Rich with tradition, symbolism, and treasured ingredients, Easter breads figure prominently in many cultures' celebrations. From Russia to Spain, these yeast-risen breads are often laden with ingredients like eggs, butter, sugar, fruits, nuts, and spices – rewards following the period of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday. We had only intended to round up a few recipes but were so struck by the beauty and deep tradition of these breads that we had to share this gorgeous gallery of 15…
Will you be enjoying any of these breads for Easter (or just for fun)? Or perhaps one we haven't shown here? Please share your own traditions and recipes with us in the comments!
TOP ROW
• 1 Armenian choereg – A braided loaf flavored with mahlab (a spice derived from sour cherry seeds) and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
• 2 British hot cross buns – Spiced buns filled with currants or raisins and marked with a cross made by slicing the top or adding dough or icing. Some believe the buns predate Christianity and were served at pagan spring festivals.
• 3 Bulgarian kozunak – An eggy bread flavored with raisins, nuts, and lemon zest. May also be braided, shaped into a round loaf, and studded with eggs.
• 4 Croatian sirnica – A sweet bread perfumed with rosewater and citrus zest.
• 5 Czech Houska – A braided, eggy loaf featuring raisins, nuts, and citrus zest.
MIDDLE ROW
• 6 Dutch paasbrood – A sweet bread packed with sweet almond paste, raisins, and candied citrus.
• 7 Greek tsoureki – A sweet, braided bread often flavored with mahlab (a spice derived from sour cherry seeds), anise seeds, mastic, or citrus peel. Red colored eggs represent Christ's blood and rebirth.
• 8 Italian pane di pasqua – One of many Italian Easter breads, this one is braided with an egg nestled in the center.
• 9 Italian gubana – From the Friuli region, a dense bread with a filling of nuts, raisins, chocolate, and grappa.
• 10 Lithuanian velykos pyragas – A sweet loaf dotted with raisins.
BOTTOM ROW
• 11 Portuguese folar de páscoa – A sweet or savory bread often decorated with eggs.
• 12 Russian kulich – A cylindrical, iced sweet bread often flavored with saffron, cardamom, raisins, candied citrus, and nuts and served with pascha cheese.
• 13 Slovenian velikonocni kruhki – Sweet buns flavored with cardamom, citrus zest, raisins, and nuts.
• 14 Spanish hornazo – A savory bread stuffed with egg and sausage.
• 15 Ukrainian babka – Flavored with raisins and baked in a coffee can, this sweet bread was made by Kitchn reader Karlynn Johnston (thanks for sharing!).
(Images: Kitchen Parade, BBC Good Food, Flickr member sneige, Linda Kovacevic, Faith Durand, Flickr member Dorret, Souvlaki For The Soul, The Italian Dish, Citrus and Candy, Barbara Rolek/About.com, Flickr member M Cruz, Flickr member kovalchuk.nikolay, eCurry, Flickr member unmirasol, Country Living, City Style)
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oh dear, I have had a hot cross bun, some kulich, and brought home a colomba di pasqua today. easter is a dangerous time...
the spanish one looks the most tempting to me :)
kozunak is really good -- the dough is fluffy and light and stringy, not too sweet, not too heavy, just a delight. this photo probably doesn't do it justice
because of polish bakers' ridiculous love of raisins, equalled only by my hatred of them, i spent most holidays as a child, industriously digging bloated raisin after bloated raisin from many a slice. looks like i wouldn't have had better luck with any of the other cultures mentioned in this post. of course the bread was delicious!
You picked the worst photo for a Paska (which you called Babka, but Paska is more widespread and acceptable name)
http://z.about.com/d/goeasteurope/1/5/Y/3/-/-/UkrainePaska.jpg
Here's a good photo for Paska
It really looks like Easter is going to be what pushes me over the edge from quickbread to yeast breads.
We always had Polish Babka growing up. I recently made one of my own - no raisins, and plenty of chocolate and sweetened cream cheese baked inside.
http://healthy-delicious.com/2010/03/chocolate-cheese-babka/
Choreg is one of my favorite things to eat. If you can get your hands on some mahleb, I highly recommend giving the recipe a try.
My mother just spent $70 on overnight shipping to be sure that my husband and I have our pane di pasqua for Easter! I love my crazy Italian family and our crazy Italian traditions! : )
what a lovely roundup. thank you for sharing. here is a little more about "paska:" http://www.ianyanmag.com/?p=2242
Paska is not actually a sweet bread traditionally and is not baked in tins, rather a round shape that allows for cross decorations to be added then blessed. If you read the link below, it explains the two breads and more.(straight from the Winnipeg press recipes,it doesn't get more prairie Ukrainian authentic than that)
http://pages.prodigy.net/l.hodges/recipes.htm
Babka is exactly that sweet bread above, baked in cylindrical shapes like Kulich.
So a true Paksa isn't actually featured above!
Well from that recipe Paska does not turn out to be very sweet. It's a mix between a Kind Hawaiian Roll and a muffin and bread (does that make any sense?)
And most people do not add raisins, at least I don't like raisins in them.
True it might be a more modern variation with the tins, however in the past it could have just been baked in tall stoneware. I know that my grandmother, and my great grandmother baked them in tins, one was from central Ukraine, the other from the south. Paska is what is featured above, sans egg glazing and icing (icing is modern). Babka is a synonym, but is used rarer.
If we were to go technical, the round shape with braiding and shapes is a Kolach, and is presented at Christmas.