One of the most important roles in the celebration of Easter is reserved for Easter. Like the holiday itself, baking has an ancient origin and symbolizes the heavenly kingdom and resurrection, unity with God. Let's learn a few secrets that will help you prepare a delicious paska.
One of the most important roles in the celebration of Easter is assigned to Easter . Like the holiday itself, baking has an ancient origin and symbolizes the heavenly kingdom and resurrection, unity with God.
Despite the fact that baking a good paska is not an easy task, it is still possible to conquer the dough , which has long been known for its temperament. Of course, it is easier to just buy a belt in a store. However, many housewives do not like this idea, because the taste and aroma of homemade baking cannot be compared with anything. And the process itself, especially if the whole family participates in it, is no less important than the final result.
Let's learn a few secrets that will help you prepare a delicious paska .
One of the bright features of the dough for paska is its high quality: it is seasoned with a large number of eggs, butter and sugar. In addition, raisins, candied fruit, and zest are added to the paska . Spices are often added to the dough : cardamom, saffron, vanilla, cloves, which enrich the overall aroma with pleasant notes. However, you should not get carried away by them: spices should not dominate the general aromatic range, but should be its complement. It should also be taken into account that all the products selected for the preparation of paska must be of exceptional quality and fresh.
Eggs, butter and sugar should be introduced into the dough gradually , because the yeast may not cope with the load, and the dough will not rise. We remind you once again that the temperature regime is extremely important for obtaining good belts . That is, all manipulations with the dough should be carried out in a warm place, at a temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius. It must be remembered that even drafts can damage traps . At the same time, the heat source should not be located from below, otherwise the dough will not rise up, but will grow in width, both when approaching and during baking. Dough for beltsshould fit 3 times. First, the dough should rise, then the dough mixed with all the additives . It is necessary to knead the dough for a long time, until it does not easily fall behind the hands and dishes. For the last time, the paska fits already in a form, which is filled with dough to ⅓ of the volume (maximum ⅔), and put in the oven when the mass rises and occupies ¾ of the dish. By the way, it is at this moment that the dough is most vulnerable, and therefore needs serious care: do not allow drafts.
In ancient times, bucket molds were used for baking strips , and today - special cylindrical molds made of thin tin or, as an alternative, aluminum pans. Also, silicone or disposable paper molds have recently become increasingly popular due to their ease of use. You should not use very bulky dishes (more than 1-1.5 l), since the dough may not be baked in modern gas or electric stoves. It should be remembered that before sending the paska to the oven, the latter must be well warmed up. You should put the pastry very carefully, at the same time you can't knock on the door - otherwise the dough will fall. Pastries are bakedat a temperature of 180-200 degrees, the duration of baking varies from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours - it depends on the weight of the baking . You can check the readiness of the pastry with a toothpick or a wooden stick: if the dough sticks to it, it means that the pastry is still raw. It is also necessary to remove the finished pasques from the oven carefully , and remove them from the mold when they have cooled down a little. Then the strips can be decorated with glaze.
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All work with the dough should be done in a warm room without drafts, otherwise the dough will not rise.
It is better to use live, rather than dry, yeast for kneading the dough for strips , as it gives a more active fermentation process. If there is no live yeast, it can be replaced with dry yeast marked "active".
Since the dough for paska is quite heavy, it needs to be kneaded for a long time: then it is saturated with oxygen and becomes airy. For the same purpose, flour is sifted before mixing. Alcohol adds fluffiness to the dough - dark rum or good cognac.
In order for the paska to turn out aromatic, you can add candied fruit, zest, vanilla, spices to the dough , and egg yolks for a pleasant yellowish shade of the dough . If the egg yolk is not very bright, then the dough can be tinted with saffron.
After kneading the dough, it should be left for about 30 minutes in a warm place. Heat activates the fermentation process - the foam should increase in volume by 2 times. After that, you can start kneading the dough .
The finished dough should be covered with a napkin and also put in a warm place. When it has increased in volume by 3 times, the dough should be kneaded again and spread into greased molds, filling them with dough to a third of the volume. Leave the molds with the dough again in a warm place.
You should start baking the strips only after the dough has increased in volume again and almost completely (not reaching 5 cm to the edge) fills the molds. Then you can put the strips in an oven heated to 180 degrees. When baking strips , it is better to open the oven as little as possible, otherwise the dough may fall. During baking, the paska can be sprinkled with water or treated with steam - this will fix its shape.
You can check the readiness of the dough with a wooden stick (toothpick) or by weight - the finished pastry will be much lighter than the raw one. Paskas will be completely ready only the next day after baking.