The most important holiday for Orthodox Christians, Easter, is just around the corner.
Most Ukrainians, Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians, will celebrate Easter on May 2, nearly a month after the celebration of Protestants and Roman Catholics. It will be followed by two official holidays on May 3-4, extending the weekend to four days.
For the second year in a row, however, Easter is overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Eleven of Ukraine’s 24 oblasts and Kyiv are now under strict lockdown. The Ukrainian capital will remain under restrictions at least through April 30.
Although churches are allowed to hold the traditional Easter Vigils, the authorities do not recommend attending these mass gatherings. As an alternative, some Ukrainian churches will stream their services online.
Yet the pandemic doesn’t disrupt one of the main Easter traditions: Treating oneself to paska, a traditional Ukrainian Easter bread topped with icing, raisins, nuts and candied fruits.
The capital’s bakeries and cafes are preparing a dizzying array of Easter bread options for all tastes. The Kyiv Post has picked out some of the most enticing offers.
Zigzag
Kyiv restaurant Zigzag has two types of Easter bread on the menu.
Apart from the traditional paska with candied fruits, Zigzag also offers an alternative made with cottage cheese and chocolate. The restaurant’s paskas impress visually, coming covered with white or pink icing and topped with flowers, dried fruits and nuts.
For those who want to bake their own traditional Easter bread this year, Zigzag sells its fresh paska dough for Hr 250. The restaurant has also prepared sets for vegetarian and regular Easter meals that include a paska, a variety of savory foods and a bottle of wine.
Orders should be placed until April 30. They will be delivered on May 1-2.
Paska – Hr 365, Easter set – Hr 1,480-1,670. Takeout from 13 Reitarska St. Taxi delivery available. Order by +38068 385 6551.
Kyiv’s Milk Bar cafe makes a traditional paska, as well as several unusual options including the Easter variation of its popular cake Victoria’s Secret.
Milk Bar
This Easter, the desert-focused cafe Milk Bar offers three types of paska.
Its traditional paska is made with raisins, cranberries, candied oranges and almonds. Among the unusual options is “tres leches,” Easter bread with a milky flavor. The “tres leches” paska also has a creamy filling inside, made of condensed milk, mascarpone cheese and cream.
Victoria’s Secret is another offbeat offer. This paska is a variation of one of Milk Bar’s best-selling cakes of the same name. It also has a creamy filling of mascarpone cheese, raspberry puree and whipped cream. Just like the popular cake, the paska is garnished with pink icing and fresh strawberries on top.
Milk Bar plans to sell paskas on April 23 – May 3, asking customers to place orders no later than two days before the needed date.
Classic paska – Hr 345, tres leches paska – Hr 424, Victoria’s Secret paska – Hr 565. Takeout from Kyiv Food Market (8 Moskovska St.), TsUM (38 Khreshchatyk St.), Milk Bar (16 Shota Rustaveli St.) Delivery in Kyiv is Hr 70. Order at www.milkbar.com.ua/easter.
Kyiv cafe The Cake makes fancy Easter bread for the lovers of unusual flavors. Its choice this year includes a paska topped with the Pavlova cake and the one with salted caramel filling, among others. (The Cake/Facebook)
The Cake
For several years in a row, Kyiv’s The Cake cafe has offered an impressive choice of fancy Easter bread.
Appetizing paska topped with the Pavlova cake — the meringue-like cake filled with plenty of whipped cream and raspberries — is one of the options. Inside, this paska is filled with sweet raspberry filling.
For caramel lovers, The Cake makes a paska with luscious salted caramel filling, covered with icing and caramel popcorn. Another option is paska with poppy seeds, nuts, raisins and passion fruit filling.
The most unusual option is, however, the so-called “Secret Taste” paska: The taste of this Easter bread remains a secret to those who order it until the first bite, the cafe says.
All paskas by The Cake are available in two sizes. The Cake also offers glazed Easter eggs filled with vanilla, chocolate and caramel mousse. The cafe will deliver its paskas on April 26 – May 3. Orders should be placed in advance.
Secret taste paska – Hr 350-600, all other paskas – Hr 300-500, chocolate eggs set – Hr 210. 5 Velyka Vasylkivska St. Delivery in Kyiv is Hr 100. Free delivery for orders over Hr 2,000. Order at www.theeaster.chooice.app.
Kyiv bakery Good Bread From Good People has a choice of three paskas this year: almond, orange and lavender.
Good Bread From Good People
Good Bread From Good People is the first bakery in Ukraine that employs people with mental disabilities.
The bakery offers three types of paska. Almond paska is filled with dried apricots and lemon zest, covered with icing, almond flakes and colorful meringue. Orange-flavored paska is made with raisins, cranberries, candied fruit, and garnished with icing and slices of dried oranges. Lavender-flavored paska comes with orange zest, purple icing and meringue.
The bakery also offers to do good by paying for paskas that will be given out to homeless people in Kyiv. The price for charitable paska is Hr 400. The bakery aims to raise money for 400 paskas this year and deliver them to the homeless on May 1.
Paska – Hr 500-650. 19 Kovalskyi Ln. Delivery in Kyiv is Hr 90, free for orders over Hr 1,000. Order at www.goodbread.com.ua.
The March & Co bakery offers a wreath-shaped paska in several variations. (March & Co)
March & Co
March & Co is another Kyiv bakery that offers an opportunity to help others this Easter. For every paska they sell, March & Co will bake another one for free and donate it to the Starenki (Seniors) charitable foundation that takes care of retirees in need. In 2020, the bakery donated 230 paskas to Starenki. It hopes to bake more this year.
March & Co offers a wreath-shaped paska in several variations. One comes with milky nut filling, dried cherries and cranberries, adorned with marshmallow glaze and crispy meringue. Another one has the same filling but is decorated with salted caramel, nuts and dried fruits. An alternative choice is Italian sweet bread panettone made with almond crust, raisins and dried pears.
The customers of March & Co can choose to decorate their paska by themselves at home. The paska will be delivered plain but with material for garnishing on the side: gingerbread cookies and colorful glazing. Orders should be placed until April 26.
Paska – Hr 450, panettone – Hr 380-520. 41 Viacheslava Chornovola St. Delivery in Kyiv is Hr 80 for orders over Hr 500. Delivery by Nova Poshta available. Order at www.march-and-co.com/easter.
Bassano Dolceteka’s paskas come covered with icing or glaze.
Bassano Dolceteka
The Bassano Dolceteka cafe sells some of the most unusual paskas, perfect for cheese lovers, made with ricotta, fresh orange zest, candied fruits and nuts.
Apart from that, their menu features traditional paska with candied fruits and an Easter bread with salted caramel and peanuts. Another option here is paska topped with icing, chocolate eggs and gingerbread cookies. In addition to paskas, Bassano has a wide choice of Easter eggs made of the finest Belgian chocolate.
Paska – Hr 275-585. 100 Velyka Vasylkivska St. 8/14 Velyka Zhytomyrska St. Taxi delivery. Order at +380 44 237 7991.
Kyiv restaurant 100 Years Ahead bakes two kinds of paska this year, including the one with dried cranberries infused with cognac, topped with meringue and wheat ears.
100 Years Ahead
This restaurant says it uses a special recipe that makes its paskas very soft.
Serving traditional Ukrainian cuisine with a twist, 100 Years Ahead offers two types of Easter bread. One is made with dried cranberries infused with cognac, topped with meringue and wheat ears. It is available in two sizes.
Another option is the offbeat paska with materynka, Ukrainian seasoning similar to oregano that gives a fresh flavor. With creamy white chocolate inside, this paska is covered with snow-white meringue.
The restaurant also offers Easter meals that include various dishes in addition to a paska.
Paska – Hr 250-400. Easter set – Hr 1,050-1,200. 4 Volodymyrska St. Delivery by Nova Poshta. Order at www.100rokiv.com.ua/easter-kiev.
The Rawlands cafe makes two types of gluten-free paskas, both made of cashew nuts, coconut and cocoa butter.
The Rawlands
Those on a vegan diet can try paskas from The Rawlands cafe.
It makes two types of gluten-free paskas, both made of cashew nuts, coconut and cocoa butter. One is a chocolate paska filled with cherries and adorned with chocolate and freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries. The other is an exotic vanilla paska with passion fruit and mango, which comes garnished with fresh passion fruit and berries.
Paska – Hr 750. 16V Yasnohirska St. Free delivery for orders over Hr 700 on Kyiv’s right bank and for orders over Hr 1,000 on the left bank. Delivery by taxi available. Order at www.therawlands.com/shop/easter.
The Madame Josy cafe offer Easter bread that combines Ukrainian and French culinary traditions.
Madame Josy
Madame Josy cafe blends Ukrainian and French traditions in its Easter bread recipe.
The cafe’s French brioche paska has a soft texture and a sweet buttery flavor. It is baked with dried cranberries and cherries, homemade candied oranges and lemon zest. It comes covered with icing and topped off with freeze-dried raspberries, chopped pistachios and a pink bird-shaped gingerbread cookie.
Madame Josy also offers a “paska for kids,” which is the smaller version of the French brioche one. It is adorned with meringue, slices of dried oranges and a yellow bird-shaped gingerbread cookie. The cafe also sells unusual Easter eggs covered with bright-colored chocolate and filled with brownie or pistachio sponge cake.
Orders should be placed as early as possible and will be delivered on April 29.
French brioche paska – Hr 425, kids’ paska – Hr 149, chocolate eggs set – Hr 249. 4A Borysa Hrinchenka St. Delivery within 20 kilometers from the restaurant is free. Delivery further in Kyiv is Hr 50-250. Order at www.madamejosy.com/happy.
