the fridge to firm up for at least 30 minutes.
Take the dough from the fridge and roll it out on baking paper with a rolling pin forming a sheet about 0.2 inches thick.
Use the cookie cutter to make cuts and place the obtained cookies on the tray.
Place a square of parchment paper in the center of each basket and place ceramic beans inside. I used common chickpeas, which I use exclusively for this type of baking.
This ensures the pastry doesn’t puff too much while baking.
Bake in a convection oven preheated to 340°F for about 10/12 minutes. Easter pastry baskets are ready when they start to brown a bit on the edges.
Remove the internal paper and cook for a few more minutes.
After the baking time, remove the baskets from the oven and let them cool in the tray for at least 20 minutes.
For air fryer cooking use aluminum molds. Place them in the air fryer basket and cook at 340°F for 8/10 minutes.
Remove the internal paper and cook for a few more minutes.
Keep an eye on it because each oven and fryer has its own cooking times.
Obviously, cooking times change based on the size of the baskets and the thickness you made.
Once ready, let them cool.
Put the mascarpone in a bowl, add the powdered sugar and honey, and mix until smooth and creamy.
In another bowl, whip the very cold heavy cream from the fridge with electric whisks.
When the mascarpone mixture is homogeneous, add the whipped cream by spoonfuls, incorporating it with a spatula and gentle movements from bottom to top, until creating a homogeneous mixture.
When the baskets are cooled, fill them with Paradise cream and decorate with colorful eggs, and let them rest in the fridge until serving.
A very important tip, if you want to prepare them the day before, that’s fine, but put the colored sprinkles later. With the moist cream, the sugar melts and releases color, and you won’t have the wow effect anymore.
Happy Easter and enjoy your meal.
Tips and Notes
Once kneaded, the pastry must rest in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 30 minutes. This step is important because:
The butter hardens
The gluten relaxes
The dough compacts and will be easier to roll out
For perfect baskets, you can also leave it to rest overnight: it improves workability and flavor.
Cold pastry is easier to roll out, but it can crack if too stiff.
Let it soften for 5-10 minutes at room temperature before using.
To prevent sticking:
Dust the surface with a little flour
Or roll it out between two sheets of baking paper
In baking:
340°F is the ideal temperature for most preparations
Blind baking (i.e., without filling) is done by covering the base with parchment paper and dry legumes to prevent puffing
Cooking in an air fryer. Place the tart in the air fryer basket and cook at 340°F for 10/12 minutes.
Watch the edges: when they start to brown, they are ready.
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