Paska

My family is Mennonite...its a little hard to explain...if you really wanta know check out this site.  Or google it.  Or you could probably just ask.  Little know Crazy J fact, I attended Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, BC for a year after High School.  I have faint recollections of a class that taught us what being a "Mennonite" means.

Anyways, there's a reason for all this wordiness, one of our Mennonite traditions is baking Paska at Easter.  Paska is a sweet bread that we smother with icing and sprinkles.  I give my Grandma Baerg credit for making paska every year, but I thought we need another paska baker in the family so I went on a 'paska recipe' hunt.  I made my first batch last week using my Oma's recipe...it turned out...well...ok.  I was actually pretty impressed with myself UNTIL I went to Chilliwack this weekend and was reminded of what paska SHOULD taste like.  Anyways, lets say my Oma is a wee bit stubborn, and I'm proud to say I'm a wee bit like her...I will keep at it until I get it right.

I learned a few things on this adventure...first, baking paska takes FOREVER...you mix, and then you let rise...and then you mix some more, and let rise...and then you punch it down, and you let it rise...and then you put the dough in pans/tins and then you guessed it, you let it rise...AGAIN.  Actually, that's the second thing I learned...the last rising step IS important...but it was like 10pm at that point and I just wanted to get to bed already!  Third, you gotta knead the crap outta paska dough...I thought I was gonna kill my Kitchen Aid.  Forth...well, I'm still a little puzzled about this one but my icing didn't turn out...I have an idea what happened though.  Finally...I already knew this, my oven is hot...gets me every time!  Silly girl!

AND...after all that work, I never took a picture of what it looks like with the 'fixins'...but here is a picture of what good paska should look like.