Sweet Treats and Easter Fun from Around the World
Posted by Michael Mortimer on 4th Mar 2016
Happy Easter! ¡Felices Pascuas! Frohe Ostern! God påske! Szczęśliwej Wielkanocy!
These are just some ways of saying Happy Easter from around the world. As the annual holiday of Easter bunnies, eggs, hot cross buns and chocolate is upon us, we are exploring ways that Easter is celebrated internationally and in the UK. Maybe you’ll adopt some of these traditions as your own this Easter?
Egg hunting
Egg hunts are popular in the UK. In this fun treasure hunt for the whole family, decorated eggs are hidden around the garden or inside the house, and kids are encouraged to search high and low to find the hidden eggs. Some families allow immediate eating once an egg is found, while others wait until the end to compare the results and give out prizes to the participants.
Make it your own: Organise a treat and treasure hunt in your garden, for kids and grownups alike. If the weather is miserable, you can always hide the treats inside. Individually wrapped snackpacks of shortbread are perfect to hide, and you can buy in bulk so you have enough for the whole neighbourhood. Novelty biscuits like these fun animal shortbread shapes are always popular, and you can make an extra challenge for everyone to find one of each animal.
Easter egg decorating
Decorated eggs are found around the world. Eastern European and Slavic countries take particular pride in decorating their eggs, and there are incredible talents out there. From painting and carving to embellishments and beads: these are just some of the incredible Easter eggs you can find in Eastern Europe. The famous Fabergé eggs are some of the most prized eggs in the world, from the Russian Easter egg tradition. Here are some Easter egg decoration ideas, and you can find more on Pinterest.
Make it your own: Don’t just limit yourselves to decorating eggs. Buy edible paint, sprinkles and glitter and make edible pieces of art that you can enjoy eating later. Try painting shortbread sheep shapes or Scottie dog shortbread. They both come in collectible tins where you can store your masterpieces until you are ready to taste them. Union Jack shortbread shapes are perfect for a patriotic Easter, and the animal shortbread shapes add a variety of challenges.
Easter food and drink
Easter is one of the holidays particularly connected with food and drink. Easter follows Lent, when people traditionally abstain from excess and luxuries for forty days. At the end of this fasting period, treats abound. Easter often also coincides with spring, when local produce starts to flourish after a long and cold winter. Many foods have a religious significance, while others are purely for enjoyment. In the UK, hot cross buns are one of the traditional treats that are eaten for Easter. Rich, sweet bakes are common across large parts of the world, like Simnel cake in Ireland and the UK, Colomba di Pasqua in Italy, Capirotada in Mexico and Kulich in Orthodox countries. Lamb is another traditional food at Easter, with many religious connotations.
Make it your own: If you don’t want to make your own Polish butter lamb for Easter, a pure butter shortbread sheep would surely make a good substitute? Our sheep shaped shortbreads are made with only the finest ingredients, like high quality pure butter, and they are available in a decorative tin or in boxes. Chocolate is another important part of Easter and breaking Lent. If you are filling your own Easter eggs, try putting some mini chocolate chip shortbread rounds and a few mini Scottie dog shortbread in to delight the recipient.
Whatever Easter traditions you have in your family, we hope you enjoy them. Happy Easter from all of us at Walkers!