Hello lovelies, Easter is coming up soon and I have to admit I’m very much looking forward to it. For me Easter is the inevitable connection to spring and it brings back so many beautiful memories of all the Easter celebrations of my childhood. Usually our presents were hidden all over our backyard and we grabbed our little baskets and started the hunt. Every present brought us joy. Did you know how the yearly date for Easter is being determined? “Easter is one of the flexible holidays, whose date varies each year. It is guided by the official beginning of spring and the first following full moon. The first Sunday after these two occasions is being set to Easter.”
Our kids’ personal highlight is the Easter egg hunt as well. We highly enjoy discovering new hiding spots for them. Right after the hunt we continue with a pleasant Easter brunch. I personally experience the Easter holidays to be much more relaxing than for example the Christmas holidays. After successfully finding all the eggs and presents in the backyard, one has to taste them right away – that was already the case for us as children. And this is the reason why a proper Easter brunch can last for hours and include savory dishes next to all the delicious breakfast delicacies. Something savory is perfect after eating the Easter sweets.
For many of us the epitome of Easter is the Easter egg. Not for us though, because as a vegan I don’t eat eggs (a little remark as this question comes up regularly: my husband and children aren’t vegan). Today I’m excited to present my vegan Easter brunch along with some tasty recipes in cooperation with Migros #osternwirdjöö to you. And I can assure you: you will not miss any eggs!
Our table was set with plenty of delicious and colorful food. Next to some classics that I re-interpreted, such as carrot cake, yeast braid, pumpernickel with carrot-salmon, pancakes and dips with vegetables, we also had plenty of delicious Migros products, for example jam, vegan chocolate cream, sweet chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs, juice and alcohol-free beverages such as the delicious alcohol-free Moscato from the Migros-Sélection series.
Carrot cake with marzipan
I baked the carrot cake with almonds and marzipan and it turned out very tasty, especially because of the sweet soy mousse frosting, decorated with chocolate bunnies, fresh carrots and nuts. You’ll find the full recipe for the cake further down in the recipe card, ready to bake.
Braided loaf with an Easter lamb
I added some extra creativity into baking two different versions of the yeast braid, one classical and one sweet baby lamb bun – because #osternwirdjöö (even though certain members of my family thought it looked like a turtle – uh what? – yeah ok, maybe a little :-)). I got the idea from Pinterest and found it so lovely and also practical, since everyone could just pick their own chunk of the bun :-).
The amount is enough for one classical braid and one sweet baby lamb bun:
Ingredients:
500 ml plant-based milk (oat, almond or soy) 150 gr natural soy yoghurt 1 fresh yeast cube 1 tbsp raw cane sugar 1 kg spelt flour 2 tsp salt
Method:
- Mix milk, yogurt, yeast and sugar and slightly warm up until fully dissolved
- Add flour and salt and knead into a smooth dough
- Leave dough in a large bowl for 2-3 hours and allow it to rise until it has more or less doubled in size
- For the baby lamb bun roll some dough pieces on a floured surface into balls and place them on baking paper. Roll one larger ball for the head and 4 longish ones for the legs
- I used chocolate chips to create the eyes but you can also use raisins if you like
- Braid a classical yeast braid with the left over dough
- Brush both with soy cream and sprinkle some sliced almonds onto the baby lamb bun
- Bake in pre-heated oven (180°C or 356°F) for 25-30 minutes
Easter quiche with green asparagus
As mentioned before, something savory always goes well with a brunch. I usually start eating something savory and finish off with something sweet and maybe even back to savory, depending on my mood and duration of the brunch. This time I baked a quiche. I found the original recipe on the Migusto website called Quiche de Pâques – an Easter quiche that I created a vegan version of. The original version is with ham, eggs and of course cream. Whereas my version contains silken tofu, spring onions and green asparagus – so tasty.
Ingredients:
1 whole grain cake batter 2 spring onions 250 gr green asparagus
Foundation:
250 gr silken tofu 1 substitute egg (consists of 2 tbsp soy flour mixed with 5 tbsp water) 10 ml olive oil 1/2 tbsp rough-grained Dijon mustard 100 ml soy cream 1 tbsp cornstarch 1 tbsp lemon juice salt, pepper, nutmeg 1/2 bunch parsley 3 branches of thyme 2 tbsp panko
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 220 °C (428°F). Cut spring onions in half (if they are large, cut them into stripes so they match the size of the cut asparagus). Wash the asparagus, cut off the wooden ends and cut them in half. Steam in olive oil for about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and let cool off
- Chop parsley and thyme
- For the foundation mix silken tofu, olive oil, cream, lemon juice, soy flour/water mix, cornstarch and mustard
- Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper
- Place the whole grain cake into a quiche pan, pierce it with a fork and sprinkle some panko onto it. Spread the spring onions and asparagus on the dough. Pour the foundation on top of it, place pan in the middle of the oven and bake for approx. 30 minutes. Before serving the quiche, let it rest for a while
Mini pancakes on skewers
One thing we don’t want to miss when having a brunch is pancakes or waffles. However I went for mini pancakes on small skewers as they are not only practical to eat but also gorgeous to look at and a nice decoration with different fruits stacked in between. They are very tasty with maple syrup, powdered sugar, chocolate cream or jam – everyone eats them the way they like them most. I purposely use less sugar, as we usually sweeten them with syrup or chocolate cream afterwards:
Ingredients:
150 gr apple sauce 150 ml oat milk (or any other plant-based milk) 75 ml sparkling water 2 tbsp raw cane sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract 200 gr spelt flour 1 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder pinch of salt
Method:
- Mix apple sauce, milk, sparkling water and raw cane sugar in a large bowl
- Add flour, spices, baking powder and baking soda and mix until dough is smooth
- Bake smaller or larger pancakes in a slightly greased pan (I use coconut oil)
- Put them on skewers adding different fruits if you like and serve with syrup, jam or chocolate cream
We also had a large snack plate on our table that contained vegetable sticks and homemade hummus, one thing that can’t be missing when we have a brunch or Apéro, everyone loves it. This time I made the classical version of hummus, using chickpeas. But we also like it with beetroot or white beans. If you fancy some, try my pumpkin hummus with roasted veggies.
And last but not least I tried an exciting experiment and made vegan salmon out of carrots. I have seen this before plenty of times on Instagram or Pinterest and have always wanted to give it a try. The carrots are sliced into stripes, steamed and marinated in a mix of nori sheets, soy sauce and liquid smoke. They actually absorb a smoky flavor – very exciting. I really enjoyed this surprising flavor and I will continue working on this recipe so I can share it with you soon. I served the vegan salmon on pumpernickel with soy mousse and sprouts.
On top of all these delicious dishes we had some tasty coconut yogurt, a large colorful bowl with fresh fruits and a healthy green smoothie. We had some very pleased faces at the table, who truly enjoyed this Easter brunch. I personally love the fact that all products and ingredients I used here are available at Migros. I often receive feedback saying that cooking vegan is too extravagant as you require so many special ingredients – I hope I was able to convince you with these recipes that this isn’t necessarily the case.
All the pretty flowers and decorations are also available at Migros. I usually prefer a more discreet Easter decoration and was surprised to find such a large variety. Simply adding some fresh spring flowers makes every brunch table look even more beautiful.
I really hope you will all have some fantastic Easter holidays with your loved ones and a friendly Easter bunny to fill your nests. If you’re looking for more ideas for the breakfast table, do try my pancakes with apple-cinnamon whipped cream, the crispy orange carrot waffles and, for a dose of vitamins, my green smoothie. As always I am very much looking forward to you trying my recipes and sending me pictures, or tagging me on Instagram.
This blog post was created in collaboration with Migros! Thank you for supporting the brands that make my work possible. *
