Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
3 eggs

Frosting:

100 g cream cheese, softened
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp milk
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Grease and flour the cake pans (rub bottom of pan with butter or shortening, then sprinkle flour in the pan, tap the pan until flour spreads and covers the bottom).
3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the electric mixer bowl.
4. Add the shortening, milk, vanilla, and eggs.
5. Mix on low speed for one minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then turn mixer to high speed. Beat for 3 minutes.
6. Pour into pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the cake center comes out clean (not sticky).
7. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn cake layers onto a wire rack (you might need help with this step).
8. Make frosting: place the cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and salt in the electric mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed until well blended.
9. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium to high speed until the frosting is smooth and will spread easily. If necessary, add more milk.
10. Cut the cooled cake and arrange as shown in the photo. One layer is left intact, and the other is cut to form the bunny’s ears and bow tie. Spread the frosting between the head, ear, and bow tie pieces, then over top and sides. Add jelly beans for the bunny’s eyes, strips of licorice for whiskers. You could also cover the rabbit with coconut for a very special Easter dessert!

Gründonnerstag is the Thursday before Easter, known as Maundy Thursday. It means “green Thursday”, although it is thought that the word “grün” is actually derived from the word “greinen” meaning to weep. However, despite there being nothing traditionally green about “green Thursday”, Germans often eat green-colored foods such as herb soups.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups/500 ml vegetable broth
1 cup/250 ml cream (or two small potatoes)
finely cut fresh herbs – traditionally it’s a combination of leek, watercress, chives, sorrel, parsley, spinach, dill, and dandelion greens (however arugula, kale, celery greens, tarragon, or chervil could also be used)
salt and pepper
croutons, or cubed zwieback

Method:

Tips: If harvesting herbs from your garden, pick them early in the morning. If using potatoes instead of cream, boil them till fork tender.

Wash herbs thoroughly, drain, and chop coarsely. You should have about 2 handfuls of chopped herbs per person.
Melt the butter in a pan, and sauté the onions till translucent. Add flour and stir; cook briefly. Pour in broth or stock, stir and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes.
Add cream or cooked potatoes plus the chopped herbs. Briefly bring to a boil, and season with salt and pepper.
Puree with a hand blender, and garnish with some cream and a pinch of chopped greens before serving.

Ingredients:

5 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 cup rapeseed oil
5 oz plain yogurt
5 oz sour cream
2 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (e.g. watercress, chives, sorrel, parsley, chervil etc)
1 garlic clove
juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon German prepared mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch sugar
1 pickled German gherkin
1 onion

Directions:

1. Peel the hard-boiled eggs, cut in half, remove the yolk and mash it with the oil. Add the yogurt and sour cream.
2. Finely chop the fresh herbs.
3. Peel and crush the garlic clove and mix together with the herbs, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper and sugar.
4. Finely chop the egg yolk and gherkin.
5. Peel and grate the onion and mix the remaining ingredients together.
6. Serve with hard-boiled eggs.

The Friday before Easter is known as Karfreitag or “Sorrowful Friday”, and traditionally people eat fish for dinner with their family.

Ingredients:

2 potatoes, peeled
1 onion, halved
300 g white fish fillets, skinned
150 g smoked fish fillets, skinned
a little flour for dusting
some canola oil for shallow frying
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the sauce:

about 60 g of fresh green herbs such as parsley, chives, chervil, dill, marjoram, sorrel, coriander, basil, tarragon or baby spinach
3 tablespoons quark (or sour cream)
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sweet German mustard
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped roughly

Directions:

1. Coarsely grate the potatoes and squeeze our excess water. Coarsely grate the onion; mix half into the potato and reserve half for the sauce.

2. Check both fish for fine bones then chop roughly and place in a food processor with some freshly ground black pepper. Blend to a smooth paste then scoop out and mix with the grated potato and onion. Add a little salt if liked — you can check the seasonings by frying a small amount first. Shape into 8 round cakes.

3. Make the sauce. Wash out the food processor and blend your chosen mixture of herbs, until finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients including the reserved onion, chopped eggs and seasoning to taste.

4. Blend to a slightly chunky puree — not velvety smooth, it should have a little texture. Check the seasoning and spoon into a bowl.

5. Dust the fish cakes lightly with flour. Heat some oil to a depth of 1/2 inch and fry the fish cakes in batches for about 3 minutes each on a medium heat. Drain on paper towels and reheat the oil between the batches. Serve the fish cakes with the sauce and a fresh tomato salad.

Ingredients:

800 g fresh lamb
2 medium – sized onions
butter, oil
1/2 cup red wine
pepper and salt
2 cups broth
500 g green beans
400 g potatoes
fresh herbs to serve with

Directions:

1. Dice lamb into even cubes and slice onions. Heat butter in a pot and then roast gently the fresh lamb in it. Extinguish it with red wine. Add onions and spices. After that, infuse it with the broth. Cover up the pot and braise it for one hour over medium heat.

2. Clean beans and slice them. Peel and dice the potatoes. 20 minutes before the meat has reached desired tenderness, add the sliced beans and diced potatoes to the pot. Serve with your favorite fresh herbs.

Guten Appetit und Frohe Ostern!