Maka’s paska recipe comes from her mother’s handwritten notebook collection, although it was her aunt Natela who was the family paska master. Neither Maka’s mother nor grandmother made paska – it was an unusual thing to make during Soviet times, although you could find it in bakeries and grocery stores. Maka has fond memories of Cafe “Francia” in the Vake neighborhood, which specialized in cakes and sweets and had good paska, too.

Every year, Maka rolls up her sleeves and with her oldest cousin makes enough paskas for three families. She says the routine is always the same: After they finish baking they relax and tell each other that next year they will take it easy and just buy paskas, which of course never happens. Not even this year.

10 eggs

150-200 gr active dry yeast

2 lt milk

1.5 kg white sugar

500 gr butter

200 gr sour cream

4-5 kg all purpose wheat flour

1 package (5gr) vanilla/ vanilla sugar

1.5 tsp nutmeg powder

1.5 tsp cardamom powder

Zest from 2 medium lemons

2-3 tablespoons cognac or vodka

300 gr raisins (white and dark)

300 gr different kinds of candied fruits

Step One

Mix the nutmeg, cardamom powder, lemon zest, vanilla, cognac. Adjust to your preferred taste. This can be prepared one day before baking.

Step Two

Soak raisins in warm water so they can rise, about 20 minutes. Then allow them to dry. Cut candied fruits into small pieces.

Step Three

Separately dissolve 150-200 gr active dry yeast with ½ cup of sugar and 1 tea cup of warm milk, add several tablespoons of flour. Mix everything well with a wooden spoon, cover and put in a warm place until the mixture is bubbly and has doubled in size.

Step Four

In the meantime, stir in the beaten eggs with rest of the sugar, melted butter, and the remaining warm milk along with the sour cream. Stir well with a mixer. Add the mass of bubbled dough and alcohol mixture. Slowly add the flour, making a soft and gentle dough. Cover and put in a warm place to allow it to rise until doubled (usually around 30-40 minutes) After the dough rises, knead it with oiled hands adding a little flour until the flour disappears in the dough and allow the dough to rise again (approx. 30 minutes). After the dough rises again, knead again and add raisins and candied fruits until they are evenly mixed into the dough. Divide the dough into different pieces (depending on the size of the molds/forms you have) and put into the molds. The dough must fill 1/3 of the form. Allow it to rise in a warm place again until it fills 2/3 of the form.

Step Five

Preheat the oven to 170-175 degrees C. Brush the tops with a mixture of egg yolk and milk. Bake for about an hour until the loaves are a deep brown color. They should be dry inside, which you can check with a toothpick or stick. Once they are done, dust with powdered sugar or decorate it with a glaze.

Note: In Georgia, you can buy paper molds for paska at supermarkets. In the 1990s, during countrywide shortages, we reused metal pea or cucumber cans lined with parchment paper. The idea is that the molds have tall edges.