Ok, this is a bit late because we were so busy yesterday celebrating. August 1st is the equivalent of Independence Day in Switzerland, so we invited Kay’s parents over for a traditional Swiss brunch.

We started Wednesday evening by preparing Zopf (traditional Swiss bread), rösti (Swiss potato pancakes), birchermüesli (fruit and muesli), coconut cake and cheesecake. I started my bread by beginning with a sponge:

Afterward I let the dough rise while I whipped up the cheesecake. While that was in the oven, I rolled out the Zopf and tried to braid it into a Swiss cross because Kay had sent me a cool Zopf picture earlier in the week that I wanted to replicate.

Once the Zopf was rolled out and rising, Kay began shredding his cooked potatoes for the rösti and chopping up fruits for the birchermüesli. I popped the Zopf in the oven and then ran around the house like a mad woman trying to clean it up enough to make it presentable for the in-laws’ first visit to the new place.

The Zopf turned out pretty well! But it’s a little more of an X shape than a cross shape. Oh well.

On the day of, we got out the cheeses and meats and stuck little Swiss flags in some of the food and hung up Swiss flag balloons. We are a very patriotic household. 😉

With the röst, eggs and bacon in addition to all this (and the cakes!) it was WAY too much food for four people. We were all completely stuffed after awhile.

The rösti with spring onions, chives and parsley, topped with an egg and a side of bacon.

And my mom’s cheesecake recipe, topped with red currants.

Mmmmm. After the brunch we were so stuffed that I passed out on the couch in a food coma.