Homemade Paska – Slovak Easter Bread
Make this rich, slightly sweet homemade paska – a traditional Slovak Easter bread, and one of my favorite childhood traditions.
And for a perfect Easter dessert, try these popular filled lemon cupcakes!
First off, let me apologize for the relative dearth of recipe activity around here recently. Random stomach bugs, sniffles, and a bout of the chicken pox knocked us flat the past couple weeks. Between the germs and random school in-service days, I’ve barely strung together two “normal” days in a row!
And now the kids are on Easter break, which in Belgium stretches for TWO FULL WEEKS. Aaaaah.
But on the plus side, that means it is Easter! And, for me, if it’s Easter, it’s time to make this amazing bread. Paska.
Traditional Slovak Easter Bread
Growing up in a family rich with Slovak traditions, I came early to love paska as a traditional yeasted Easter bread. I believe it’s also common in other eastern European traditions. I know it based on my Slovak heritage.
My Dad is 100% Slovak. (Is it possible to be 110% Slovak? Because if so I’m pretty sure he fits the bill. :)) And while my Mom is not herself Slovak, she got all of my paternal grandmother’s recipes and has been making them for years. And of the whole lot, paska is one of my absolute favorites.
My family’s recipe for paska yields a pretty traditional yeasted bread, enriched with a bit of butter, eggs, and sugar for a sweet, brioche-like flavor perfectly suited to an Easter celebration.
For the most part, my Mom would make this as a simple round loaf. I don’t blame her one bit, especially because she was usually baking a small army of loaves. But, as I am usually making just one for our little family, the last couple of years I’ve made it with a traditional braided cross on top, and really love the special touch that it adds.
How To Make Homemade Paska
This recipe is so simple for a yeasted bread.
- Mix all the ingredients together, let it rise, then turn out the puffy dough onto a lightly floured work surface (photo 1 below).
- If you want to make the braid, pull off a small amount of the dough at this point (photo 2). I did about a third of it this year, and wished I had done a smaller proportion. I’ve reflected that suggested change in the recipe card below.
- Now you’ll divide that small piece of dough in thirds, and roll each one out into a long string (3).
- Braid those together (4).
- Cut in half, and lay them on top of the larger dough ball in a round baking pan (5).
- Don’t worry if there’s a lot of space around the edges–you’ll let the dough rise again, and as you can see it will fill out very nicely (6).
Now bake, and voila! A beautiful golden loaf is ready to go.
Let it cool completely, then remove from the pan, cut, and devour!
On a completely random side note, how adorable is this sweet egg holder with the bunny from Guess How Much I Love You?
We did dye eggs this year, but not until several days after I took these photos. 🙂
I’ve made this several years in a row now — and proudly texted my Mom a photo of it every time — and am really excited to be carrying this tradition forward for my own little family. Based on the fact that my almost-three-year-old was determined to eat only this bread for dinner several nights in a row, I think we’re off to a good start in the “sharing love for traditions” department!
Whether paska is a treasured childhood memory for you, or simply interests you as a new recipe, I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as we do!
More Bread and Rolls:
- The Best Flour Tortillas From Scratch
- Homemade Whole Wheat Pita Bread
- Rosemary Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits
- Divine 1-Hour Breadsticks
- Caraway Irish Soda Bread Muffins
If you’ve tried this bread or any other recipe on the blog, please remember to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. I love hearing from you, and other readers will benefit from your experience!
Homemade Paska - Slovak Easter Bread
Ingredients
Bread
- 5 cups (602 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant dry yeast
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Topping
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer or wooden spoon, mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — flour through butter — until it comes together into a soft, smooth ball. The dough should be pliable, not very sticky, and bounce back when poked lightly with your finger.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and set aside on the counter. Allow it to rise for 60-90 minutes, until nearly doubled in size. Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9-inch round pan and set aside. (I love using a springform pan for this, but a cake pan also works well.)
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pull off about a quarter of it — you'll use this to form the braids. Shape the remaining large piece of dough into a smooth ball, and place in the center of the prepared pan.
- Divide the reserved piece of dough into three equal pieces, and roll each one out into a strand about 18"-20". Use these three strands to create one long braid. (See photos in post for a visual.)
- Cut the braid in half, then place in a cross on top of the larger piece of dough in the pan. (Alternatively, you could wrap the braid in one length around the inside edge of the pan.)
- Cover the loaf and let rise for about 45 minutes, until approximately doubled in size. Near the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and place a rack in the lower-middle.
- When the bread has risen, make the topping. Beat the egg and water together with a fork in a small bowl, and brush the mixture gently over the loaf. Sprinkle with additional sugar, as desired.
- Bake bread for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is a rich golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before cutting and serving.
Notes
- If well-wrapped, leftovers will keep for 3-4 days. Even once the bread begins to go slightly stale, it makes excellent toast if cut into thick slices, especially spread with jam. Or, for a real treat, homemade lemon curd!
- Adapted from a family recipe with a little help from King Arthur Flour, specifically to help convert a ratio of cakes to instant dry yeast.
Nutrition Estimate
26 Comments on “Homemade Paska – Slovak Easter Bread”
This was absolutely delicious! Just like my mom & granny used to make. Thanks so much for sharing!
Such a wonderful recipe! My mom used to make paska, but she’s now gone. It’s my first attempt and it turned out great! I made a braid out of the whole dough and made it into a wreath. Gorgeous. Thank you so much for making our Easter more colorful and a bit more Slovak.
Best and easiest paska recipe ever!
Yay, so happy to hear that you liked it, Wendy! Thank you for taking the time to leave this review!
I’m making this now and my dough is very sticky. Followed recipe exactly. Can I add additional flour?
Yes, definitely! Keep adding a little bit at a time until you get a tacky but not overly sticky texture.
Do you really just dump everything into the mixing bowl at once? I thought you had to activate yeast in warm water first?
I was going to try this today. I was happy to find a recipe that only makes one load, but I’m confused as to the directions.
Also, do you think I could bake this in a cast iron Dutch oven? I can’t find my round cake pan, lol!
It can depend on the type of yeast – if you have instant yeast, it’s generally OK to just mix everything together at once! But you can always combine it with the warm water first to give it a head start, and that’s especially useful if the yeast is not instant. Hope that helps! And yes you could definitely do a Dutch oven, I think that would work beautifully! Good luck and happy Easter!
Must while milk be used or can I use 1%?
I would definitely just use 1% if that’s what you have on hand!
This paska is awesome! I don’t bake at all, yet this recipe worked out perfect. Thanks!
That’s wonderful, I’m so happy to hear it! Thank you for taking the time to leave this feedback, I really appreciate it!
My Grandmother, always made paska when I was growing up. I loved it so much, she always made one just for me. It had a touch of sweetness almost like King’s Hawaiian Bread, but sweeter. I wish I could find a recipe like hers. Our Family is all Slovak. She could bake with no recipes, and if she ever wrote them down, we never found them, when she passed away. I will have to try this. She also made excellent poppy seed, nut, and apricot rolls. I would love to find a recipe for those. Thanks so much for the recipe. Hope it turns out like my Grandmother’s. I take after her, and my Mother never baked. I would love to keep the tradition alive, for my Children.
My Nan and Grandmas nut roll recipe uses the pascha dough but with these instructions. Divide dough into 5 balls, cover with a damp towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each ball on floured surface until a thin rectangle. Spread with nut mixture, apricot or poppyseed. This is the nut mixture: 1/2 lb nuts plus 1/2 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup scalded milk. I hope that helps!
Just like my babicka would make for Easter. She too, would make it the day before so she could take it to church Easter morn to be blessed with other symbolic foods in her beautiful basket with hand embroidered linen that spelled out, “Christos Voskres” ( Christ is risen). That phrase was also how we treated one another on Easter. My babi used raisins in her bread and topped it with a cross that was clipped to look like thorns on the cross.
My “Baba” would make this early (like still dark early) on Holy Saturday so it could be taken “fresh” to be blessed at church later in the day.
I made this wonderful bread for Easter Sunday. It was so easy and delicious! We will definitely make this again and again!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this feedback, Donna, I really appreciate it, and am so glad you guys enjoyed the paska!
Ooo I’ve never tried this before! Your gorgeous photos have made me instantly fall in love though, will have to give it a go! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Holy crap, this is some seriously gorgeous bread! I love the braid! I’m tempted to try that with my next bread. Fingers crossed!
I’ve never had this type—it looks soso fluffy!
This bread looks so beautiful. I love your detailed instructions and the history behind this instruction. I will definitely have to make this bread for my family!
Thank you so much, Hayley, for your kind words!
I just printed the recipe! This looks perfect. I hope to make it tomorrow after we dye our eggs. Happy Easter!
That’s wonderful, Katie – I hope you enjoy it, and would love to hear how it turns out for you! Happy Easter!
Omgosh, I’m sitting here looking at my computer screen thinking “wow! this is some design!” You really have it down! I used to bake bread and can appreciate the form and final design of bread, and of course the whole process, which you make seem very approachable. Thanks for the inspiration…and Happy Easter!
Traci, you are too kind! I wish I could take credit – but I’m all about embracing these “old world” traditions and making them seem approachable for the modern cook! Thank you so much for the kind words, and happy Easter to you, too!