How to make a last-minute spring feast (easy cinnamon buns included)

Since the new year, holidays keep cropping up as a surprise. Time’s flying by so fast that I keep forgetting the season’s important milestones that are great excuses to cook something different, whether I celebrate the holidays or not.

It could also be the particularly gray and rainy winter we had in California that left me feeling like an ostrich with its head in the sand, waiting for the sun to come back out again (thankfully, it finally has). And the timing couldn’t be better because, as is my current M.O., I had completely forgotten about Easter. But I’m not letting that stop me; instead, I’m going to throw together a last-minute feast to celebrate the holiday.

Making hot cross buns takes too much time, and even making cinnamon buns requires a little too much work for a Sunday morning, so I’m making my Cinnamon Crunch Buns for breakfast instead. The total rising time is only about 1 1/2 hours, and the dough comes together quickly. So I’ll have time to brew my coffee and plan the rest of my day while the dough proofs. Studded with cinnamon-coated sugar cubes and baked in a muffin tin, the buns are a simple and not-too-sweet start to the weekend.

And for the main-event meal — probably a casual late lunch around 2 p.m. — I’m making my French Onion-Braised Lamb With Garlic And Rosemary. A whole lamb shoulder is browned then braised in a mix of caramelized onions, wine and apple cider vinegar that produces an unctuous and delightfully sweet and sour sauce to glaze the falling-apart meat.

On the side, I’ll serve up my Warm New Potatoes With Chopped Lemon And Mint. I love the tiny marble potatoes, but I will also take whatever the farmers market bequeaths to me during my morning shop. I love marjoram a lot, and it says “spring” the most to me, so I pair it with mint, garlic and lemon for a bright dressing that pairs perfectly with boiled spuds.

And for dessert, I’ve got to have something coconut. Growing up, a tall, fluffy-looking coconut layer cake, encrusted with snow-white shreds, defined the holiday for me. But instead of a time-consuming layer cake, I’ll make my Chewy Coconut Cake With Milk Chocolate Glaze, which feels like a dinner-worthy version of a coconut macaroon. And it’s gluten-free!

All of these recipes combine to make a great feast to celebrate Easter or spring in general, and all the newness it brings for what feels like, finally, a fresh reset to this time of the year.

Cinnamon Crunch Buns

These buns are much easier to make than traditional cinnamon rolls — no forming logs. The broken sugar cubes add wonderful crunch to their insides, which are more cakey-soft than dinner-roll-bready in texture.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 2 1/2 hours.

(Dylan + Jeni / For The Times)

French Onion-Braised Lamb With Garlic And Rosemary

Apple cider vinegar cooks down with onions until caramelized to flavor the lamb with a sour-sweet flavor enhanced by aromatic rosemary. This preparation also works well with the same cut of beef or pork.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 4 hours.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Warm New Potatoes With Chopped Lemon And Mint

Marble-size potatoes are ideal for this preparation, allowing the maximum amount of sauce to cover the warm, freshly boiled potatoes. I like the flavor of marjoram as a background player to lots of mint in this sauce, but if you don’t want to buy an extra herb, just use additional mint.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 45 minutes.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Chewy Coconut Cake With Milk Chocolate Glaze

This cake is really more like a giant Mounds candy bar, but in cake form — and much more delicious. Toasted shredded coconut and coconut flour amp up the coconut flavor while also giving you two different textures.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 45 minutes.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)