This year Easter has been absolutely wonderful. When I look back to the same time last year – when I spent the entire Easter weekend writing a paper for my Cambridge Delta diploma – I can’t help but pause and reflect on our lives and that makes me feel so blessed by everything I’ve been given over this last year.
I love Easter so much for the message of a new beginning that it promises and for the joy that it brings, so naturally I don’t mind getting ready to celebrate this special holiday on my days off.
I wrote about Easter celebration in Slavic households in previous years. It is by far the biggest Christian holiday in Russia and Ukraine and it shows through so many delicious dishes that are traditionally cooked this time of the year.
We started the weekend off with sweet cheese fritters Syrniki for breakfast and as soon as breakfast was finished I got to making the dough for Kulich, sweet, brioche-like bread enriched with eggs, butter and sour cream. (I substituted raisins for chocolate chips because it just makes sense!) You won’t believe how delicious it is until you taste it. I posted the recipe for Kulich last year.
Traditionally it is glazed with a sugar paste but I decided to leave it naked this year and decorate the top with a white chocolate piping. You can see our friend Carmen writing the letters XB (Russian acronym for Christ is Risen) and piping Russian folk design on Kulich.
While the bread dough was rising I made the cheese pudding Paskha and put it in the fridge to set.
It was my first time trying the new mold that came all the way from Ukraine just in time for Easter and I was incredibly excited to see the results!
I was thrilled to see that Paskha turned out beautifully and so delicious!!!
Imagine the most flavourful cheesecake and you’ll get the picture. The recipe for it is coming very soon.
Finally in the evening the kids, Carmen and I sat down to colour eggs. Usually we use the onion peels to dye our Easter eggs but this year I decided to do something different, which has nothing to do with a late realisation we were out of onions. 😉
Egg colouring turned into much more than I expected. We started out with plain, solid colours and somewhere halfway though went a little funky by hand dipping the eggs in different colours to create fun design.
After the kids left Carmen and I grabbed edible paint and brushes and carried on, it was so much fun Vika came back and coloured that yellow egg with black and silver circles and the green one with black lines. Art is so therapeutic!
I hope you’ve also had a blessed Easter and a wonderful time with family and friends. I would love to hear in comments how you celebrate Easter!!
Lucy Parissi says
Those eggs are a labour of love! I remember colouring eggs with my mum at Easter. She used to hand paint some too (well, she is an illustrator!) and try all sorts of 70s DIY egg colouring techniques with varying degrees of success. Easter used to be magical when I was a child – hope we can go back to Greece to celebrate it soon
Angela - Patisserie Makes Perfect says
This looks so good Julia – I don’t really have any Easter traditions in our house – all of these food looks wonderful.
I’m glad you had a very happy Easter.
vikalinka says
Thank you, Angela! Easter traditions is all I have from my childhood, not any for Christmas, so I always go all out when Easter time comes round! π
Katya | Little Broken says
I love all the little details in your food. So pretty!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Katya! I don’t usually like to fuss over my food too much but it was fun to spend some time and make special things for Easter. “-)
ellen b says
Love your Seernaya Paska mold. I’ve had to use flower pots for mine but I’d love an authentic mold. I’ll have to look online. We made Kulich (Russian Easter Bread ) at our house , too. Yours looks beautiful! I’ll be posting my Easter table soon.
vikalinka says
A flower pot is a decent substitute but I agree an authentic mold is so much more fun to use! I bought mine on ebay and it made its way to me within a week! π