Traditional German Easter Bread (Osterbrot/ Osterkranz)

Wake up on Easter Sunday to this delicious German Easter bread with a delicious marzipan and almond filling. This easy bread is full of the sweet richness that you may have been missing during Lent. If not an Easter treat this wreath cake will be a welcome at any occasion.

German Easter Bread Tradition and Symbolism

The Easter bread tradition is a custom that is still very much alive in Germany and southern Europe. The traditional time to bake Easter bread is on Easter Saturday (Kar-Samstag in German). On this day the family typically starts preparation for the Easter breakfast. While your whole kitchen will smell heavenly you need to have patience and wait until Sunday to enjoy the fruit of your labour.

The German easter bread is traditionally made with sweet yeast dough and is used to break the fast after Lent.  [Das Osterbrot und seine Symbolik]

What is Easter Bread in German?

Easter bread in German is called “Osterbrot”. "Ostern" is the word for Easter in German. "Brot" the word for bread. However, there are several different shapes for the bread. Each shape has a different name.

• If the Easter bread has the typical round bread form, it is referred to as "Osterbrot".
• Braided bread also called Hefezopf is called “Osterzopf” (see my Hefezopf recipe).
• A wreath of bread, like this recipe, is called “Osterkranz”.

Symbolism of the Easter Bread form

The typical form for Easter bread is usually round. It symbolises the sun, but also Jesus “as the light of the world”. Sometimes the dough is made with saffron or brushed with egg yolks, as these turn the bread yellow, like the sun. 

The Easter bread is often braided with three parts. This is to symbolise the holy trinity - the union of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Easter bread decorated with the symbol of the cross symbolises Jesus on the Cross. 

How to Make German Easter Bread with Marzipan and Almonds.

Ingredients

For the yeast dough

• 500 g flour (17.6) oz (Germany type 405, UK plain flour, US pastry flour) 
• 7 g instant yeast (1 packet or 2 tsp)
• 70 g (2.4) oz sugar 
• 250 ml (8.4 fl oz) milk (lukewarm)
• 1 egg – at room temperature 
• 80 g (2.8 oz) butter at room temperature 
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• 3 tablespoon almonds to decorate 

For the Almond-Marzipan Filling

• 200 g marzipan
• 200 g ground almonds (affiliate link)
• 50 g sugar
• 50 g melted butter 
• 6 tablespoon milk.

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 50°C 122°F (Basically the lowest setting on your oven.) 
2. Break the egg into a large bowl and beat it. 
3. In a separate bowl, mix together two tablespoon of the mixed egg with two tablespoon of the lukewarm milk. Leave in the fridge to rest. 
4. Add the yeast and sugar to the rest of the lukewarm milk, stir and leave to rest for 10 minutes. The yeast should start to create some bubbles at the surface. 
5. Add the flour, butter, salt and remaining egg to a bowl with the remaining egg. Pour in the yeast-milk mixture. With a hand-or stand mixer knead with the dough hook the dough for about 5 minutes until you achieve a smooth dough. (Should the dough be to wet, add a little more flour. Is it too dry add a little milk).
6. Place the dough into a bowl and cover with a moist tea towel. Turn off your oven and place the bowl with the dough into the oven. Leave for about 1 hour. The dough should have roughly doubled in size. 
7. While waiting for the dough to rise, you can prepare the marzipan-almond filling. Melt the butter. Mix in the marzipan, almonds, sugar, melted butter and milk. I like my marzipan quite crumbly so that you bite into bigger bits of marzipan. You can also mix it into a smooth paste if you prefer. 

8. Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a rectangle. Do this on a floured surface, or on a non-stick silicone mat. The size of my rectangle was around 30 x 40 cm (12" x 16"). 
9. With a pallet knife evenly spread the marzipan-almond paste on the rectangle. Then roll up the dough - along the long edge. The dough roll should be of an even thickness. Place the roll onto the tray lined with baking parchment. 
10. With a sharp knife, cut the dough roll into two. Now wrap the two strings around each other and shape them into a wreath form. Cover and leave to rest for a further 10 minutes. 
11. Preheat the oven to 160°C or 320°F. 
12. Just before placing the easter bread into the oven, apply the milk-egg mixture with a brush. Sprinkle on the slivered almonds. 
13. Bake for about 45 minutes. To check if the bread is done – prick the middle with a skewer. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. 
14. Leave to cool before serving. If you like you can dust the cake with some icing sugar.  Tastes great with butter and jam.

How to serve the Osterkranz?

This bread is traditionally served at breakfast with butter and jam. You can also serve it in the afternoon for Kaffee and Kuchen. (German cake and coffee time).

How to store your Easter bread? 

Don’t store the bread in the fridge. Store it in an airtight container at room temperature. The bread should stay good up to three days after baking. After this, it may start to taste a bit dry.

This post was first posted in April 2015. I updated the recipe and updated this post in February 2021. The easter bread changed from a fruit and nut recipe to a marzipan and almond recipe. You can download the old recipe for German Easter Bread with Fruit and Nuts here.

More German Easter Recipes

• Hefezopf - Sweet Braided Bread (Osterzopf)
• German Easter Lamb Cake
• Frankfurter Grüne Soße (Frankfurt Sauce)

More Holiday Recipes

• For New Years - Raclette Ideas
• Three Kings Cake (Dreikoenigkuchen)