Usually Russian Orthodox Easter falls later than regular Easter, but this year, both fall on the same day: today! Last year I visited my family in Minnesota and my grandma and I made paska, traditional Russian Easter bread. I’ve made this every year since I can remember, and have always used her recipe, but never had the chance to make it with her so this felt truly special.
Above is my recipe next to my grandma’s recipe card. My version I transcribed on my mom’s neon orange Apple iBook, back when using Microsoft Word was an exciting activity in and of itself. I still remember my grandma reading her recipe to me over the phone as I typed (and later probably obsessed over choosing just the right font).
Unfortunately, I put this post off until the very last-minute because I just couldn’t find my recipe anywhere (I’m sure it’s around here somewhere, among the various paper piles of recipes and articles that I tend to accumulate). But if you’re interested in making your own version, there are plenty of great recipes online. My grandma’s will just have to remain a family secret!
I can tell you that the ingredients are simple: flour, milk, yeast, sugar, eggs, etc…
but it’s a very long process, as you have to let it rise multiple times.
Every so often, you pound it down before letting it rise again… in writing that sentence it just occurred to me that maybe this process is part of the whole Easter symbolism and why bread is associated with the holiday.
Here it is rising yet again…
Finally, we get to bake it…
during this time it somehow manages to rise even more!
Before adding the glaze (powdered sugar, milk and almond extract) the bread needs to cool.
The glaze is difficult to control since it’s so thin, but I thought this looked pretty cool even though it turned out to be quite messy; see all that glaze pooling up at the bottom and spilling off the plate?
Just as the glaze begins to cool and harden, we add rainbow sprinkles in the shape of the Russian Cross:
HAPPY EASTER!
One paska goes into the Russian Easter basket…
which we brought to midnight church service for the Father to bless. After that, the whole family came over to my grandma’s house and ate what was in the basket: kielbasa, bacon, eggs, bread, butter, cheese. It was such an amazing experience to be able to spend last Easter with my grandma and learn more about my family’s heritage and culture.
Do you have any Easter traditions?
Tagged: baking, basket, bread, Crisco, Easter, Easter basket, eggs, family, frosting, glaze, holiday, holiday food, Minneapolis, Minnesota, paska, Russian food, Russian Orthodox, sprinkles, traditions, travel
