Greeks flavor tsoureki with orange peel and anise seeds and braid the yeasty dough into a wreath studded with red-dyed hard-boiled eggs (which represent Christ's suffering as well as his rebirth).

Historians suggest that Britain's hot cross buns have their origin in pagan offerings to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. Many Christians believe that the slashed tops represent the Crucifixion.

Russians break the Lenten fast with kulich. The bread's golden-hued crumb is rich with saffron, cardamon, raisins, and orange peel. The iced, dome-shaped top, which resembles the snowy dome of a Russian church, is customarily cut off before the bread is served.

In Italy's Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region, Easter is celebrated with gubana, a heavy bread that's stuffed with various ingredients—including walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, and cocoa—and flavored with grappa.