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Easter is a good time to put a little extra effort into dessert. The holiday has a sweet undertone that makes us think of chocolaty confections punched up with lemony, spring-like flavours. Here is an excellent Easter dinner with a dessert that may be a bit time consuming but is well worth it when you savour the results.

RYAN'S LAMB

Many great recipes are works in progress. My friend Ryan, who is co-owner of Toronto's Urban Athlete on Eglinton Avenue West, likes to cook and then match great wines with his dishes. This is his impressive reworking of a lamb recipe I featured several years ago. I think it's better than the original.

He suggests pairing it with an Argentinean Malbec for the more budget conscious, a spectacular Bordeaux from Saint Emilion or a California merlot. Ask your butcher to butterfly the lamb for you.

What you need

1 boneless leg of lamb, butterflied (about 2 kilograms or

4 pounds)

Marinade:

1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, or 2 teaspoon dried

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dried

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Sauce:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1½cups of beef stock

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into chunks

Salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do

Cut lamb into 1½-inch chunks. Place in large plastic bag.

Combine paprika, cumin, rosemary, thyme, soy sauce and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss with lamb and marinate for 3 hours or overnight refrigerated. Bring back to room temperature for 1 hour before cooking.

Preheat oven to 450F Remove lamb from marinade, draining well. Season meat with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add lamb in batches and brown on all sides about 2 minutes a side. Set skillet aside and place lamb on a baking sheet.

Roast lamb for 8 to 10 minutes depending on its thickness until medium-rare.

Meanwhile, reduce heat to medium and return skillet to heat. Add balsamic vinegar, honey, soy sauce and beef stock. Bring to a boil and reduce sauce in skillet for 10 to 15 minutes or until syrupy, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Remove sauce from heat, whisk in butter and season to taste. Serve lamb with sauce, arugula salad and star anise potatoes. Serves 6.

ARUGULA SALAD

A simple, elegant accompaniment for the lamb.

What you need

2 bunches arugula

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do

Place arugula in a bowl. Just before serving, drizzle with vinegar and oil, season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Serves 6.

STAR ANISE

MASHED POTATOES

What you need

2 pounds (1 kilogram) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 cups milk

6 whole star anise

¼ cup butter

Salt to taste What you do

Cover potatoes in cold, salted water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer until cooked through. Drain.

Pour milk into a large pot and add star anise. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until milk is reduced to about 1 cup. Discard star anise.

Mash potatoes. Mix in anise milk and butter and season with salt to taste. Serves 6.

LEMON CAKELETS

These sunshiny cakes will make you think spring. Using a one-bowl method simplifies the process, but the butter must be very soft to ensure it combines well with the batter. When lining the tins, make sure the parchment paper extends above the rim for a nicely-shaped cake. For a festive touch, decorate each one with Smarties.

What you need

1 cup granulated sugar

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup milk

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

2 eggs

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

Glaze:

½ cup sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

What you do

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir with a fork to combine. Add milk, lemon rind, eggs and butter. Beat with an electric mixer until well combined, about 3 minutes. Line base and sides of 7 or 8 greased muffin cups with parchment paper, allowing paper to extend up to 1-inch above top of muffin cup. Spoon in batter to fill tins three-quarters full.

Place in oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove from oven. Cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from tins, remove paper and place cakes on a rack over a baking sheet.

Bring sugar and lemon juice to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Use a pastry brush to brush warm syrup over top and sides of warm cakelets. When cooled, ice tops with lemon icing. Serves 6 to 8.

LEMON ICING

If you want the icing to look like a smooth glaze, use the lesser amount of icing sugar. If you want to pipe the icing, add the full amount.

what you need

½ cup cream cheese

4 to 5 cups icing sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon lemon juice

What you do

Combine cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon rind and juice in a bowl and mix together until uniform. Refrigerate until ready to use. You may need to rebeat the mixture to soften it.

CHOCOLATE EGG SHELLS

With Lemon Curd

This whimsical dessert can be made well in advance of the meal and refrigerated until needed. You will need 8 cold eggs and an empty egg carton to make the egg shells. You are making half shells by this method, but they can be sandwiched together if you want. Just seal them with more melted chocolate. You can buy lemon curd or use the recipe below.

what you need

4 ounces (125 grams)

8 hen's eggs

60- to 70-per-cent dark chocolate, chopped

Plastic wrap

Egg carton

What you do

Wrap the eggs in plastic wrap, ensuring that one end of each egg is as smooth as possible. Melt chocolate and brush onto plastic wrap halfway down egg.

Place egg chocolate-side up in egg carton. Repeat with remaining eggs.

Add a second layer of chocolate, if necessary to cover any thin patches. Refrigerate until chocolate is solid. Carefully remove plastic wrap and chocolate shells from the eggs. Gently ease plastic wrap from the chocolate shells.

Fill chocolate shells with lemon curd and serve in egg cups.

LEMON CURD

what you need

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup butter

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 eggs, beaten

What you do

Combine sugar, butter, lemon rind and juice, and eggs in a heavy pot. Stir gently over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until mixture coats back of spoon. Do not let mixture boil or it will curdle.

Strain curd mixture into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on top of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cool.