04/09/2026
My dear ones! I’d like to ask you something else— something about “Easter breads.”
Historically, in Galicia (with some spread into Volhyn and Bukovyna), there were three types of Easter bread: p***a, kalach, and babka.
P***as and kalach were made from almost the same yeast dough (typically using about 10 eggs). Pasky are round, while kalachi are braided and can be round, elongated, or baked in flat pans. P***as are baked specifically for Easter, whereas kalach are ceremonial breads prepared for various occasions—Easter, Christmas, weddings, and baptism.
Babkas, on the other hand, are much richer baked goods. They were made with 30–40, sometimes even up to 60 eggs (large amount of dough). They can be prepared from different types of dough, are always sweeter than p***a, and contain generous amounts of dried fruits, spices, and aromatic ingredients.
P***a were baked in special molds, while babas were baked in thick-walled, glazed clay molds, sometimes with a hole in the center, giving them a wreath-like shape.
In some regions, there is also a tradition of making cheese babkas—unbaked desserts made from sweetened farmer’s cheese, pressed into special molds and prepared ahead of Easter.
In general, in Galicia it was not customary to cover pasky with white sugar icing, unlike Russian kulich, which is typically topped with a white glaze. Instead, pasky were decorated with dough ornaments: crosses (a symbol of endurance), little doves birds with folded wings (longevity), braids and wheat motifs (harvest), infinity patterns, and other designs whose symbolism often echoes that of pysanky. Babka may be covered with any icing used for cakes,” while kalachi could be “sprinkled with sliced almonds, coarse sugar, and cinnamon.”
And now, my question: Do your mom, grandma or you bake p***as, babkas or kalach here? Is there a difference in their sweetness or purpose? Do you glaze them or decorate them with braids? Perhaps there are unique traditions—for example, I know that in some places whole eggs are baked into babas.
On the photos p***as, babkas and kalach I baked this year and years before.
