For many people, mother is the same dear and close person to whom we said our first “I love”. And on Valentine's Day, we want to give our mother some nice gift, once again remind us of our feelings and thank her for the warmth and care that she gives us. We tell you what to give your mother on February 14th.
DIY gifts
Overall, this is a great gift option for mom on Valentine's Day. The main thing on this day is not the cost of the item, but rather the manifestation of care, attention, and warmth. So even without any money you can please a loved one:
- Make a beautiful Valentine's card. Basically, you only need a little thick paper, and different decor can be selected from what you have in the house. The main thing is to write kind words, personally from yourself, and not just a poem or a wish from the Internet. Mom will definitely keep this card for many years.
- Draw your mother's portrait. If you don’t know how to draw at all, it doesn’t matter. Take a beautiful and clear photo of her and play with stylization, contours, textures and colors in Photoshop. You can achieve beautiful simple lines or make a portrait in the pop art style, in two colors. Turn on the grid and redraw it onto paper.
- Sew a cosmetic bag. A little fabric and a zipper, a few hours of labor, and the gift is ready. For some reason, cosmetic bags get dirty quite quickly and become shabby, so it’s always nice to update it. A new, clean cosmetic bag is a great gift for mom on February 14th.
- Sew potholders or coasters for cups. It’s also a nice thing that often gets dirty, doesn’t wash well, and is rarely replaced, unless it’s received as a gift. You can sew a potholder even without a machine, simply folding the fabric and stitching it by hand. And of course, make it in the shape of a heart.
- Make a cute refrigerator magnet using salt dough. It's very simple, you just need flour and salt, and an oven for baking. The magnet is easy to get/cut out of any old or unnecessary one that is probably lost in the corner of the refrigerator. Salt dough is easy to mold and paint, so you can write or cut out an inscription. A touching craft that you can make with your own hands and give to your mom on Valentine's Day, in a couple of hours and without spending any money.
Make several valentines and place them in different places so mom can find them and smile all day long.
Gifts from children under 10 years old
At this age, there is usually very little pocket money, and the child does not yet go to shopping centers on his own to find something special. A good option is to talk with one of the other adults in the family and choose an inexpensive, cute gift together, or make it yourself, inspired by the ideas we have already proposed. Here are more options:
- Ribbon bracelet. Look online to see how interesting and beautiful even such a simple decoration can look like. Ribbon and beads are usually used for it; there are different weaving options. The only tools you need are a needle, and in terms of time you can do it in even 15 minutes.
- Box made of toothpicks, cardboard, threads/yarn. You can just search on the Internet and you will immediately see how simple everything is. It can be easily done in an evening or even a few hours, and makes a very useful gift for mom on February 14th - women always have something to put in a cute box or casket.
- Sweets with wishes. It can be in a beautiful heart-shaped box that can be easily glued together from cardboard. Take the candies and attach a note with gentle words to each one; you can additionally wrap them in beautiful paper. In general, a box with sweets and warm wishes will make any woman happy.
If you have art kits at home, think about what you can make from what you have. Make something out of plastic, assemble a bracelet, draw or print something.
Gifts from teenagers and older children
At this age, as a rule, you already have some money, as well as the opportunity to go shopping or at least order a gift for your mother on February 14 via the Internet. It is worth remembering that mom is unlikely to expect something very expensive, rather symbolic (March 8 is ahead - then it will be possible to give something more significant). And the main thing that a mother lacks is, probably, communication with her grown-up child, his attention and kind words. Teenagers especially rarely tell their mother that they love her, so these words are especially valuable, they delight and warm the mother’s heart. Here's what else you can give:
- Beautiful candles. Just what you need to create an atmosphere of warmth and comfort in your home. You can choose very beautiful, unusual ones that will surprise and delight. Or just small ones in the shape of a heart, a few pieces.
- Cup “To my beloved mother”. As an option - with a beautiful personal teapot for loose leaf tea.
- Cake or pastries, of course, in the shape of a heart. The easiest recipe is a biscuit base, which can be easily cut into a heart shape, and a chocolate or cream filling.
- Delicious dinner or breakfast. Getting up early and taking care of mom is priceless. Or greet her from work with a delicious hot dinner so she doesn’t have to stand at the stove. This is much more valuable than any material gifts.
- Sofa pillow in the shape of a heart. It can be easily cut out and sewn by hand, small irregularities in the seam will not be noticeable. The same pillow can be useful in a car if mom drives it. For stuffing, you can use old toys or chopped unnecessary things (important: you must know 100% EXACTLY that the things are unnecessary).
- Portrait from a photo. You can either take a photo with you and contact street artists who will draw a portrait in 20-30 minutes, or process the photo yourself in Photoshop and print it.
- Calendar with personal photos. For example, for each month you can choose a photo of mom and dad or mom and child. The beginning of the year is a great time to give a calendar for the coming year. They are printed in many printing houses, photo salons, and in almost any city. All you need is a photo; all the design and layout will be done by printers.
- Heart shaped baking dish. Or small molds. Nowadays they make very good and convenient molds from soft silicone - nothing burns in them, they are easy to take out, you can bake cakes and muffins or even make mini-casseroles from meat and vegetables with eggs and cheese.
- Magnetic board for the refrigerator. They are sold ready-made, cut in the shape of a heart. You can write notes and just kind words on them with chalk. You can attach the board to the refrigerator right on the holiday and write a congratulation to your mother on February 14th.
Mom will be pleased to receive fresh flowers as a gift. In winter, and especially on Valentine's Day, flowers are very expensive, so it might be worth buying them on February 13th and hiding them in your room, or buying at least one small flower.
As an option for a “flower gift,” you can make or order a bouquet of sweets, a chocolate set, or buy a fresh flower in a pot. Please note - there are very cute cacti (succulents). And try to somehow wrap the flower so as not to freeze it on the way home from the store.
DIY certificates for mom
A great idea for what to give your mom on February 14th with your own hands: come up with and make gift certificates with things that are important to your mom. Remember all the things that cause disputes and quarrels in the family, those household chores that you do only with a scandal and after a dozen reminders. Mom will definitely be happy if she has a way to come to an agreement with you without tears and arguments. For example, these could be:
- Certificate for unquestioning dishwashing;
- Certificate for general house cleaning;
- Certificate of exemption from household duties for the whole day.
Think about what exactly you could do for your mother and make such a checkbook. Just keep in mind that the promised desires will have to be fulfilled without persuasion and with a smile.
Original gifts-impressions
Treat mom to a great time with an experience certificate or event tickets. She can go there either with dad, or together with you. For example, they are relatively inexpensive:
- A day at the spa, where you can completely put yourself in order.
- A joint trip to a beauty salon.
- Culinary master classes– if mom likes to cook and would like to learn something new.
- Interesting massage session– to warm up the whole body in the winter cold, relax, unwind.
- Master classes on interests and hobbies– learn to do something new and unusual together.
- Photoshoot– perhaps you have photographer friends who, for a small amount, will arrange a joint photo shoot for you with your mother or the whole family. Beautiful photos for memory are great!
- Going to a restaurant. How long has it been since your mother visited such an interesting place? Perhaps this is a reason to book a table and have an evening together? Or at least order interesting food home.
- A walk to the movies. Just choose a good, beautiful film, perhaps a melodrama or comedy. Buy some popcorn and spend time together.
Spend time with your mother, and she will be very pleased and happy. The older the children are, the more the mother wants to feel needed and loved.
More gift ideas
We have already proposed a lot, but, nevertheless, you can always come up with something else. We present a list of other gifts that will delight your mother on February 14th. Perhaps our options will give you some interesting ideas or you will choose something from what we offer for your mother.
- Keychain in the shape of a heart, with a place for a photo. Just insert not your mother’s photo, but your common one, and your mother will always have a piece of your warmth with her.
- Decoration. It doesn’t have to be something very expensive, maybe a cute heart, a pendant on a chain or for a bracelet. But consider the metal that mom wears. And if anything - cheap jewelry always looks cheap, women usually determine almost at first glance whether the metal is precious or not. If you don’t have money, it’s better to consider other gift options.
- Jewelry stand or earring organizer. The Internet is full of options on how to make them yourself, or you can choose ready-made ones in stores.
- Handmade soaps or bath bombs, all in the shape of a heart. Mom will be especially pleased if you make them yourself (you can buy ready-made kits for making them yourself), but you can also buy them.
- Notepad and pen. Suitable for a business mom who likes to write everything down and make lists. You can choose accessories in shades of pink or red, in the colors of the holiday. And write touching words in the notebook - every time you open the notebook, your mother will remember you.
If you live separately, your visit would be an excellent gift for your mother on February 14th. And the fact that you found the time to visit your most beloved woman, who gave you life and loves you more than anything in the world. Take flowers, buy a heart-shaped cake - and tell your mom that you love her!
Our winters are so long and cold, but we really want warmth. That's why Valentine's Day, which is celebrated on February 14, has become so popular. This warm holiday is filled with love and attention from loved ones. On this day it is also customary to decorate the house and exchange valentines.
Making crafts for Valentine's Day with your own hands is a pleasure. Website “Mom can do anything!” collected original ideas for making gifts with your own hands. With them, the holiday will be especially warm, cozy and filled with love.
On such a day, it is customary to give flowers and sweets to loved ones, and a handmade gift will be especially cute; it will decorate a shelf or bedside table for a loved one. Such gifts carry the warmth with which they were imbued during production.
Content
Valentines made from paper and cardboard
Of course, our stores are literally inundated with various bright cards, but a handmade Valentine will be especially precious. It will reflect your personality.
What would Valentine's Day be without hearts and without roses? We suggest combining them into one and making a heart from paper roses.
Tender kisses and hearts must be present on this day.
And such a valentine speaks for itself. A marriage proposal will definitely end in a quick wedding.
This valentine card looks original and beautiful; it not only contains a wish, but can also include a small gift.
Valentine card with 3D heart.
And such a sweet valentine will tell about endless love. 
This valentine is quite easy to make, but look how beautiful it looks!
Volumetric valentine with heart
Just glue hearts onto thick white paper and draw stems underneath, a simple and cute Valentine is ready! Add details to it: satin ribbons, rounded corners, backing; it will look especially beautiful if the hearts are cut out of felt.
Another version of the postcard
You will understand how to make such a Valentine in this master class with photos. Cut out two hearts from paper and cut them into a spiral. Then connect the inner hearts as shown in photo 3. Fold the thick paper in half. Now glue one big heart from the inside, then the second one (steps 6-7). The postcard is ready.
You can make such an interesting and voluminous Valentine card for your loved ones.
Craft ideas for home decoration
To create a special festive atmosphere in the house, special decorations are needed. Of course, now they are easy to find on store shelves, but it’s much nicer and more interesting to make them yourself. We offer you craft ideas for decorating your home for Valentine's Day.
Garlands are one of the simplest and most effective ways to decorate your home. On the holiday of dedicated love, it is customary to make them in the shape of hearts from paper of different shades of pink. Check out these options for making garlands:
This option is easy to do if you know how to sew on a typewriter: cut out hearts of different shapes from colored paper (it’s better to use printer paper), and then sew them on a typewriter one after another. You can hang them as shown in the picture, or you can hang them from wall to wall - in this case, the line should go across the heart.
In childhood, chain garlands were made this way for the New Year, but we suggest making them simpler and in the shape of hearts. You will need:
- colored paper;
- scissors;
- stapler
Cut the paper into strips 10-15 cm long and 1-2 cm wide. Fold each in half, now take a stapler and use it to connect the ends of the strips, bending them slightly inward. You will get a heart. Then insert another strip and connect in the same way. This way you will make a long and beautiful garland. 
A wreath will be a beautiful craft for your home on February 14th. It can be hung both on the front door and on the walls indoors. Of course, such wreaths are made in the shape of hearts.
This version of the wreath is very simple and does not require any expensive materials or skill. Just take some thick cardboard and cut a ring out of it. Then take sheets of red and pink paper and cut out lots of hearts from them. Bend each heart in half to create a voluminous wreath. Now glue them onto the ring using a glue stick.
This heart is made in a similar way.
You can make an excellent craft from cardboard and threads and decorate your interior with it. Cut out a heart from cardboard as shown in the photo. Take a thick thread or red yarn and secure its end to the heart. Start wrapping. Gradually you will get such a voluminous heart. It will look even more interesting if you take threads in two shades of red.
Children will really like this candy wreath. 
How do you like this wreath of hearts?
On Valentine's Day, the house is decorated with all kinds of hearts, and a heart-shaped one will most likely live in your home for more than one day. 
Volumetric hearts for home decoration:
These hearts will look great for decorating a room if they are made large; small versions can be pasted into valentines. 
Hearts made of colored threads and wire. 
Another manufacturing option
Cuttings for windows
Hearts on sticks 
A beautiful home decoration made from strips of newspaper.
- Cut the newspaper into strips and roll each of them into a tube.
- Roll one of them into a heart shape.
- Inflate a small balloon so that it fits inside the heart.
- Now wrap the heart and balloon with paper tubes, as shown in the photo, securing the structure with glue.
- Let the product dry.
- Paint it with paint.
Decorate the finished hearts with paper flowers and use them to decorate your home.
Children's crafts for Valentine's Day
The holiday is a good reason to make crafts with children. We offer you various types of paper heart applications that can be dedicated to this day. 
Funny caterpillar made of hearts 
And these are children's paper crafts that also contain hearts - a symbol of this holiday.
For the onset of one of the greatest holidays - Easter, all housewives prepare carefully. In the morning they begin to boil eggs and decorate them with different paintings (see details on). After which comes the turn of the traditional Easter cake. But since today not many people know how to handle dough correctly, and stores provide such a good opportunity to purchase ready-made Easter cakes, most housewives do not waste time on baking. But still, if you think about it, the most delicious Easter is the one made with your own hands. And if you don’t have baking skills, then the simplest and very quick recipe for a delicious Easter comes to the rescue.
List of required products for the test:
- Milk - 1 full glass (250 ml);
- Sugar - 2 tablespoons;
- Salt - 0.5 teaspoon;
- Dry yeast - 1 teaspoon;
- Eggs - 2 pcs.;
- Flour - 3 cups (approximately 500 g depending on the type of flour);
- Sunflower oil - 6 tablespoons;
- Raisins - 100 gr. (you can take more if you wish).
Glaze:
- Egg white - 1 pc.;
- Sugar - 1/3 cup;
- Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon;
- Colored powder.
Preparing the simplest Easter
- The first thing to do is to set the yeast to dissolve in milk. To do this, heat the milk a little (there is no need to bring it to a boil). Pour sugar and salt into the heated milk, then yeast - mix thoroughly and let stand for about 15-20 minutes until foam appears. While the yeast is dissolving, you need to sift the flour. Sift the flour into a container, then make a hole and beat in the eggs. Use a spoon to stir the eggs a little so that the yolks separate. Pour the milk-yeast mixture into the flour with the eggs, add sunflower oil and knead the dough. Important: The dough should have a medium thickness and at the same time be homogeneous. If, while kneading the dough, it sticks to your hands, your hands should be greased with sunflower oil; you should not add flour.
- Once the dough is well kneaded, it needs to be covered with a towel and placed in a warm place for 40-60 minutes. After 20-30 minutes, it is recommended to knead the dough. If everything is done correctly, then during this time it will increase in volume by 2 times.
- While the dough is in a warm place, you need to prepare the raisins. To do this, fill it with warm water and rinse well. After rinsing, place the raisins on a paper towel to remove water.
- Important: before kneading raisins into the dough, they need to be rolled in flour. This way it will spread throughout the dough and be evenly spaced.
- The raisins are mixed into the dough, now we prepare the molds. Place only half of the dough into the prepared molds, as it will increase in volume during baking.
- Bake Easter for 40 minutes at 200 degrees. We do not remove the finished Easter cakes from the switched off oven, but let them cool with the door ajar.
- While the Easter cakes are cooling, make the glaze. To do this, separate the white from the yolk, add sugar and lemon juice, beat first at low speed, then increase it. Beat for at least 30 minutes until the mixture becomes thick.
Remove the cooled Easter from the molds and cover with the resulting mixture, decorate with colored powder.
Easter is ready! Bon appetit!
Due to lack of extra time, many people prefer to buy Easter cakes. But Easter comes only once a year! Try to find time to please your loved ones with Easter goodies.
Moreover, the recipes we offer you do not require a lot of time, effort, or money. Yes, and what can compare with the aroma of homemade baking?! So, hostesses, let's get started.
1. Classic Easter cake
A) For the dough, take:
- warm milk 1 glass;
- yeast 100 gr. or dry 1 tbsp;
- sugar 2 tbsp;
- salt 0.5 tsp.
B) When the dough rises three times, add there:
- melted margarine or lard 80-100 g;
- eggs 4 pcs.;
- sour cream 2 tbsp;
- vodka 1 tbsp;
- sugar 2 cups;
- vanillin, cloves, saffron, raisins - optional;
- flour.
C) Knead the dough thoroughly so that it does not stick to your hands. Place in a warm, spacious container and let rise. Mix well again. For those who prefer porous, airy cakes, add less flour and knead the dough, constantly lubricating your hands with vegetable oil. If you prefer a dense structure, add more flour.
D) In containers lined with well-oiled paper, place one-third of the dough and let rise again. For those who wish, add 4-5 steamed raisins per mold. You can also use finely chopped dried apricots.
D) Place the molds with the dough in a preheated oven (on average 180 degrees) until ready (an hour and a half). Do not place the sheet with the molds too low - the bottom of the cakes may burn. Don't set it too high - the dough will rise and the top may also burn. We remember that for the first 40 minutes we don’t open the oven at all! Otherwise, the dough will fall and all your work will be wasted.
Separately for Easter cake molds for those who are baking for the first time. Now they sell both paper and silicone, and whatever you want! But, from many years of experience, I can say that there is nothing better than coffee cans or canned food! The main thing is not to be lazy, line it well with paper so that there are no bare spots left in the mold, otherwise the dough will burn there and you will not be able to remove the finished Easter. It is recommended to bake the dough simultaneously in molds of approximately the same volume.
E) We saw through the window in the oven that the top of the baked goods had browned. Carefully open the door and use a bamboo stick to pierce the cake through. If the stick turns out to be dry and clean, then you can safely remove the molds, the product is ready! If there is moisture or pieces of dough on the stick, then leave it to finish baking.
G) Take out the finished Easter cakes. Place the form on its side and pull slowly on the paper. The bead pulls out perfectly. We free it from the paper and leave it to cool on its side, constantly turning it, otherwise dents will remain on the sides. Under no circumstances should you place ready-made hot Easter on the bottom! Due to its softness, it will immediately lose its beautiful shape.
H) The Easter cakes have cooled completely, you can already put them on the bottom. The most enjoyable part of the job. Decorating the Easter cake. I recommend homemade glaze, store-bought glaze does not harden: beat the white of one egg with a glass of powdered sugar so that this mass does not leak out of the container. If desired, you can add a few crystals of vanilla and citric acid. Coat the top, it is convenient to use a pastry brush for this, and sprinkle with Easter decorations. Imagine!
2. Quick Easter cake
- cream 1 glass;
- eggs 5 pcs.;
- sugar 0.5-1 tbsp;
- yeast 50 gr. or dry 1 tbsp. l.;
- butter, melted 200 gr.
- flour, spices.
Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm cream. Let the yeast bloom. This will happen very quickly, right before your eyes, and the main thing here is that this dough does not overstand. Knead the dough; it should be of medium consistency. Let it rise for about 20 minutes. Fill a third of the mold. Let it rise for literally 10-15 minutes, as this dough rises very quickly! Further, everything is the same as usual.
3. Layered Easter cake
- melted margarine 500 gr.;
- eggs 2 pcs.;
- warm milk 1 glass;
- yeast 50 gr. or 1 tbsp. dry;
- sugar 2 – 3 cups;
- flour, spices.
You can do it with or without dough, after dissolving the yeast in warm milk.
4. Easter cottage cheese custard
Cottage cheese 1kg;
- butter 200 gr.;
- egg yolk 2 pcs.;
- 0.5 cups of sugar;
- cream 1 glass;
- salt, vanilla, crushed nuts, raisins.
Grind the yolks thoroughly with sugar, add cream and heat well. Add butter to the hot mixture. Let cool slightly. Add cottage cheese and other ingredients. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil, but do not boil! That's it, Easter is ready. We spread the mixture into rigid shapes, tamping well. We put it in the cold.
5. Simple Easter cake
Take one glass:
- softened butter;
- egg yolks;
- milk;
- sugar
- diluted yeast (1 tbsp dry yeast);
- spices as desired;
- flour, how much the dough will take.
Make a dough. Knead the dough on the dough.
6. Kulich without dough
Warm milk 0.5 l;
- yeast 125 g, or 2 tbsp. l. dry;
- melted butter 200-300 gr.;
- sugar 0.5 kg;
- sour cream 200-300 gr.;
- egg yolks 10 pcs.;
- flour, about 2 kg;
- spices as desired.
Dissolve the yeast in warm milk. Beat the yolks with sugar. Mix all ingredients. The dough should be soft, not thick, fluffy. Let the dough rise for 3-4 hours. Let's bake.
7. Kulich without yeast
- melted butter 50-60 g;- warm milk 300 ml;
- eggs 2 pcs.;
- powdered sugar 120-150 gr.;
- flour about 0.5 kg;
- soda 1 tsp;
- lemon juice 4 tbsp;
- spices.
Grind the yolks with powdered sugar, combine with butter. Slowly pour in lemon juice. Add soda and other ingredients. Beat the whites separately with a pinch of salt and add. Knead the thin dough well and immediately pour into molds. Place in a preheated oven. Bake at 180 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
Happy Easter everyone! Bon appetit! And happy holiday!
In order not to spend too much effort on preparing the Easter meal, you should clearly decide what and when you will cook.
It may be preferable to buy something ready-made, for example, Easter cakes. Distribute the work over different days in small portions. For example, on Thursday you make cottage cheese Easter, on Friday you make Easter cakes, and on Saturday you and the children, under your strict guidance, decorate both and paint eggs (this is a very exciting activity for them).
For those who have been fasting, you should not bother with fatty meat foods, for example, goose with apples, on the first day of Easter. The body needs to be given time to gradually enter the non-fasting time, and traditional Easter foods: eggs, Easter cake, Easter cake - are the best path to this. You can make light, low-fat meat from meat - veal or chicken broth, steamed cutlets. A good solution would be to prepare delicious fresh fish.
How to bake Easter cakes and Easter cakes correctly
One of the most important moments in preparing for Easter is baking paska. How could it be otherwise, since paska is one of the main symbols of the Easter table, replacing the Old Testament unleavened bread (unleavened bread). The inclusion of yeast in paska symbolized the transition from the Old Testament to the New or, figuratively speaking, the emergence of a new leaven. In addition, at the Last Supper, Christ blessed yeast bread.
I looked up how to properly bake Easter cakes and Easter cakes on Orthodox websites ABC of Faith and Orthodoxy and Peace
What is Easter cake? This is holiday bread. The best products are used for it: butter, sour cream, eggs, cream, so that in terms of content it is more like a cake. Easter cake is also rich in additional ingredients: raisins, nuts, and many aromatic spices are added to it, and decorated festively. Easter cakes are placed using the sponge method, because yeast cannot raise a mass of sour cream, butter, and eggs using the straight method.
Easter cake dough is very capricious; All its components are prepared in a very warm place, where the temperature is constant and there are no drafts; 25 degrees is the ideal temperature for Easter cake. Your success also depends on how well you knead the dough. It should be dense, in no case loose, like regular butter dough.
It is better not to place the dough where the heat comes from below. Be sure to preheat the oven before placing the cake in it. During baking, the heat should be moderate, not strong; towards the end it is better to reduce it. There is no need to frequently disturb the dough by opening the oven. If the cake is not yet baked, and the top is starting to brown too much, then place oiled paper on it.
Classic recipes usually involve baking a large, rich Easter cake. It can be convenient to bring it to the consecration and take it home for the festive meal. Our home practice has led us to baking a lot of small Easter cakes (the molds are iron mugs with a volume of 200 ml), it is easy for children’s hands to hold and is a pleasure to give to friends. Small cakes bake faster; it is important not to dry them out.
Easter Easter cake - subtleties of preparation
The dough from which paska is prepared is yeast. However, it differs from the regular one in that it requires more fat and eggs to prepare it. As a result, the dough turns out very rich, heavy and “ripens” for quite a long time, suitable.
- The process of preparing paska can be roughly divided into 5 stages: kneading the dough from yeast, milk and flour, kneading the dough, filling the molds with dough, baking the paska and ripening it.
- All work with the dough should be carried out in a warm place (without drafts!), otherwise the dough will not rise.
- To knead paska, it is better to use “live”, not dry, yeast, as they provide a more active fermentation process. If there is no “live” yeast, you can replace it with dry yeast, which is marked “active”.
- Since the paska dough is quite heavy, it needs to be kneaded for a long time: then it is saturated with oxygen and becomes “airy”. For the same purpose, flour is sifted before kneading.
- Alcohol – dark rum or good cognac – also gives the dough a “fluffy” feel.
- To make the paska fragrant, candied fruits, lemon zest, and vanillin are added to the dough, and the yolks give the paska a pleasant yellowish tint. If the yolk of the eggs is not very bright, then the dough can be tinted with saffron.
- After kneading the dough, leave it for about 30 minutes in a warm place. The heat activates the fermentation process, as a result of which the dough should double in volume! After this, you can start kneading the dough.
- All other ingredients are added to the dough, and the dough is kneaded for at least 20 minutes.
- The finished dough is covered with a napkin and placed in a warm place.
- When it triples in volume, knead it again and place it in molds greased with butter and sprinkled with crackers, filling them with dough to a third of the volume. The molds with the dough are again left in a warm place.
- Begin baking paskas only after the dough has increased in volume again and almost completely (not reaching 5 cm to the edge) fills the molds. Then the paskas are placed in an oven preheated to 170°C, where they are baked until cooked.
- In this case, it is better to try to open the oven as little as possible, otherwise the dough may fall off.
- During baking, the paska can be sprinkled with water or steamed - this will fix its shape.
- You can check the readiness of the paska with a wooden stick or by weight - the finished product will be much lighter than the raw one.
The finished paska is removed from the oven and cooled. Then it is removed from the mold and decorated with glaze, decorative elements, nuts, etc. The decor, in general, depends on the imagination and tastes of the cook.
It should be noted that paska is not eaten immediately. It will be completely ready only on the second day. This process is called the “ripening” of paska.
As a result, if paska is prepared correctly, it turns out tasty, “airy”, colorful and, together with bright colors, creates a unique feeling of the Easter holiday that stays with us for a long time.
Easter Kulich
Dilute the dough with three glasses of milk, six glasses of flour and yeast. Put it in a warm place. Grind five yolks with two glasses of sugar, one teaspoon of salt and aromatic seasonings (one vanilla stick, ten cardamom nuts or two drops of rose oil). When the dough is ready, put the mashed yolks into it, beat two more eggs into it, pour in half a glass of slightly warmed melted butter, add six glasses of flour, but make sure the dough is not too thick. Knead the dough thoroughly on the table, add one and a half cups of raisins into it and let the dough rise until the morning. In the morning, beat it again and let it sit. Then put half of the dough into the mold, let it rise to three-quarters of the height of the mold and put it in the oven. This amount of dough will make two Easter cakes.
12 glasses of flour, three glasses of fresh milk, 50 g of yeast, two glasses of sugar, seven eggs, half a glass of butter, one and a half glasses of raisins, a teaspoon of salt, aromatic seasonings.
Homemade Easter cake
Brew 100 g of flour in 1/2 cup of boiling milk, stirring quickly until an elastic mass is obtained.
At the same time, dilute the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm milk and mix with 100 g of flour, leave for 10 minutes.
Combine the first two mixtures, cover and leave to rise for 1 hour or more.
Then grind the yolks, sugar, and salt into a homogeneous mass and beat until white.
Add this homogeneous mass to the yeast mixture, add 750 g of flour, knead the dough and leave for 2 hours to rise, after pouring warm liquid butter in small portions; let the test rise a second time.
After the dough has risen a second time, lower it to its original position, add 2/3 cup of raisins to it, having first rolled it in flour, and let the dough rise a third time. Bake in pans for 45 minutes.
1 kg of flour, 50 g of yeast, 1.5 cups of milk, 10 yolks, 3 whites, 250 g of sugar, 200 g of butter, 100 g of raisins, 3 teaspoons of vanilla sugar, 1 g of salt.
Custard Kulich
1 The night before at eight o'clock in the evening, pour half a glass of lukewarm water over the yeast and let the yeast rise. Brew half a glass of flour with half a glass of boiling milk, stir well. If it’s not brewed well, heat it up a little, stirring constantly. When the yeast is ready, mix it with the dough, add cooled boiled milk, two teaspoons of salt and two eggs (leave a little of them for brushing), add flour to make a thick dough, stir it until smooth and put it in a warm place until the morning , covering it well. At six or seven o'clock in the morning, pour half a glass of heated, but not hot, butter into the dough and gradually pour two glasses of weak warm tea mixed with three-quarters of a glass of sugar. Add almost all the remaining flour, stirring continuously. Place the dough on the table or board and beat it thoroughly until bubbles appear in it. After this, place the dough in a bowl that has been washed and coated with oil on the inside, cover the bowl with something warm and leave the dough to rise. After an hour, place the dough on the board, stir in the raisins, beat again, but carefully, and let rise in the same bowl for another half hour. Now the dough can be put into one or two oiled pans, let the dough rise, brush the top of the cake with egg and place in the oven.
12 glasses of flour, half a glass of dissolved butter, two eggs, three-quarters of a glass of sugar, one glass of milk, 50 g of yeast, two glasses of liquid tea, three-quarters of a glass of peeled raisins, salt.
2 Brew one and a half cups of flour with one and a half cups of hot milk, stir. When cool, pour in 1/2 stick of yeast and let rise. Then grind 10 yolks until white with 1/2 cup sugar, beat the whites into a foam, put both into the dough, and let the dough rise again. Pour in 3/4 cup of dissolved butter, add the rest of the flour, beat out the dough as best as possible, put it in a mold coated with oil on the inside, let the dough rise and bake.
9 cups flour, 1/2 stick yeast, 10 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup ghee, 1.5 cups milk and salt to taste.
Easter cake with cream
Prepare the dough: dilute the yeast and half the flour in slightly warmed cream. Place the dough in a warm place. While the dough is rising, grind the yolks with sugar until white, combine them with the butter, pureed until white. Sort the raisins, wash and dry.
Add mashed yolks with butter, raisins, chopped candied fruits, chopped almonds into the prepared dough. Stir the mixture well, add salt, remaining flour, and vanilla sugar. Knead everything well on the table, place in a large bowl (faience or enamel) and place in a warm place for 60-80 minutes until it doubles in volume. After this, knock the dough out on the table again and put it in a warm place again. Form small buns from the finished dough and place each in a mold with high walls. Pre-grease the mold with oil, line its bottom and walls with oiled paper. The dough in the mold should occupy 1/3 of the height. Place the molds with the dough in a warm place for 60-80 minutes.
Bake Easter cakes at a temperature of 200-220 degrees for 60-70 minutes. When the top of the Easter cake darkens, you need to cover it on top with a circle of damp paper. During baking, the cake should not be shaken, otherwise it may settle. Carefully place the finished cake out of the mold onto a soft mat covered with paper and a napkin. Spread a thin layer of glaze on top of the cooled cake. Place the remaining glaze in a paper cone bag, cut off the tip with scissors. Squeeze out the glaze and carefully apply the design onto the cake. This cake can be decorated with candied fruits, marmalade, and fudge.
Kulich royal
Dissolve 50 g of yeast in a glass of cream and put a thick dough of it on 600 g of wheat flour, two glasses of cream, crushed cardamom (10 grains), 1 crushed nutmeg, chopped almonds (50 g), 100 g of finely chopped candied fruits and washed , dried raisins.
Knead the dough well and leave to rise for one and a half to two hours. Then knead the dough again, put it in a tall form greased with butter and crushed breadcrumbs.
Fill the mold halfway, let the dough rise again to 3/4 of the height of the mold and place in the oven over low heat.
Easter cakes made from such rich dough are best baked in small pans.
Easter cottage cheese - subtleties of preparation
Suppose you have chosen a day when it will be convenient for you to prepare it (this depends not only on your free time, you must also take into account the fact that after preparing Easter you need to lie under pressure in the form for a day or two or even three).
For this day, you need to buy cottage cheese in advance and hang it in a gauze bag to drain excess liquid, the usual time for this is 24 hours (but in a cold place, if the cottage cheese hangs in a warm place, it will sour).
The time for such processing depends on the dampness of the cottage cheese. If you don’t have enough time, you can try to press very wet cottage cheese. A tasty and tender Easter will be obtained from cottage cheese prepared at home from milk, boiled and fermented with a small amount of acid, you can take milk and kefir in equal volumes, then there is no need to add acid, the yield of cottage cheese is 1/5th of the taken mass of milk, those. To get one kilogram of cottage cheese you need to take 5 liters of milk. It is better to do all this the day before the main process of preparing Easter, because... homemade cottage cheese is very richly flavored with liquid.
So, we have already prepared cottage cheese. Next, we decide what kind of Easter (cooked or raw) we would like to make. Each of them has its own pros and cons. Raw Easter is quickly prepared and does not require any effort or tricks. Boiled Easter is stored much better and longer (and we eat Easter foods not only on Easter day itself, but also during Easter Week and beyond).
In addition, if it seems to you that your cottage cheese has a sour smell, then it is also better for you to lean toward the heat-treated option. Another subtlety - adding raisins or jam from sour berries also contributes to faster souring of Easter, so it is better to add them to a small, quickly eaten Easter. Be sure to grind the cottage cheese (you can use a food processor, a meat grinder or through a sieve - the latter is more difficult). Grind the sugar into powdered sugar. Buy the remaining ingredients of good quality: butter, country sour cream (or very fat), clean nuts...
Tips for making Easter cottage cheese
- In order for Easter to be easily removed from the Easter box while maintaining its shape, the Easter box must be lined with slightly damp gauze before filling.
- It is best to use thick, fatty sour cream for Easter. To remove excess moisture from sour cream, place the sour cream in a canvas bag or wrap it in several layers of gauze, gently squeeze it out, and then place it under a press for several hours.
- Instead of rubbing the cottage cheese through a sieve, you can pass it through a meat grinder twice. Cottage cheese for Easter can be made from baked milk. The technology for its preparation is the same as for regular cottage cheese, only the milk is first heated in the oven for several hours (the longer the milk is heated, the more intense its color becomes). Easter made from such cottage cheese has a beautiful pink color and a pleasant subtle taste.
- Easter should be kept in the cold under pressure for at least 12 hours.
- If you put raisins on Easter, you need to wash them well, sort them, and dry them on a towel or napkin.
- Candied oranges for Easter should be finely chopped, lemon zest grated, spicy additives finely ground in a coffee grinder and sifted through a fine strainer.
- Almond kernels can be easily peeled if you pour boiling water over them and leave for 20-30 minutes, then the skin can be easily removed. Then dry the kernels and chop them.
So, the recipes.
Boiled Easter
1.5 kg of cottage cheese, 7-8 egg yolks (the whites go into the cream for Easter cakes), 450 g of sugar, 600 g of sour cream, 300 g of softened lard. oils Flavoring additives to choose from, in rather arbitrary combinations: vanillin, lemon or orange zest, steamed poppy seeds, nuts (any), raisins (of the latter, take approximately half a glass for the specified amount of cottage cheese). Grind the cottage cheese, grind the yolks and half the sugar until white, combine with cottage cheese, sour cream, etc. oil, stir until smooth. Cook over low heat or in a water bath, stirring constantly for about 2-3 hours, until thickened and starting to boil (options: heat on fire until hot, but do not boil, or “until the first bubble”).
Longer-cooked Easter (without boiling with large bubbles) holds its shape better and is stored well. Cool in a container with cold water, stirring continuously, add the remaining sugar, raisins, nuts, spices - in a pressed mold for a day, in a cold place, for example in the refrigerator, and on the bottom shelf, for Easter, you need to put a container to collect the drainage. Easter liquid.
Easter pink
800 g of cottage cheese, 200 g of non-liquid jam (the less syrup, the better), 100 g of butter, 2-3 glasses of fresh village sour cream, sugar - to taste and depending on the sweetness of the jam (1-2 glasses approximately). Grind the sugar into powder, grind with sour cream and butter, mix with pureed cottage cheese. The jam can be made homogeneous and added to the mass simultaneously with the other ingredients, or the syrup can be added at the stage of thorough mixing and grinding (in a mixer), and the berries at the end so that they remain whole in Easter. Before filling, line the mold with a thin napkin, press, cold, as in the previous recipe.
Easter "Chicken"
200 g cottage cheese, 100 g butter, 100 g sugar, 2 boiled eggs (yolks), vanillin. Grind the cottage cheese through a sieve, grind the butter, vanilla and powdered sugar separately. Now mix everything, gradually adding egg yolks, place in the mold as usual.
Easter with chocolate
Grate the chocolate or scrape it with a knife, mix with powdered sugar and set aside. Then take the cottage cheese, rub through a sieve, mix with butter and sour cream, stir well, pour a glass of chopped candied fruits, chocolate and powdered sugar into the cottage cheese, mix it all so that the mass has a uniform color. Place everything in a mold covered with a thin cloth (muslin, gauze), take it out into the cold and put it under pressure. After a day and a half, remove Easter from the mold and serve.
Two kilograms of fresh cottage cheese, 200 g of chocolate, 200 g of powdered sugar, 200 g of butter, two glasses of sour cream, one glass of candied fruits.
Vanilla Easter
Well-pressed cottage cheese is rubbed through a sieve, cream is gradually poured into it, mixed, wrapped in a napkin for 12 hours, the napkin is tied in knots and hung to allow the whey formed as a result of fermentation to drain. Then pour a glass of sugar and vanilla (crushed) into the cottage cheese and mix everything thoroughly. After this, the cottage cheese is placed in a pan lined with a thin cloth, covered with a board and placed under pressure for half an hour. After half an hour, the Easter is carefully removed from the bean bag, freed from the fabric, placed on a plate and decorated with an artificial flower on top. This Easter should be enough for six to eight people.
600 g of cottage cheese, three glasses of cream, one glass of sugar and half a stick of vanilla.
Useful tips
When baking Easter cakes, remember the following:
- The Easter cake dough should not be liquid (the cakes will spread and be flat) and should not be thick (the cakes will be too heavy and will quickly become stale).
- The dough should be of such density that it could be cut with a knife without it sticking to the knife, and when dividing the Easter cakes there would be no need to add flour.
- The cake dough is kneaded for as long as possible so that it completely comes off the hands or the table.
- Easter cake dough does not like drafts, but loves warmth, so Easter cakes should be placed in a warm place at a temperature of 30-45 degrees.
- The pan for baking Easter cakes is filled only halfway with dough, allowed to rise to 3/4 of the height of the pan, and then placed in the oven.
- The Easter cake, ready for baking, is brushed with an egg beaten with 1 tbsp. spoon of water and butter, sprinkle with nuts, coarse sugar and breadcrumbs.
- To ensure that the cake rises evenly, a wooden stick is inserted into the center before baking. After a certain time, the stick is removed. If it is dry, the cake is ready.
- Bake the cake in a humidified oven (to do this, place a container of water at the bottom) at a temperature of 200-220 degrees.
- Easter cake weighing less than 1 kg is baked for 30 minutes, weighing 1 kg - 45 minutes, weighing 1.5 kg - 1 hour, weighing 2 kg - 1.5 hours.
- If the cake starts to burn on top, cover it with dry paper.
- The finished cake is removed from the oven, placed on its side and left in this position until the bottom has cooled.
The festive mood will rise even more if everything prepared is neatly and brightly decorated, placed in a basket decorated with ribbons, greenery, flowers, or on a white patterned towel. There is a good tradition - previously, the dough for Easter cake was kneaded on the night from Thursday to Friday, baked throughout Friday, and on Saturday the cake was taken to church for blessing.
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