Paska

Paska is a festive rich bread, the heart of the Ukrainian Easter. It is baked from a rich yeasted dough of eggs, butter, milk, and sugar, often with the addition of raisins, saffron, or zest, and shaped tall and cylindrical.

Baking a paska is a true ritual surrounded by traditions and beliefs: the dough was set in silence and good spirits, and a successful, tall paska was considered a good omen for the family. The top of a paska is decorated with crosses, “cones,” birds, and other symbols made of dough, and after baking it is often covered with a whipped-egg-white icing and coloured sprinkles. On Easter night the paska, together with pysanky (painted eggs), is carried to church to be blessed, and then the festive meal begins with it. Paska is not just a bake but a symbol of resurrection, renewal, and family unity.