Pascha Bread

Pascha Bread is a sweet, egg-rich round bread made for Pascha Sunday (Easter.) It is typically blessed in church on Pascha morning and is one of the traditional foods in the Easter Basket. A decorated pascha bread is a stunning centerpiece for your Easter dinner table. At St. Athanasius we took a tried-and-true recipe, Aunt Julia’s Pascha Bread, and improved on it. While we won’t “spill the beans” as to the exact recipe we will tell you about the modifications. Namely,

1. substitute some honey for a portion of the sugar – for flavor, and honey is a natural preservative
2. Add citrus – produces a wonderful aroma and elegant taste
3. Let it rise 3 times before baking – adds depth of flavor but takes longer

Belinda punching down the risen pascha dough

If you don’t have the time to make your own we sell pascha breads at the church. We bake lots of ’em. And it takes some dedication of the volunteers to braid and decorate them. It’s a labor of love for our parishioners and customers.

When making lots of paschas how do you tell which ones have raisins?

Raisin or no raisin?

Answer: We put 3 raisins in the bottom of the container. Why 3? The Trinity!