Sourdough Pascha Bread for Your Pascha Basket
Great and Holy PASCHA (Easter) is the Feast of Feasts. Our entire Liturgical and spiritual life is centered around this momentous and life-saving day. If you’re an Orthodox Christian and you’ve been to a Pascha service, you know what I’m talking about. But if you’ve never attended a Pascha service or entered into the joyous season of Pascha, I encourage you to go all in!
There’s really no way to properly describe the walk of Great Lent, Holy Week, and then the celebration of PASCHA. So please, come and see!
As Orthodox Christians, we have many different ways of celebrating feasts and each jurisdiction has its own (t)raditions that are incorporated into the Tradition of the Church. One in particular is the practice of bringing a Pascha basket to the Midnight Paschal service filled with eggs, meat, cheese, and sweets (all the things we’ve have been fasting from) to have them blessed. Then some churches have an Agape meal – yes, even at midnight – and break the fast together.
It’s glorious! All of it. The joy is palpable, and everyone shares in the feast of feasts.
So if making a Pascha Basket is something you’re interested in, read on for a little behind-the-scenes look at what each piece represents and then check out my recipe for Sourdough Pascha bread! You’ll get all the yummy richness of traditional Ukrainian Paska bread but with some gut fortifying support.
Let’s go!
Traditional Pascha Basket for Orthodox Christians
The Pascha Basket originates from the Slavic (Russian) Churches but has made its way into many American parishes because of the blending of traditions. You don’t have to stick to this list – you can add all the goodies you’ve been fasting from – but this traditional list of Pascha Basket goodies is a good place to start.
Kh. Destiny, of The Ascetic Life of Motherhood, has a very detailed blog post with many different recipes for each piece.
First, you’ll need a basket. Your local thrift store is a great option, or a new basket from the store. Just make sure it’s sturdy and there’s enough room to hold all your treats.
Next up, some sort of sweet bread. Traditional Paska Breads are filled with eggs, milk, butter, and sugar. These include Paska, Kulich, and Tsoureki. My sourdough recipe below is an adapted Ukrainian Paska bread recipe.
Then eggs, which represent new life coming forth from a single egg, as Christ rose from the tomb. We also include red dyed eggs because of the miracle with St. Mary Magdalene and the emperor. Some traditions decorate their eggs using Pysanky, which is a beautiful and delicate tradition.
Paska Cheese is both sweet and mild and is meant to remind us that moderation is an important part of the Christian life.
Now for my favorite: MEAT! This includes bacon, sausage, pork (or any meat you want to include). Meat symbolizes the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament. Sausage, which is spicy, garlicky, and delicious, is meant to remind us of God’s favor and generosity. Bacon symbolizes the overabundance of God’s mercy, and ham symbolizes Pascha's joy and abundance!
Butter reminds us of the goodness of Christ. It’s often put into a butter mold shaped like a lamb to remember that Christ is the good shepherd.
Salt is for “the salt of the Earth” from Matthew 5:13 and reminds us that the Christian life is necessary for all people.
Bitter herbs are included to remind us of Christ’s passion, and though we are meant to celebrate His resurrection, it was not without sacrifice.
Wine shows us that God can take any ordinary thing and make it holy, as seen in Holy Communion.
A Candle, traditionally decorated with ribbons, flowers, or jewels, allows us to receive the Light of Christ, which comes only on Great and Holy Pascha.
And then you finish off your basket with a Pascha Basket Cover, which is simply a decorated cloth. Draw Near Designs and a few Etsy shops sell them, or even a handmaid cover is appropriate.
And there you have it! A traditional Pascha basket can include all of these items, but don’t forget you can choose whatever you like to break the fast and still call it an Orthodox Pascha Basket.
Read on for my sourdough Pascha bread recipe!
Why Sourdough?
I’m not going to go into the full benefits of sourdough here, but I’d like to briefly address why I choose sourdough. One, because I love the flavor, and two, because it takes the nutrients and makes them more digestible! So a solid win-win.
Sourdough is also the way bread has been rising for thousands of years before commercial yeast was introduced to the market, and I just love the process of working with it.
Let me know what you think of this sourdough Pascha bread recipe! I’d love to see your creations.
Sourdough Pascha Bread Recipe
Ingredients
2 room-temperature eggs
½ cup active sourdough
½ cup sugar
2.5 sticks of butter
⅔ cup whole milk
5-6 cups flour
Neutral oil for lining the pan and brushing on top of the bread after baking
I use a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, but this could be done by hand; it will simply require more muscle. 💪
Cream together:
2 eggs
Sugar
2 sticks of butter
While the cream mixture is stirring, melt the remaining ½ stick of butter.
Add sourdough starter and milk to the cream mixture.
Slowly add 5 cups of flour to the cream mixture.
Add melted butter to the flour mixture.
Add the remaining cup of flour, ¼ cup at a time, until you reach a soft, elastic texture, not sticky.
Knead the dough until it passes the “window pane” test approximately. 8-10 minutes in a stand mixer or perform stretch and folds every 30 minutes for two hours, for a total of 4 stretch and folds.
Shape the dough into a ball and lightly coat it with oil, so it doesn’t stick to the bowl while rising.
Place the dough ball in a bowl, cover it with a wet towel or plastic wrap, and allow it to rise in a warm place until it doubles in size. (This differs from yeast bread because it might take longer depending on your home's temperature.)
Once the bread has doubled, shape the loaf as desired. You can split the dough into smaller loaves or leave it as one large loaf.
Place the shaped loaf in your baking pan – I used a spring-loaded cake pan – cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge overnight to for the bulk ferment.
The next morning, take the dough out, let it come to room temperature, and rise till soft and puffy (approx. 2-4 hours).
Once the bread has risen, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Once the oven is preheated, bake your bread for 45-60 minutes (depending on the size of your loaf). The bread is done when it has a golden brown color, makes a hollow sound when tapped, and the internal temperature is 190-200 degrees.
Once the bread is out, lightly coat it with neutral oil like avocado oil — butter gives a cloudy film — and let the bread cool 10-15 minutes before removing it from your pan.
I pray you have a blessed and Holy Pascha! Please let me know how your bread turns out and don’t forget to share with your friends!
In Christ,
Kh. Cathryn
