Easter baking. Looking forward to Easter breakfast
Lent is almost over and Easter is fast approaching. Alongside Christmas, Easter is one of the most important festivals in the Catholic Church. The traditions associated with it are celebrated in a very authentic and lively way in the Hall-Wattens tourist region.
Everyone is already looking forward to Easter. As well as dyeing eggs, it’s above all the delicious Easter bakes that make our hearts beat a little faster. Today, Susi and I are sharing some of these recipes with you. They’re relatively simple and quick to make. They’ll be a real eye-catcher on a lavishly laid Easter breakfast table!
Palm pretzels and Easter strudel
The yeast dough forms the basis for both of these Easter baking recipes. To make around 16 Palm Brezen or one Ostertriezel, you will need the following:
Ingredients
- 30 dag plain flour
- 5 dag sugar
- Vanilla sugar
- 7.5 dag butter
- 1/8 l lukewarm milk
- 1 egg
- 1.5 dag yeast (or half a sachet of dried yeast)
- 1 pinch of salt
Mix the ingredients together to form a dough, knead it, then cover and leave to rest for about 30 minutes. Next, cut off small pieces, roll them into sausages and shape them into palm-shaped pretzels. Bake the pretzels in the oven at 150 degrees for about a quarter of an hour.
For the Osterstriezel, however, the yeast dough is divided into three equal strands. Stick the two ends together at the top with a little water and then loosely plait them into a braid. Brush the plait with a beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Then bake it in a preheated oven at 175 °C for approx. 35–40 minutes. And that’s the second Easter bake all done!
Butter and Cake Lamb
To make a cake lamb, you will need the following ingredients:
- 150 g butter (or margarine)
- 150 g sugar
- 2 packets of vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp rum
- 150 g ground nuts
- 150 g flour
- 100 g cornflour (Maizena)
- 3 tsp baking powder
Mix the ingredients together one by one to form a batter. Grease the tin well and dust with flour. Pour the batter into the lined tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for approximately 50 minutes. Then we turn the lamb out of the tin, dust it with icing sugar and decorate it as desired. Taking it out of the tin is always a particularly exciting moment – see for yourselves!
There is also a special mould for making a butter lamb. Simply spread the butter into the mould and place it in the fridge for 24 hours. Then turn the mould upside down over a plate and tap the little butter lamb out. Traditionally, the butter lamb is decorated with a flag and a red ribbon. We use cloves for the eyes and a small leaf for the tongue.
Palm Sunday, Easter graves and traditions in the Hall-Wattens region
Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week and is celebrated with great pomp. Palm branches and palm poles are all part of the tradition, as is the Palm Donkey in some parishes. The donkeys have their origins in the Tyroleans’ passion for theatre and their desire to present the events from the story of Jesus as vividly as possible. During the Palm Sunday processions, a Palm Sunday donkey bearing a figure of Christ is paraded. This custom was banned during the Enlightenment and subsequently disappeared. Today, it is still practised in Thaur and in Hall in Tyrol.
Elaborately decorated Easter tombs form part of Easter traditions in many parish churches across the region. This cultural and historical heritage has, unfortunately, already fallen into oblivion in many places. The stage-like structures surrounding Christ lying in the tomb are adorned with flowers, candles and colourfully lit Easter orbs. In Absam , for example, the Easter tomb is erected on Maundy Thursday after the evening service and remains in place until Easter Vigil. On Good Friday and Holy Saturday, members of the Speckbach Rifle Company keep watch over the Easter tomb. In Thaur, the Easter tomb can be found on the Way of the Cross leading towards the Romedi Chapel.
Another tradition is the Easter Vigil with the blessing of the food. The Easter candle, which has been lit from a fire, is carried into the dark churches.
We hope you enjoy baking these Easter treats and have great fun putting together your own Easter breakfast!