Who made the first Easter cruffin? When was the Easter cruffin invented?
✨ Nine Years of Easter Cruffin
A Story of an Idea That Traveled the World
Sometimes a new tradition begins quietly.
Not in a large bakery.
Not in a famous restaurant.
But in an ordinary kitchen — with flour, butter, yeast, and a creative idea.
Nine years ago, on March 17, 2017, a simple video recipe appeared online. It showed a new way of preparing a festive Easter cake: thin layers of dough rolled with butter, cut open, and shaped into elegant spirals.
The result was something people had never seen before.
A cake that looked like a blooming pastry flower.
A texture combining the softness of traditional kulich or paska with the delicate layers of a croissant.
A festive bread that was both familiar and entirely new.
This creation would soon become known as Easter Cruffin — Kulich-Kraffin / Paska-Krafin.
At that moment, no one could have predicted what would happen next.
Over the following years, the idea traveled far beyond its original video. Home bakers, bloggers, and pastry enthusiasts began recreating the recipe, sharing their own versions and interpretations.
Gradually, the layered Easter cake became recognizable across the internet.
What began as one creative experiment became a new chapter in modern Easter baking.
And today, nine years later, every spring the same story repeats itself:
people around the world prepare their own Kulich-Kraffin, filling kitchens with the aroma of butter, yeast, and sweet Easter memories.
Because sometimes a recipe is more than a recipe.
Sometimes it becomes a tradition.
📌 The Story of the Easter Cruffin
9 Years of Kulich-Kraffin (Paska-Krafin)
On March 17, 2026, the Easter Cruffin — known as Kulich-Kraffin in Russian and Paska-Krafin in Ukrainian — celebrates its 9th anniversary.
Nine years ago, when this recipe was first published, it was impossible to imagine how widely it would spread. What began as an experiment in a home kitchen would soon become one of the most recognizable modern Easter pastries across Eastern Europe and beyond.
The Birth of an Idea
The concept of the Easter Cruffin — a hybrid between the traditional Orthodox Easter kulich/paska and the layered structure of a cruffin — was created by Liudmyla Vu, author of the culinary channel Luda Easy Cook.
The recipe was first published on March 17, 2017, on the YouTube channel Luda Easy Cook.
📌 Original video recipe
https://youtu.be/QNybmC97Lyk
At that moment, few people could imagine that a rich Easter cake could be made using a layered, croissant-like technique. Yet the result was breathtaking: delicate spirals of buttery dough, airy layers, and a striking appearance unlike any traditional Easter cake.
The beauty of the baked pastry amazed viewers immediately.
From Experiment to Tradition
After the first publication in 2017, the recipe quickly spread across the internet. Food bloggers and home bakers began recreating the idea, adding their own variations and decorations.
The layered Easter cake — combining the softness of kulich or paska, the buttery flakiness of a croissant, and the elegant shape of a cruffin — soon became a recognizable format.
Today, Kulich-Kraffin / Paska-Krafin regularly appears in Easter recipe collections, baking videos, and holiday menus.
What started as a creative reinterpretation of traditional Easter baking has become part of the modern Easter table for many families.
A New Chapter in Easter Baking
Traditional Kulich / Paska has long been one of the central symbols of Orthodox Easter. This festive bread — rich, sweet, and fragrant — is baked in advance of the holiday and often decorated with white glaze and the letters XB, symbolizing the words “Christ is Risen.” – “Христос воскрес”
For generations, this bread has carried deep cultural and spiritual meaning.
The Easter Cruffin did not replace this tradition — instead, it offered a new artistic interpretation of it.
By combining the heritage of traditional Easter bread with modern pastry techniques, the Kulich-Kraffin created something entirely new:
a festive cake that is both traditional in spirit and modern in form.
Nine Years Later
Nine years later, the Easter Cruffin continues to inspire bakers around the world.
Every spring, as Easter approaches, countless people prepare their own versions of Kulich-Kraffin / Paska-Krafin, sharing photos, recipes, and family traditions.
What began as one creative idea has grown into a small part of the global Easter baking culture.
And behind this story remains the moment when the idea first appeared —
March 17, 2017.
A simple video recipe that opened the door to a new chapter in Easter baking.
Author of the original Easter Cruffin recipe
Liudmyla Vu – Luda Easy Cook
First publication: March 17, 2017
📌 The original video recipe introducing the Easter Cruffin can be viewed here:
👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNybmC97Lyk
This publication (video recipe) represents the first documented presentation of the Easter Cruffin recipe, marking the origin of this modern interpretation of Easter baking.
Easter Cruffin created by Liudmyla Vu (Luda Easy Cook), first published March 17, 2017.
Text prepared with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).