Ukrainian Easter Bread (Paska)

Ukrainian Easter Bread (Paska) is a traditional bread that’s made for Easter and prepared with lots of eggs, butter, and a bit of sugar, making it a rich and slightly sweet beautifully soft bread. You’ll fall in love with the wonderfully braided top as well.

Paska bread is traditionally taken to church on Easter morning in a special basket with other foods to be blessed.

It’s very much like a rich brioche bread, and makes perfect French toast! I love the texture. Soft, but sturdy and holds up really well to being sliced and buttered.

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Embroidered Easter Towel

I inherited these beautiful Ukrainian towels from my grandma though my aunt. I absolutely love them, and just had to share them with you!

Warning! For those who don’t like any personal stories. Here comes a story with some history. If you prefer, simply jump to the recipe below to skip the story and the tips about the bread.

I don’t know who embroidered these towels, and grandma apparently didn’t do much embroidery, but she was a fantastic artist! She painted, especially rosemaling, and drew. And, she knew the value of the beautiful Ukrainian embroidery done by others.

So, the story of the towels goes something like this:

It’s a Ukrainian Easter custom, both Orthodox and Catholic, to take a basket of “Easter delicacies” to be blessed on Easter.

Each family puts an amazing amount of effort into the delicacies in the basket. They might include things like a small cooked ham, sausage, decorated pysanky or krashanky eggs, cottage cheese or farmer’s cheese, horseradish root, butter, and of course, this beautiful paska egg dough bread.

Some families will put brightly colored Easter eggs around the bread or even baked into the bread. Check out my How to Dye Easter Eggs with Food Coloring guide for tips on how to make beautiful Easter eggs.

It’s also forbidden to eat paska before it was blessed. Even the cook wouldn’t dare taste the paska while making it.

The basket is lined with an embroidered towel, and it’s decorated with myrtle, and covered with another embroidered towel.

The covering towel is taken off and placed under the basket, when the basket is placed with all the other baskets on the ground, floor, or tables, in readiness for being sprinkled with holy water and blessed. Try surrounding the bread with some fun Carrot Easter Eggs as well.

Oh, and Xphctoc Bockpec says, “Christ is Risen”.

Want more Ukrainian recipes? Be sure to check out my Ukrainian Honey Cake, Ukrainian Cabbage Rolls (Holubtsi), and Garlic Mushrooms in Sour Cream. You might also like my Yugoslavian Christmas Cookies.

Where is Paska from?

Paska is primarily from Ukraine, but the traditional Easter bread is eaten throughout Eastern Europe and in countries with Eastern Orthodox populations. And I have seen many people say that they grew up with this bread as well.

Paska often has religious symbols like doves or crosses made out of dough on top. I have kept mine with simple rosettes so that anyone can enjoy it.

The work paska is plural, while pasky is singular.

And, you’ll find paska recipes with raisins, citrus, spices, and other flavorings. Some breads are then glazed with a sugar coating and even colored sprinkles.

The recipe I’m sharing with you is nice and simple, and everyone can enjoy it! I mean, who wants raisins in anything anyway! LOL

How to Make Paska Bread

Just as grandma didn’t do much embroidery, she also didn’t do a lot of baking. So, this isn’t a recipe that’s been passed onto me through the generations. But I did a lot of research into the bread to find a recipe that would give great results! And I just love how this turned out!

The full printable recipe ingredients and instructions are available in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. You can find important tips and tricks in the post.

Make the dough

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 cup warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Tip: really, you want the {affiliate link} largest bowl you have! This will hold all of the dough.

Add remaining water. Beat in the milk powder and 5 cups flour until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until bubbly, about 20 minutes.

If your kitchen isn’t warm, you can proof the dough inside the oven. But make sure the oven isn’t on! Just turn the light on inside the oven to add a small amount of warmth.

Add eggs, butter, salt and remaining sugar; mix well.

Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes.

Let it rise

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half and set 1 portion aside.

Divide remaining portion in half; press each portion into a well-greased {affiliate link} 10-inch springform pan.

Note on the pans: two 10-inch springform pans are best for this amount of dough. I tested mine in a 9-inch pan and a 7.5-inch pan. The bread in the 9-inch pan came out fine, though it would be better in a slightly larger pan. But the one in the 7-inch pan totally escaped the pan and tried to run all over!  

Another tip, if you don’t have a springform pan, you can bake these in loaf pans, a good round bread pan, or even old coffee cans. You’ll need to adjust the amount of dough and the baking times accordingly.

Decorate the bread

Divide reserved dough into 6 balls. Shape each ball into a 30-inch rope; make 2 braids of 3 ropes each.

Place a braid around the edge of each pan, forming a circle. Trim ends of braids, reserving dough scraps. Pinch ends of braids to seal.

Shape scraps into 2 long thin ropes; form into rosettes or crosses. Place 1 decoration on the center of each loaf.

I like to place the pans on large cookie trays as they rise, just in case any dough spills over. I keep them on the cookie trays as they bake as well.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes to 1 hour.

Bake

In a small bowl, beat egg and water; brush over dough.

Bake at 350° F for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

How should I slice paska?

Once the Ukrainian Easter Bread has cooled and been removed from the springform pan, you can cut it into wedges like a slice of cake.

Or, you can slice it like you would a regular loaf of bread.

How do I serve this bread?

Paska is delicious plain. It has lots of flavor from the eggs, butter, and milk powder.

It makes fantastic toast in the morning. Slather it with butter and jam.

I plan on making it for Easter dinner and serving it instead of rolls.

How do I store it?

Because it makes so much bread, you’ll probably have leftovers.

Allow the bread to cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap and keep it in a plastic bag or bread box at room temperature for up to 3-5 days.

Pop it in the fridge for a bit longer. Or, wrap it tightly and store it in the freezer for about 3 months.

Leftovers also make great French toast or bread pudding.

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