A staple of any hunky (I use this term in the kindest way as I love being part Ukranian and adore all the cooking and traditions I've learned from my heritage!) kitchen is making the traditional Easter bread, paska.
Being part Ukranian/Polish, I grew up eating some of the best foods. One of my all-time favorites was the bread we ate at Easter time. Paska bread is easy to make for those who feel they are not good at baking bread. It has a rich cake-like but still bread texture and makes some of the best toast and french toast out there! Spead it with butter and/or jam and enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea. You won't want to stop eating it!
Tools you'll need:
Oven preheated to 350 degrees to start.
A large mixing bowl
A small sauce pot
A whisk
Mixing spoon
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Two cake pans
Two dish towels
Liquid measuring glass
Ingredients:
2 Cups whole milk
1 Cup (two sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup (plus a little more) granulated sugar
4 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 packets (4.5 tsp) quickrise dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
9-10 cups (plus more for kneading) all-purpose white flour
6 large eggs
1 Tbs salt
Instructions:
If you're like me, you hate reading recipe blog sites, because they write a fricking novel. I will spare you... I'll only include what I think you need to know.
Of course I could write a novel on my adventures cooking, but I know you're here for the recipe more than anything else. So here goes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small sauce pan, put two cups of whole milk on medium heat to scald. Not sure what scalded milk is? Let the milk start to bubble on the sides and build a film across the top. It should NOT boil. Once scalded, add the two sticks of butter and granulated sugar. Stir and keep on medium-low heat until the butter is melted.
While the milk is scalding, in your large bowl, place the 1/2 cup of warm water and the packets of yeast. The biggest thing here is the water needs to be warm. If it is hot, you can kill the yeast. If it is too cold, the yeast won't activate. Use the whisk to stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add 5 whole eggs and then the sixth egg, separate the egg from the yolk. The yolk goes in with the yeast mixture, the white can be set aside for later. Then add the vanilla and the salt. Use the whisk to beat the mixture until it is smooth and combined.
Once the butter is melted. Use a spoon or a small measuring cup and slowly add to the yeast and egg mixture while stirring it constantly. If you add too much too soon, it'll coddle the eggs... which will mean you'll have cooked egg chunks floating... We don't want that! Add the mixture slowly while stirring. Once all is added, then slowly add the 9-10 cups of flour. If the dough is still super wet and sticky, add more flour 1/4 cup at a time.
When the dough is stiff enough, flour a surface and dump the dough out to be kneaded. You will knead the dough until it is no longer sticky, but is satiny and bubbly. Keep adding flour as needed to accomplish this. Kneading usually takes about 10 ish minutes. Kneading is important. Not kneaded enough or kneaded too much will make the dough not a fluffy consistency. Kneading releases the gluten protein to give the dough its elasticity.
When dough is ready, place back in the mixing bowl and cover with a dish towel dampened with warm water. Sit on top of the preheated stove to rise for 1 hour. Don't place it too close to the heat coming out of the top or the dough will start cooking in the bowl. Too far away and it won't rise.
After the dough has approximately doubled in size (about 1 hour or a little more), punch it down, dump out on the counter and cut into two equal sizes with a sharp knife. Shape each into a smooth ball. You may wish to cut off a piece to form into a braid of some sort, but it is not necessary. Place each ball into a greased and floured cake pan. Cover each pan with dampened dish towels and place back on the stove to rise for another 45 minutes. While they are rising, change the oven temp to 400 degrees.
When the 45 minutes is up, take the saved egg white, mix in about 2 tbs water and 2tbs sugar and whisk until mixed. Then brush the tops of the loaves with the egg wash. Place each pan in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then lower the oven temp to 350 and continue for another 30 or so minutes. You will know the bread is done when it's golden brown and sounds hollow when you knock on the top. Careful not to over cook as when you pull it out of the oven, it will continue to cook for a few minutes. I personally prefer mine slightly undercooked because I like the texture to be a bit doughy.
When the bread is ready to come out, let it sit for about 10 minutes or so on the stove, then carefully remove them from the pan and let cool on a cooling rack. Slice and serve with butter and/or jam! Yum! Makes amazing toast and french toast... just saying ;-). Mangia!
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