Easter pastries around the world

[Pille]

This is not a pastry, but that's the dessert we would usually eat in Estonia during Easter: pasha/pashka.

And filipe, no, chocolate eggs are not common in Estonia either during Easter, although sadly they are becoming more and more popular.

Edited April 18, 2006 by Pille (log)

[MamaC]

Same as in Romania... chocolate eggs cannot traditionally "crack". I am happy to say that tradition is not totally lost. We still dye real eggs.

Happy Ortodox Easter

[Abra]

I made a dessert trio inspired by this thread for an Easter party. Then, astoundingly, I forgot my camera and no one brought one. Shocking! But I did get a couple of pictures at home before we left

This is a Mexican capirotada. It's sweet, but made with a syrup that includes onion, tomato, and bay leaf, as well as queso ranchero, pine nuts, candied pineapple, and raisins.

This is my verion of the Osterfladen recipe that Boris_A linked to above. It's got a filling of ground nuts, semolina, and meringue on a lemony crust.

I also made pashka, but because that was only unmolded from its flowerpot at the party, I have no picture. It slumped in a major way, though, not retaining its pretty shape at all.

They were all quite good, in a delicate, subtle way. I'd make that capirotada again, for sure.

[Alinka]

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous Easter pastries, everyone! Yummm...

Happy Ortodox Easter

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Orthodox Easter is next Sunday; it falls on 23 April this year .

[legourmet]

I made the Genovesian "Pasqulina" not quite original because I used fillo dough for the crust. The filling is spinach, ricotta, parmigiano and 8 eggs. I used 20 layers of fillo dough. 10 to layer the pan and another 10 for the cover.

Ready for baking

The finished product

to become the appatizer in our easter lunch

We had 3 different desserts

carrot muffins for the children

orange yoghurt tarte, our easter tarte for years

and tiramisu, a completion to the italian menu offered

Edited April 19, 2006 by legourmet (log)

[Pille]

legourmet - your pasqulina looks really yummy! I've seen recipes before, but have been somewhat intimidated by all the layers and eggs..

Greek Orthodox Easter is only this weekend, and I baked a large Greek Easter bread tsoureki for my Greek friend (actually my ex, but he asked very nicely ). It smelled lovely - must have been the mastic and mechlebe - two spices that I hadn't used before. I made a small tsoureki-bun for myself to try, as the tsoureki itself was wrapped and flown over to Amsterdam..

[ludja]

...

I mentioned in the previous thread that my own Austrian tradition passed down in my family is to make a “Susses Milchbrot” or “Sweet Milk Bread” (flavored with lemon zest and raisins) in the shape of a round loaf or braid.  (Now that I’m armed and dangerous with a digital camera I should take a photo this year.). 

During the course of my reading, I’ve learned about another Austrian Easter bread called “Osterpinze”.  I think the bread is similar in many ways to the other loaf (rich bread with butter, eggs and milk and flavored with lemon and/or orange) that I make above although it is apparently sometimes also flavored with anise and is often baked as buns, in a distinctive shape.  click

I found a recipe in English for Osterpinzer Austrian Easter Buns here .

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I made an Austrian Milchbrot. As mentioned, it is a simple milk and butter bread flavored with lots of lemon and studded with a few raisins. It is very good spread with sweet butter and eaten with tea or coffee. (I make this for Easter breakfast, rather than dessert. It is not very sweet.)

Nice braid, Pille. The bread I made can also be made into a "Striezel" or twist.

Wonderful offerings, everyone.

Abra, how did the the Osterfladen taste? Would you make it again? It looks beautiful. (I have a few different recipes for capirotada and want to make that sometime as well.)

[Alinka]

So it was Orthodox Easter yesterday. Here are some nice kulichi photos here:

http://www.cook-talk.com/forum/index.php?s...pic=2492&st=120

[aliclaire73]

MamaC, I'm sorry I'm so late to the thread, but thank you, thank you, thank you, for posting the recipe. I'm married to a Romanian-American, and he & his mom have been asking me, the Official Family Sweets Baker to make cozonac for a while. I've been scared to try family recipes, b/c they're just not easy to follow - but yours is, and it sounds like it'll turn out like they expect it - the toughest part of making "traditional" things.

THANK YOU!

[gfron1]

I'm in the midst of Greek and Palestinian Easter cookies and both start with a very, very dry crumb that I'm supposed to work into a malleable dough. Has anyone made anything like this - anyone up for a demo (in the next few hours )

[gfron1]

My haphazard internet recipes had mixed results (this is why eGullet is my primary source). First is an Italian rosemary sweet bread with dried fruits, that I served with lime curd. The cookies on the side are Palestinian Easter cookies and Greek Easter cookies.

Then there's this Greek Easter bread with mahleb, sesame, almond and a bit of cinnamon.

And finally an Italian Easter bread with anise, fruit and nuts. This didn't rise, so it became a centerpiece.

I found them all to be dry, bland and generally unfestive tasting.

[Tri2Cook]

I found them all to be dry, bland and generally unfestive tasting.

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At the risk of making a whole lot of people not like me, I tend to find the same problem with many traditional holiday breads, cookies and cakes. I always get the feeling that the place where they originated has some secret they don't tell. Maybe they sprinkle them with booze or wine or top them with custard or soak them in a syrup or something that they don't let everybody else in on. They sometimes seem lacking in flavor and almost always seem dry. Then again, I guess it could be related to local preference, what they had to work with when the recipes were created or the need to have them last a while back before fridges and freezers. Regardless of all that rambling I just did, it all looks great... and the money shot for egullet is what's really important.

[jackal10]

Inspired by this thread, and having rainbow chard in the garden I made a Torta Pasqualina for supper

Served it with a simple tomato salad. Very satisfactory.

[austramerica]

Hot Cross Buns -- Australia. I am an Australian so even if I live here in the US, I made this HxBs for me and DH:

I did not take a good photo but the taste is OK....as long as my husband like it...

[helenjp]

Yippee! Somebody made hot cross buns!

I'm sure they used to be a Good Friday thing, and now they seem to be an Easter Sunday thing.

Which spices did you use, austramerica?

[Okbrewer]

I was tasked with making the bread for Easter dinner this year. I made several baguettes and attempted an epi, but didn't cut it deep enough I guess, because instead of a 'sheaf of wheat' it looked more like a stalk of ginger!

But I also attempted a traditional Italian sweet Easter bread, Columba de Pasqua, which is made in the shape of a dove. I was pleased with the results!

The pics are in my album, I'm not sure how to post them directly here.

Bob R in OKC

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...lbum&album=5851

[dystopiandreamgirl]

flock of doves:

Colomba Pasquale

I'd love to make these small - does anyone know a source for chick-sized paper molds?

[Abra]

French Easter pastries. Not homemade, but beautiful and delicious. On Easter Sunday the pastry shops were packed with pastry buyers.

[Lora]

I found them all to be dry, bland and generally unfestive tasting.

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Yeah, I hear that too. My Hungarian family makes a version of the eggy braided bread - not a dessert, although lightly sweet. It's marvelous warm out of the oven (although my Grandma never lets us eat it then, because she makes it Saturday and it must be SAVED FOR EASTER!), but after that, while it's certainly fine, it's nothing spectacular. The spectacularness returns in the way we eat it on Easter - in open-faced sandwiches, piled with ham, mayonnaise, hard boiled eggs, and horseradish. The bread's egginess makes it soft yet sturdy, a perfect sandwich base, and the slight sweetness balances the horseradish. I don't know if other Hungarians do this, but it's a solemn ritual with us.

[AnnmarieKostyk]

I would love the recipe for Ninho de Pascoa (Easter's Nest) to both make for Easter and to put on my chocolate blog www.AnnmarieKostyk.com. It's by far the most beautiful, whimsical dessert I've ever seen.

[whatamieating]

This is my first ever posting on e-gullet, so please forgive me if I do things wrong. There is a French pastry caleld a 'bugne' produced in the Lyonnais. You can find a description at http://www.whatamieating.com/bugne.html

There is also something called a 'cavagnat'. It is a traditional Easter pastry from Menton in Provence, like a small basket containing a single hard boiled egg in its shell. You can see details here: http://fr.novopress.info/16236/gastronomie-identitaire-u-campanile-la-brioche-pascale-corse/

That's all I can think of for the moment. I've really enjoyed reading about all these pastries from around the world.