EDMONTON — One of the surest signs of spring around St. Basil’s Cultural Centre is a long line of people snaking around the building, waiting their turn to pick up a loaf or two of the distinctive breads that will make their Easter meal complete.
They come for paska, an egg-rich round loaf topped with traditional braids, crosses and rosettes, or babka, a tall, mushroom-shaped sweet bread studded with raisins and flavoured with citrus.
At Easter, these will be enjoyed either cold or toasted — but slathered with butter for sure.
“There’ll be a lineup at the door, because everybody wants to pick the nicest breads,” says Steffi Chmilar, organizer of this year’s baking workshop. Chmilar and about 30 members of the St. Basil Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League knead, shape and bake some 800 loaves over four days.
“We’re really at the maximum now. We actually have to put in an extra half-day because we’ve got so many orders, and we can only bake so many per day. The ladies get tired — they’re here since 6 o’clock this morning, and we’re finished around 3 o’clock, and we’ve got to be here tomorrow again at 6.”
The ladies sell the loaves for $8 apiece as a fundraiser, but it’s clear from the cheerful workshop atmosphere that this is really a labour of love.
Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe, and special breads have always been produced for all the big celebrations — weddings, baptisms and Easter, the most important feast in the Christian calendar. The Easter breads are meant to be luxurious, an end to the fasting and denial of Lent and a symbol of Jesus as the “Bread of Life.”
If you’re not fortunate enough to live near a Ukrainian Catholic or Orthodox church that sells these beautiful breads, they can be easily mastered in the home kitchen.
The first key is to start with all ingredients at room temperature. Yeast is proofed in warm water and sugar, and then added to a mixture of scalded milk, eggs, butter and sugar. Flour is added gradually to make a soft dough.
It’s the eggs that determine how much flour ultimately is needed because, even though they’re all graded large, the size can vary significantly.
“We just kind of feel it with our fingers — if it feels too sticky, we add a little bit more flour. After a batch or two, you kind of know exactly how it should feel,” says Chmilar.
Joyce Sirski-Howell, a former cooking teacher who supervises quality control at St. Basil’s, says the other key is to make your dough braids and twists as uniform as possible, and gently ease them into the pan so that they don’t deform while baking.
For paska, the St. Basil’s bakers use the kind of round enamel pans you’d find at a camping supply store, but any round pan with high sides would do. For babka, they find that coffee cans make the best baking vessels.
An egg wash applied partway through the baking process gives the bread a lovely sheen.
Lorraine Turchansky is Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton and a dedicated home cook.
Paska
500 ml (2 cups) lukewarm water
30 ml (2 tbsp) sugar
45 ml (3 tbsp) active dry yeast
500 ml (2 cups) scalded milk
250 ml (1 cup) sugar
15 ml (1 tbsp) salt
125 ml (1/2 cup) oil
125 ml (1/2 cup) butter or margarine, melted
6 whole large eggs and 6 egg yolks
3.25 to 3.5 l (13 to 14 cups) flour
Glaze
1 beaten egg
45 ml (3 tbsp) water
5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
In a bowl, mix water, sugar and yeast. Let stand for about 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, place scalded milk; mix in sugar, salt, oil and butter.
Beat eggs until light in colour.
Into a large bowl, measure 1 l (4 cups) of the flour. Add milk mixture and beaten eggs. Mix. Add yeast mixture and beat until smooth. Slowly add remaining flour to make a soft dough, mixing by hand or using a mixer with a dough hook.
Place dough in a large bowl, cover with a tea towel and set in a warm, draft-free place such as an oven with just the light on. Let rise until double in size. Punch down and let rise again until doubled.
Grease 5 to 6 round baking pans with deep sides. Shape half of the dough into round loaves, to fill about 1/3 of each pan. Using the same amount of dough, form into decorative shapes such as braids, twists, ropes and rosettes. Flatten each loaf and moisten lightly before placing the decorations on top. Cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled.
Preheat oven to 160 C (325 F). Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 150 C (300 F) and bake for another 15 minutes until almost done. The bread should look golden but not browned.
In a small bowl, mix egg, water and sugar; brush egg glaze over bread and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned.
Note: If bread is darkening too quickly, cover with moistened brown paper.
Makes 5 to 6 medium-sized loaves.
Babka
500 ml (2 cups) lukewarm water
45 ml (3 tbsp) dry active yeast
45 ml (3 tbsp) sugar
500 ml (2 cups) scalded milk
4 whole large eggs and 8 yolks
250 ml (1 cup) sugar
125 ml (1/2 cup) butter or margarine, melted
125 ml (1/2 cup) oil
15 ml (1 tbsp) salt
5 ml (1 tsp) lemon extract
1 lemon (zest and juice)
1 orange (zest and juice)
2.5 l (about 10 cups) flour
500 ml (2 cups) raisins
Glaze
1 beaten egg
45 ml (3 tbsp) water
5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
Dissolve sugar and yeast in lukewarm water. Let mixture sit until it foams, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine milk, beaten eggs, sugar, butter, oil, salt, lemon extract, juices, zest and yeast mixture. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead in raisins. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until double i n size.
Shape into round loaves and place in tall greased baking pans (coffee tins are ideal). Set loaves in a warm place until almost double in size. Bake in a 180 C (350 F) oven for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 150 C (300 F) and bake for another 15 minutes until almost done. The bread should look golden but not browned.
About 5 to 10 minutes before end of baking, combine egg, water and sugar; brush tops of loaves with egg glaze.
Makes 7 to 8 loaves baked in regular coffee tins. Makes fewer loaves if you use large juice tins, and baking time will be a bit longer.