Chocolate Paska Bread
Paska bread is simply my favorite Easter dessert. I love that it combines two delicious components: cake dough and cheese cream (in large quantities). And then there’s the chocolate. I can eat chocolate cake anytime, and chocolate with cheese…! I never say no.
So why not add a chocolate cake to your Easter table and enjoy beautiful moments with your loved ones.
Paska bread has a long tradition in Central & Eastern Europe, but it is so versatile, the flavors can change every time, transforming the paska bread into something new, yet still traditional. Chocolate lovers will devour it…for sure!
Enjoy this delicious chocolate paska bread recipe!
Chocolate Paska Bread
Ingredients
For the leaven:
- 50 g cake flour
- 50 ml full-fat milk
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 12 g fresh yeast
Cake dough:
- 500 g cake flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 150 ml milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 egg (white and egg yolk)
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 50 g butter
- 1/2 salt
- orange zest
Filling:
- 500 g cheese cream
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 100 ml sweet cream
- 150 g sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
- 1 tablespoon coffee
- 4 large eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
Instructions
How to make CHOCOLATE PASKA BREAD MADE WITH CAKE DOUGH:
Cake Dough
- We start with the leaven. Warm (not hot) milk is mixed with flour, sugar and crushed yeast. Leave to rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Sift the cake flour into a bowl and make a well. Add the two yolks, half of the whole egg, add the sour cream, sugar and mix well together.
- Heat the milk a bit until it becomes warm (not hot).
- Put the leaven in the flour well, then add the yolk mixture and finally the milk. Start kneading the dough until you get a fairly homogeneous composition.
- Add salt, grated orange peel and continue to knead until it is well homogenized.
- At the end, add the soft butter and continue to knead a little until you get an elastic dough that does not stick to your hands. If the dough is too sticky, add a spoonful of flour and knead again until homogeneous.
- We cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel, and leave it to rise for an hour, in a warm place – in the oven with the door closed.
- Make the cake dough with the sponge cake recipe from here, but use half the quantity.
- Let it rise for an hour until it doubles in volume.
Cream
- Melt the dark chocolate over a low heat with the sweet cream and coffee.
- Mix the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla sugar.
- Beat the eggs lightly with a pinch of salt.
- Add the eggs to the cream cheese and mix well until smooth.
- Slowly dribble in the grated and melted chocolate. Mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Prepare a cake pan with removable sides.
- Roll out the cake dough into a round shape larger than the diameter of the pan.
- Place the dough in the pan, covering the bottom and all the way up the sides.
- Pour the cream cheese and chocolate into the pan. Level.
- Brush the dough with beaten egg.
- Place the pan in the heated oven.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until it is brown around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and leave on a cooling tray.
- Divide up the cake as soon as it has cooled completely.
- Serve it with a good appetite and good mood!
Notes
Paska is a popular Ukrainian dessert, but it is also popular in neighboring Moldova (spelled pasca), Romania and as far as Georgia.
