Growing up, my absolute favorite part of Easter was Ukrainian Easter bread called Paska. After the egg hunt was over, I knew we’d be going to my grandmothers and this delicious, citrussy bread would be waiting for us. So good. It’s sweet, a cross between a cake and a bread, traditionally served at Ukrainian Easter celebrations. I think of it as a breakfast bread... served warm, fresh out of the oven or microwaved. It’s a very tender, moist bread, so be sure to keep it from drying out. Also, the recipe makes a ton of bread, so be prepared to make some friends very happy. There seem to be some wildly different ideas of what Paska entails—many don’t have citrus, some have a frosting—but this is what I was raised on, and it won’t disappoint!
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 packets active dry yeast (4.5 tsp)
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
8 eggs, beaten
Juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
Zest of 1-2 lemons and 1-2
oranges
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups scalded milk, cooled
12+ cups all purpose flour,
divided
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp water
Stir sugar into warm water. Sprinkle yeast on top of sugar water, gently incorporate. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes, until bubbly.
In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, continue to cream until well incorporated and fluffy once more. Add juices, zest and salt to the mixture, mix until combined. Add scalded milk, continue to mix until well incorporated and smooth. Add 4 cups of flour, combine well. Add yeast mixture, mix until well incorporated. If you have a dough hook attachment for your mixer, affix it now. Slowly add remaining flour until a good, coherent bread dough comes together. It should be only very slightly sticky to the touch—not super sticky, and not really dry.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for a few minutes. Dough should be smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky when it’s been kneaded enough.
Put dough into a lightly greased bowl or pot, cover top with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 to 1/2-2 hours. Once doubled, beat down the middle of the dough and allow to rise another hour.
Now here’s the fun part. Reserve about 1/3 of the dough for decorations, and divide remaining dough out among the pans you’ll be using (grease them first!). For the main body of your breads, you’ll want the dough to fill about 1/3 of each baking pan—they’ll rise like crazy. Halfway full if you’re adventurous, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Cover pans and reserved dough loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise another 30 mins.
Once 30 minutes are up, use the reserved dough to make designs on the top of each loaf. Braids, twists, curls, crosses and rosettes are popular/traditional, but have fun with it. Use toothpicks to secure designs in place until after baking. Cover loosely with plastic, allow to rise one last time, 30 minutes.
While your dough is rising, whisk together the remaining egg yolks and water to create an egg wash. This glaze will give your finished Paska a shiny, dark brown finish. Preheat oven to 350°F. Once final rise is finished, brush entire top of each loaf with egg wash.
Bake loaves for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower the heat to 325°F and continue to bake for another 40 minutes. Cool Paska for 10-15 minutes (if you can handle the wait), then gently remove from pans and transfer to a wire rack or wooden cutting board to continue cooling.