You still need inspiration for Easter? Look no further, I have 20 recipes neatly organized for you. Starting with yeast dough, followed by breakfast/brunch, cupcakes and Easter cakes. I will keep it short, enjoy Easter, spring, hope and the beginning of warm(er) days!
Traditional yeast dough from the Ukraine: Paska
Pascualina is a savory pie from Uruguay prepared with spinach and eggs. “Pascua” translates as Easter, thus this pie is usually eaten during the holy week or “semana santa”. As many Uruguayans have Italian ancestry, many Italian dishes were adapted to what was available in Uruguay. In Italy pascualina is normally prepared with ricotta and Parmesan cheese, however, Uruguayans like to infuse flavor with bacon and additional veggies such as bell peppers. Other dishes include milanesa, cutlets, which already tell you the origin. Another is the quince tart named pasta frola, which is very popular in Uruguay.
Has this ever happened to you? You want to make a specific recipe from your grandma. In my instance this was paska, the Ukrainian Easter bread. She even has two handwritten recipes in her tiny booklet. However, not even all ingredients are listed (such as flour) and there are no instructions. There is no oven temperature or even baking time. I did pull my hair when I realized that because my grandma passed away so I couldn’t ask her anymore. How am I supposed to make paska if there are no instructions and not even all ingredients listed? I remember that I confronted her on several occasions when she was still alive. Her reply was simple, you “feel” when the dough is right, you “know” how much sugar to add. Well, you may do if you make the recipe ten million times, but grandma, I am not you, I don’t feel or know anything! So instead I turned to Instagram and asked you guys if you knew of any good recipe. I was so astonished how many people actually replied and provided recipes to me. Thank you so much for that! I am so excited I got to make paska in the end, I had the chance of eating it during my childhood. My grandmother was born in the Ukraine in Odessa and she always served it for Easter.
Are you looking for inspiration for Easter? I’ve got you covered. Below you will find lots of recipes either for brunch or breakfast, but also if you wish to serve some special cupcakes or treats or even a cake. Check the links below the pictures, I always start from left to right. You will find all recipes from the featured picture in this blog post.
Traditional braided bread from Germany
Waffle cake with rhubarb and strawberries
Sourdough pancakes with blueberry sauce,
Thick Belgian waffles with caramelized bananas,
Broken-up pancakes with rhubarb compote
Cheesecake with rhubarb and strawberries
This fluffy and soft braided bread is traditionally served for breakfast on Easter in Germany. I made it the first time last year in 2020 when Europe was in heavy lockdown due to COVID19 and it was hard to get flour and yeast. I was grateful I always have active-dry yeast on hand, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to make this delicious bread. I have tried many different types of this bread, but this one is by far the fluffiest and softest and for that reason I am confident to present it here.
Is it OK to say “Happy Easter”? I do believe so. To be “happy” also means to be relaxed and baking definitely relaxes me. Baking is my way of dealing with the crisis, it is a wonderful method to beat depression and sadness. Yes, I also know people who got fired or are now working part-time. But regardless, I do see Easter as the feast of hope despite all the horrible things currently happening. And for that reason I decided to make macarons according to the Italian method. I already have a few macarons recipes on my blog, my very first try, strawberry macarons with no food coloring as well as coffee macarons with dulce de leche filling. But all of the listed recipes follow the French method. This is the very first recipe according to the Italian method. I will explain below what this entails.
I don’t know about you, but suddenly I am forced to cook all the time. So the other day I made a chickpea curry which lasted a few days and was really delicious. It has taken me a while, but now I know that you shouldn’t throw away the chickpea water, this can be beaten into meringue. Truly delicious meringue. For me this still is such a surprise, every time I beat this weird liquid into meringue, it is like a true miracle. Called aquafaba, I have to say, I am excited each and every time. It truly tastes just the same as meringue made with egg whites. And since I am a huge fan of meringue, I wanted to make a vegan version of it. Hence these vegan meringue nests for Easter were born. 
Today you will get chocolate hot-cross buns! Never heard of this? It is tradition, I believe originating in the UK. Lent is broken on Good Friday with these buns, hence the cross on them. I thought this was such a special ritual and since Easter is approaching, I felt like introducing the recipe here. You may not celebrate as big as you would normally, but hey, I will definitely make something special event even if it is only the two of us celebrating Easter this time.
Today I am presenting a classic American carrot cake with cream cheese frosting to you. The only difference? I cut back on the sugar. Especially in the frosting. Because I do think that American recipes are sickly sweet, I will never forget my first cake I ate when I spent a year in Canada after highschool in Germany. I only tasted sugar, nothing else. I really love carrot cake, I love the moist texture, the crunch you get from the nuts, I love the creamy frosting with this carrot flavor, so good! I love it all – if you give me the chance to taste something beside sugar. I already made this cake about a year ago, but back then I barely got a piece, it was gone so quickly. So I decided to try again. With my favorite recipe. However, due to the Corona virus, I had to wait before flour was in stock again. But I patiently waited and got lucky. And then, bam, I made this wonderful carrot cake again!
Aren’t these sheep cupcakes the cutest? I am telling you, these are definitely a show-stopper, for Easter, but probably also for a baby shower. You get a super delicious vanilla cupcake with Italian buttercream, which serves as the fur, yum! This is a simple and plain cupcake dressed up to be all fancy for Easter. I’d say, you are all set, aren’t you?
