5 Swiss Recipes for Easter Baking

If you’re looking for some Swiss baking inspiration for Easter, here are five sweet recipes from my blog for you.


1. Absinthe Bundt Cake

While not a traditional Easter recipe from Switzerland, this cake uses a very Swiss ingredient: absinthe. Plus, it’s one of my favorite recipes from the blog. I first had absinthe cake in an old barn (séchoir) used for drying wormwood and other herbs to make absinthe in the Val-de-Travers. My recipe combines absinthe with fresh lime zest and juice for a fragrant, boozy Easter dessert.

absinthe bundt cake
My Absinthe Bundt Cake. Photo credit: Bilderküche by Marco Zaugg.

Recipe: Absinthe Bundt Cake


2. Zopfhasen

If you have children at home who need a baking project, here’s an easy recipe for Swiss bread rolls shaped like bunnies. Known as Zopfhasen on the German-speaking side of Switzerland, they’re a popular treat in the springtime around the Easter holidays.

Zopfhasen, little Swiss bread bunnies.

Recipe: Zopfhasen


3. Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

The Aargauer Rueblitorte is a Swiss carrot cake from the canton of Aargau that I make with an American-style cream cheese frosting. It’s a classic cake that exists throughout Switzerland, often topped with marzipan carrots.

Aargauer Rueblitorte, a gluten-free carrot cake from Aargau

Recipe: Aargauer Rüeblitorte


4. Osterfladen

Swiss Easter tarts generally contain either rice or semolina. My local bakery uses semolina and a thin layer of apricot jam. One of the bakers there told me he prefers using semolina over rice because it makes a lighter cake. These cakes often have raisins in the filling, which I prefer to leave out.

Homemade Osterfladen with semonlina and ground almonds

Recipe: Osterfladen with rice (sans raisins) or an Osterfladen with semolina and ground almonds.


5. Pain de Pâques

The Swiss canton of Neuchâtel has its own special bread for Easter, known simply as Pain de Pâques (Easter bread). The dough for making this bread is nearly identical, if not exactly the same, as the dough for a loaf of Zopf /Tresse. Instead of braiding the dough, bakers form it into a rounded oval, like the shape of an egg.

Neuchatel’s Easter Bread, Pain de Pâques

Recipe: Pain de Pâques


What are your favorite Swiss baking recipes for the Easter holiday season? Please leave a comment below or send me an email. Thanks!

6 replies »

  1. You have shared some Swiss Easter delicacies with us in this article. All these dishes look really very tasty and I would definitely love to try them out one by one at my house. I am sure my children will love these recipes and ask for more. Thank you.

    • Thanks for your nice message! I’m glad you enjoyed this article. Best wishes from Switzerland. -Heddi

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