For your Easter table

BAKED EASTER HAM
Keptas Velykų kumpis

1  7–8 lb. fully cooked smoked ham shank

1 cup maple syrup

2 Tbsps. cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. prepared mustard

Whole cloves

Combine syrup, vinegar and mustard. Place ham, fat side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Pour about ½ cup mixture over ham and bake, uncovered, in a preheated 325 ° oven for 1 ½ hours. Baste every 30 min. with additional sauce. Remove ham from oven and score fat into diamond shapes. Insert a clove into each diamond. Bake ham an additional 30 min. or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of meat registers 140 ° . Let ham rest 15 min. before carving.

BIRCH LOG CAKE
“Beržo šaka”

4 eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup cake flour
¾ tsp. backing powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. almond extract
2 Tbsps. rum
Preheat oven to 400 ° . Line a 15×10- inch jelly-roll pan with waxed paper. Beat eggs with baking powder and salt until pale and creamy. Gradually add sugar; add almond extract and fold in flour. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake 15 min. or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Place a sheet of waxed paper over a damp dishcloth; sprinkle paper with sugar. Carefully turn out cake onto wax paper. Peel pan liner paper off bottom of cake. Roll up cake and waxed paper together; set aside to cool. Carefully unroll cake; sprinkle inside with mixture of 2 tablespoons rum and 2 tablespoons water. Spread with favorite filling or icing and gently roll up, using waxed paper to lift cake. Cut a 3- to 4-inch slice from the rolled up cake and place it on the side of the cake to make a branch. Ice cake with a white frosting, adding chocolate streaks to resemble a birch log.

EASTER CAKE
“Boba”
4½ cups flour
1½ cups milk
1½ oz. yeast
½ cup cleaned sweet almonds
½ cup small raisins
12 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 tsp. salt
Warm the milk, add two cups of flour, diluted yeast, mix and let stand to rise. Then add salt, and beat well. Add egg yolks, creamed with the sugar until white, and the remaining flour. Beat for about one hour. Then add warm, melted butter, slivered almonds (almonds may be ground), and raisins. Mix well and put in a warm place to rise. Then beat well or knead again and pour into baking pans to 1 / 3 of their content. When the dough rises to 2 / 3 of the pan, carefully put it into the oven (hot) for one hour. When done, remove from the oven and let stand in the baking pan until cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. “Boba” is a traditional Easter cake. Many variations of the recipe exist. It is not easy to make; great care, accuracy, and time is required in its preparation. Usually these cakes are high, round, six- cornered, or octagon shaped. They need to be baked in an even heat.

STUFFED ROAST DUCK
Kepta ádaryta antis

1 duck
6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. caraway seed Marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
3 oz. bacon, finely chopped
Vegetable stock or water
Rub duck with mixture of salt, onion, pepper, caraway and marjoram. Salt potatoes and fry with bacon. Stuff duck with the fried potatoes and bacon; place into roaster, pour in ¼ cup water or vegetable stock. Bake in preheated oven at 350 ° , until duck is nicely brown and tender. Baste with pan juices several times during baking. Serve cut into pieces, covered with pan juices.

SAUERKRAUT STUFFING FOR DUCK
Raugintų kopūstų ádaras

4 cups sauerkraut
5 dried “boletus” mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsps. butter or vegetable oil
Pepper and salt to taste
Simmer sauerkraut in ¼ cup water or vegetable stock. Soak mushrooms, cook in soaking liquid. Cut into thin strips and fry in hot butter or oil with onion and pepper. Add mushroom- onion mixture to simmering sauer- kraut, mix well. Simmer for another 10 min. Stuff duck or goose with the mixture.
Lithuanian traditional Easter foods are prepared of pork, veal, fowl, and milk: roast
piglet, pig’s head, veal ham, sausage, cheese, and in the center of the table, a
butter or sugar lamb set in sprouted oat greens. There is also an abundance of
Easter baked goods, both sweet and savory. And of course, decorated eggs.
Traditional drinks are beer, “duonos gira” (black bread cider), maple and birch sap.