Thanks to Jacquelyn I DID IT, I baked PASKA!!!!

Those of you that read Facebook might recall the conversation where Lori, miss bragger, posted she had 4 Paska loaves in the oven.  She IS The Queen baker in our family, that's for sure.
Oh Menschenskinder. I would love to bake Paska, actually eat it, terrified to bake it, but I would have to bake it to eat it, since cannot buy any here at a church basement sale or anywhere.
So I commented on Lori's FB post, no sense baking some just for me, or something like that.
THEN, comes Miss Jacquelyn and comments on Lori's Paska post, she would help me eat it, and so there I am on the hook. The pressure and mostly huge honour and privilege was for me to bake Paska.
No better reason than for someone special as a niece, also away from home and perhaps wanting something familiar. Better yet baking something that her Mom bakes for her family, that I could have her enjoy here. Yep I was going to bake Paska.

Lori sent me her recipe and after clarifying a few things for me for example, what one package of pudding meant in Canada for may not be the same as here and wasn't. One pkg in Canada is 95g, here 72.5 grams.

Still not feeling sure of myself, kicking myself for not having baked Paska decades ago. Why didn't I just learn this when I lived with Mennos?  I probably could have learned it with those Vernicke Women from church or if lived in B.C. been at MGCC Paska cooking lesson, but oh no. I decide to bake Paska when I am miles away, from any help.
Oh stop your whining, you can do it, Lori is only a phone call away. Besides all you need is her recipe, good common sense, some confidence and well some helpful tips from a blog, for there is no calling Lori, now she is sleeping.
For extra assurance I decide to also follow along a recipe I saw on one of the personal blogs from a cook from MGCC blog. I notice it is really much the same as Lori's except no pudding mix, but aha, someone commented on MGCC's cook's recipe that they too add pudding.  Ok so there I was with my laptop and Lori's recipe on the kitchen table, I was set to go. Following both of their instructions as if it was no fail if I follow two people's instructions, I get started.

Uh-oh I am already doomed, my first yeast mix looks funny, clumpy.
Start again, oh dear I have just enough yeast, how can 4 pkgs of Dr. Oetker's Hefe, be just enough? In fact I was half a teaspoon short. I shook all the remains from each little pkg, making sure each little yeast molecule got in, my mix.  Please poof up, like the recipe calls for. It did, it poofed. Yeah!

Next problem the stickiness. How sticky is not too sticky? Lori's recipe says, "can be still quite sticky"
Lovella's, on What matters most blog, ok we are not on first name basis but that is her name.
She says, "the dough will never really lose its stickiness, if it does it is too hard".
Ok follow that.
Lori what about kneading, till when? How many times?
Check Lovella, she uses her machine ok that is what I will do, use your dough hook, how long till when?
Oh dear missed the part about. "until elastic and manageable"
Did I just let the machine go till I thought it was fine? Dumb C.a.b!
Too late now it is in the bowl to rise. Please rise, Dr. Oetker Hefe, don't let me down. Gelingt sicher, it says on the package, ok you better. Did I buy the right yeast? Is there a wrong kind?

How to cover, Lori? I am not a bread maker, you need to tell me everything or at least it's been a long long time and those were from a package, it said how long to do everything.
Lovella's advice. Cover with plastic wrap. Well that was a disaster, speaking of sticky, it did not roll out just stuck to itself. After fighting with it, I gave up.
I used a teatowel that is what my mom used when she baked Zwieback, that is what I am going to use.

An hour and a half later, I checked the dough. It did rise, for sure doubled if not more, I am so relieved.

Punch down Lori says, hah that was the best part, poof the whole thing collapsed. Oh dear I hope this was supposed to happen, and this is way too sticky for I cannot handle this and put into forms it is stuck all over my fingers.
Oh no, now I for sure added too much flour just to handle, doesn't feel sticky anymore.
Too late in forms it is, but it multiplied like crazy, for I have way too much dough here.

Anything larger than muffin size baking always is unpredictable in my oven. Takes twice as long or simply doesn't get done in the middle. I am now going to attempt to bake something with yeast in my oven? That is why I thought of the MGCC Paska posting for I was sure when I glanced at the blog, they used muffin tins. That's perfect for me and my oven.

The fact that I learned that my mother in law and three of her friends, that our great bakers, never bake with yeast for they have no good results, is not encouraging to me, I thought when I told them I was going to attempt an Osterbrot type of bread. I think about this now as my dough looks funny. It certainly isn't smooth looking. Ok you can tell where I struggled to get it off of my fingers.

Oh well in put in one small loaf pan and a muffin tin, and I guess two small springforms, I don't know what else to bake it in. Have no coffee tin. See what happens, let sit another 1.5 hours.

Went grocery shopping came back and Va whoom..... for sure doubled in size again, was it supposed to? I see now Lori's notes say yes, but what did I do?
I phoned her in a panic. Hilfe!!! It's little sister calling, I need help. 7:45 her time, she's still home, "um I have a question, my loaf is so huge it looks already baked, should I leave it like that or try and divide up?"
"Really so much."she says.
Uh-oh that's not good I think.
"Leave it" she says. Ok I did.
"If it turns out I will post it" I say, so you can check and see.

Here is the result.

When I got to icing the round loaves I had already tested and then eaten three small "Paska buns" with butter. When K came home and he tested one and ate three. Now there are only five left for breakfast or Faspa to have with butter and jam. Almost too bad he likes them, for now there's less for me and Jacquelyn, ha ha. No really I am glad, actually really happy he actually likes something I baked, and something I baked with yeast and is a Canadian, even Mennonite recipe. It is a good day.  Good thing now that it turned out, that even with half a recipe I have double of what I expected to bake. Ok I know the round forms look odd and all wrinkly from the Backpapier.
I guess it doesn't rise much while baking does it? Perhaps I should have put more in the muffin forms, so it would have made a dome? But then MGCC said only a walnut size and that isn't very much.
So let me know Lori, or anyone what I should have done differently.

I had to put icing on some already, I was so excited to make it complete with sprinkles, Zucker confetti it is here. I made a butter icing and added some cream cheese and lemon zest.
I actually did not like Paska when I was a kid I only ate it at Oma's so that I could smother it with icing, that was the best part of Paska. It was a wonderful tradition.
The loaf I will not put icing on for I like to just have it plain and toasted with butter.

Thank you, Lori, MGCC and most importantly Jacquelyn for if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have known that I too can bake Paska, even here in good old Germany, even with my difficult oven and totally different climate. I did it.

You know what the really crazy thing was, it was 25°C today and the same or more in the house. Keeping the blinds closed, wearing sandals and shorts and a sleeveless top I was baking Easter Paska in April in good old Germany. It will be a day to remember.

You can come over anytime sweetie, the Paska is ready.

Thank you that because of you, I finally baked Paska! 

What a special day it will be when we two Mennos eat Paska.

Oh but, for sure. 

I hope it taste just like your Mom's.