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DARINA ALLEN

Darina Allen is an award-winning cookbook author and cofounder of the renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School in

Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland. Darina has continued to school the next generation of bakers and cooks during
the COVID-19 pandemic, offering online and virtual classes for the first time.

Describe the ideal Irish Easter feast.
Darina Allen: Our best loved Easter cake
is Simnel, a gorgeous rich fruit cake with a
soft marzipan layer in the center and toasted
marzipan on the top and around the sides.
Hot cross buns were traditionally served on
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but now,
people can enjoy them during the entire
Lenten period. A roast leg of Spring lamb
served with a simple mint sauce is our favorite
Easter meal. Usually the sauce is made with

the first of the new season’s mint freshly
snipped from the herb garden. If we are really

lucky, we will have the first baby carrots from

the kitchen garden to round off the meal.

Easter is a moveable feast but usually we can

pick the first pale pink spears of rhubarb from
under the terracotta forcing pots. We’ll use it
to make an Easter rhubarb pie or crumble to
serve alongside our celebration meal.

What does Ireland in spring look like to you?
DA: We’re planting seeds during spring,
and during that time, there are lots of pale
yellow primroses growing around the edge
of the garden as we plant. We often make a
primrose cake for St. Patrick’s Day. We ice it
with a lemon water icing, and then decorate
it with crystallized primroses and wood sorrel
leaves. It ends up representing the Irish
colors—green, white, and gold—which sounds
a bit cheesy, but it’s a delightful cake and
super delish.

Why is the simnel cake a classic Easter baked
good in Ireland?
DA: It’s a perfect cake to make ahead, start

at least a week before Easter, maybe spread it
out over a few days. Soak the fruit in whiskey
one day, make and bake the cake next day
and allow it to rest for a day or two, apply the
marzipan topping, decorate with 11 apostles
and toast. It will just become better and
better as the days go on. It’s quite rich, so you
can share it with family and friends.

CLOCKWISE: DARINA’S KITCHEN, THE BALLEYMALOE COOKERY SCHOOL COWS, AND DARINA BAKING
101 bake from scratch