Every bread-eating culture has its own variation on this celebratory theme. Hot cross buns from the British Isles. Babka, kulich and paska from Eastern Europe. Colomba Pasquale, a bread shaped like a dove, from Italy. Braided loaves with colored eggs peeking out, from just about everywhere. Easter seems to be a holiday that depends upon these sweet indulgences, along with decorative sugar eggs, chocolates, cakes in the shape of lambs and countless other regional delights.
I worked for several years making bread for a French bakery in California, each day forming croissants and baguettes in the morning hours, then mixing huge batches of dough in the afternoon. Easter was by far the busiest day of the year. In addition to the regular repertory, we took orders for a dozen other once-a-year specialties, including giant brioches and Alsatian kugelhopfs. It was fun to change the menu, even if it meant starting at midnight to be ready for the line of people that snaked out the door and down the block.
You would think I’d have had my fill of baking after so many loaves, but in fact I still love to bake at home, mostly rustic wheaty sourdoughs. This time of year, I can’t resist the urge to make a few sweet breads, which fill the house with marvelous aromas.
For my Easter bread recipe, instead of those commercial candied fruits that glow in the dark, I use a colorful combination of currants, golden raisins, dried apricots and dried cranberries. For sweet fragrance, there are anise seeds, cardamom and a good handful of almonds. There is also an unholy amount of butter. Though the ingredients list may be daunting, it is not difficult to assemble.
After the dough has risen, shape it as you wish, into free-form or braided loaves, or in standard loaf pans. (If you want to adorn your bread with eggs, poke them into the dough after the second rise, just before baking. It’s easy to color eggs naturally with vegetable dyes from onion skins, beets or turmeric.)
Bread baking requires patience. Let the yeast do its work, and don’t try to rush it. Go for a walk once the dough is mixed, or take a nap. Or you can refrigerate the dough overnight and resume the process the next day with excellent results. That way the wait to bake it won’t seem so long.