Romanian community prepares for Orthodox Easter

Chris Craddock - BBC Jersey communities reporter
·1-min read
Nicoleta smiles at the camera in her bakery's kitchen wearing an apron
Romanian baker Nicoleta Radu hopes more people enjoy traditional foods for Othrodox Easter [BBC]

The Romanian community has been preparing for Orthodox Easter in Jersey.

Orthodox Christians in Europe, Africa and the Middle East celebrate Easter later than most in the western world.

It is because they use a different calendar to work out what day Easter should fall on.

A Jersey baker has started making traditional Cozonac cake for the Romanian community in the island.

‘Childhood cakes’

It is the first time Nicoleta Radu has taken orders for this celebration since opening her bakery earlier this year.

Mrs Radu said they had orders for different cakes but Cozonac was "the most important cake because everyone likes that one”.

“They are our childhood cakes and they mean a lot to Romanian community,” she said.

Romanian baker Nicoleta Radu prepares traditional Cozonac bread by pouring orange extract into a mixing bowl which has flour in it
Mrs Radu prepares traditional Cozonac cake [BBC]

Cozonac is a sweet bread that has a citrus-scented sweet dough which is twisted around a nutty filling to make a spiral design.

Mrs Radu said you needed to “take a long time” if you wanted to prepare the bread correctly.

“It is very important for Orthodox Easter for the Romanian community, we even take the bread to church and it’s part of our traditions,” she added.

Cozonac bread is in its baking tray on a metal surface after coming out of the oven. It looks crispy and brown with braided decorations on the bread.
Cozonac bread takes about five hours to make correctly [BBC]

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