This brioche like sweet Easter bread, glazed with a simple sugar icing or melted white chocolate, aka Kulich or Paska in Russian and Ukrainian, is always the biggest hit at holiday brunches!
Try this Kulich recipe with another Russian Easter favourite Sweet Cheese Pudding Paskha. 
I feel an incredible pull of tradition every year when Easter comes around. No matter how busy I am, the need to cook, bake and colour eggs overpowers everything else.
I’ve written about Easter tradition of egg colouring. And if you’ve been following me for a while, you know that Easter is the biggest holiday in the Orthodox tradition, which is influential across Eastern Europe, whether people are Orthodox or not. Everyone celebrates Easter.
What is Russian Easter bread?
It’s called Kulich and also Paska. It is a sweet bread, that is ubiquitous in Russian and Ukrainian households around Easter. It’s an unbreakable tradition, like hot cross buns in other parts of the world.
Its sweet, rich and buttery yellow-coloured flesh studded with all kinds of great things like golden raisins, candied citrus peel, almonds. It’s what I want to stuff my face all the time.
If I were to compare it to anything I would say it’s a cross between Italian Panettone and French Brioche. It has the same light and fluffy texture with a wonderful amount of sweetness.
How to make it
My grandma would start the dough the night before, let it rise overnight and wake up well before dawn to make all kinds of goodies. Sweet and savoury filled pastries, cinnamon buns and Kulich.
Waking up to the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread is one of my favourite childhood memories. And I hope to pass them onto my children.
My grannie’s baking was the best, none of my friends’ grandmothers came even close to her greatness. Unfortunately, she never wrote down any recipes, and some of the most traditional recipes, which she was the keeper of, got lost with her passing.
Because of such high expectations, only heightened by my nostalgic memories, I never thought I would like another Kulich. However, I wanted to revive the tradition in my own family, so I went on a recipe hunt.
I spent a while searching in hopes to find one that resembled my grandma’s. Truth is, I was only a child and didn’t remember how grandma made the bread.
But I’ve managed to develop my rendition of the recipe. I’ve lost count how many Kuliches I baked to strike the perfect balance of a sweet and tender flesh, which also has enough structure to rise tall and proud.This recipe took me years to develop. It may not be exactly the same as my grandma’s, but it’s close!
I did add a few twists of my own. Firstly, I used chocolate chips instead of the traditional raisins and I topped it with melted white chocolate instead of sugar glaze. I also included saffron according to 19th century baking traditions.
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If you make bread or cinnamon rolls, making this Easter bread recipe will not be too different for you. It takes a whole day because it consists to 3 stages. Nonetheless, none of them are time consuming or difficult. 
What pan to use for Kulich
Kulich is baked to be a very tall bread, so large coffee cans are often used in Russia to create that traditional shape. However, I bake mine in a deep 8 inch cake pan or specially made moulds.
You can also order special pans and moulds, that are made for the Italian Panettone to bake yours. I got mine on Amazon.
Decorating tips
Traditionally Kulich is covered with a simple sugar glaze made with a mix of icing sugar and water. My grandmother poured a combination of beaten egg white and sugar, which hardened and turned glossy.
I personally prefer using melted white chocolate to top my Easter bread. Sometimes I like to keep it unglazed and pipe the traditional Orthodox lettering on it.
XB, are the initials, which stands for Christ is Risen in Russian. It’s the phrase you will hear people say to each other all day long. Powerful words that replace ‘hello’ for the day!
Usually our first loaf disappears within a couple of hours. Thank God the recipe makes 3! That means you can indulge before the day knowing that your Easter table will be crowned with this gorgeous bread, that’s been enjoyed by generations of others before us.
Happy Easter!
Recipe tips and notes
- When starting on this recipe make sure to read the instructions all the way through to fully understand what ingredients and equipment are required.
- The classic shape of this bread is narrow and tall. I mean it’s even taller than Italian Panettone. Large coffee cans were used by older generations. However, you can successfully use panettone moulds, available online. You can also search for Paska or Kulich moulds on Amazon if you want them beautifully decorated like mine.
- I’ve also successfully used a regular pan with high sides for my Kulich. I don’t want you to be put off by the speciality moulds. They are pretty but not essential.
- I use saffron in my recipe as it’s been historically used in baking Kulich. It gives the bread a beautiful golden colour. While it’s traditional, saffron is expensive and not many use it nowadays, so you can safely omit it in your version.
- Correct proofing of the dough is essential to this recipe as with all yeasted bakes. I gave you approximate timing for each stage but they are largely dependent on the temperature of your house. It might take less or more time, so my advice to you is to watch your dough. If it hasn’t reached the desired volume after rising for a certain amount of time, keep at it. Visual cues are what is important. I included step by step photos in the recipe card to be your guide.
- I decorate my Kulich with a white chocolate glaze or a simple sugar glaze or leave it completely bare. It all depends on what I’m in the mood for! It’ll be great either way, although chocolate icing does make it a bit more spectacular!
- I tend to add chocolate chips into my Easter bread because they are the popular choice for my family. But raisins and dried fruit are more traditional, so feel free to substitute. If you do use raising, soak them first, otherwise they will absorb moisture from the dough and will make it dry. Traditionally they are soaked in rum.
Storage and leftovers
This recipe makes two loaves, so you’ll have plenty for the next couple of days. Store what you can’t eat immediately in a bread box or plastic bag.
It will remain fresh at room temperature for two days, or up to a week if refrigerated. But the earlier you eat it the better it will be, so indulge!
More Easter recipes
- Double Decker Devilled Eggs
- Roast Leg of Lamb with Mint Sauce
- Glazed Ham
- Rosemary Potatoes au Gratin
- Tsoureki Greek Easter Bread
Russian Easter Bread Kulich
Ingredients
For the bread
- 500g/4 ½ cups strong bread flour
- 125 ml/ ½ cup whole milk
- pinch saffron threads
- 14 g/ 2 tbsp This is an affiliate link.active dry yeast
- 150g/ ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 150g/ ½ cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 eggs
- 4 tsp This is an affiliate link.vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 100g/1/2 cup chocolate chips milk or white
For the glaze
- 100g/3.5 oz white chocolate melted
- 1 tbsp sprinkles
Instructions
- To a small saucepan add the milk with a pinch of saffron and warm up lightly without bringing it to a boil. Alternatively, you can warm up the milk in a microwave. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the infused milk with the yeast, 50g/¼ cup of the sugar and 100g/3/4 cup of the flour, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- With an electric mixer whip the softened butter with the remaining sugar until creamy, then add the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and the salt. Then add this mixture to the yeast mixture and mix until well combined.
- Replace the paddle attachment with a dough hook, add the remaining 400g/3 ¾ cups flour and start kneading until you get elastic dough. This will take 10-15 minutes on medium speed. Towards the end of the kneading time turn the speed up to high and knead for 5 minutes to develop gluten in the dough. At the end the dough will be very soft and a little sticky. Fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours-2.5 hours until it’s doubled in bulk. It might take longer if your house is cool.
- Divide the dough and with oiled hands transfer into two 5 inch or 6 inch pans. Ideally you pans should also be tall or you can use panettone moulds. You can build up the sides of your pan with parchment paper if your pans are not tall enough. Your dough should come up no higher than halfway up the sides of the pans. Let the dough rise one more time for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
- Bake in the preheated to 180C/350F for 35-40 minutes. Take out of the oven and let it cool, then remove from pans when cool enough to handle. Don't remove if using paper moulds.
- Cool and glaze with melted white chocolate and decorate sprinkles. The bread is best on the day it is baked or the following day.
Anna Portoraro says
This is a recipe for Kulich. Pascha is something completely different, usually pyramidal-shaped with a cream cheese consistency.
Wishing you all Easter blessings!
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Hi Anna, this bread is called Kulich in some parts of Russia and Paska in Southern Russia and Ukraine. What you described is also called Paskha, for which I have a recipe on my blog as well and do mention it in the post. It’s confusing but the same word is in fact used for both. I spent my childhood in both Russia and Ukraine, so it’s something I know firsthand.
Linda Murray says
This bread was very nice. The recipe was easy to follow. Thank you. I made it for my friends daughter in law who is from Russia and is celebrating today.
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
What a sweet thing to do, Linda! I am sure she enjoyed it!
Krista Uecker says
Julia,
I saw the stunning photos of this Kulich bread and knew I had to try this recipe! With all the extra time being at home due to the shelter at home, this was the perfect year to try this out. 🙂 It’s baking in the oven as I type this and smells amazing. I loved hearing the stories of your grandmother baking in the kitchen. What sweet memories. I hope you and your family have a blessed Easter! Your cooking and photography is so beautifully done. I’ll have to revisit and try some more recipes soon.
vikalinka says
Thank you so much, Krista! Enjoy your Kulich!
pat lefevre says
i made pascha many years ago . it took months to find a recipe and then i lost it! my grand mother made it in coffee cans, usually with just raisins, but sometimes with candied fruit. my grandma olga always had it blessed at church. we had a big brunch at easter with hard boiled eggs,kielbasa and several types of pierogi smothered with butter and onions.. my job was to fill the wooden butter molds, eggs, chicken, and one big lamb. thank you for bringing back some wonderful memories. finding your recipe gave me the push to try and make it again.
vikalinka says
Precious memories, Pat! I hope you try this recipe and relive them! 🙂
Cassie Miller says
I got a kick out of reading these posts, especially pat’s. I am not Russian, but my mother-in-law was (her father was a Russian Orthodox priest in Pennsylvania for many years) and she always had a big Russian celebration at her house at Easter. When she moved to Florida, I tried to continue the tradition. Even though there are no big family get-togethers this year, my daughter frantically texted me last week with the request to make the pickled hard-boiled eggs, kielbasa and of course Kulich! It’s like take-out; she will come by to pick it up this afternoon!
Kathy Louth says
Dear Julia,
Thank you for this fabulous recipe. I am Armenian and my mom always made this Easter bread in the coffee cans. The memories! I have never attempted this and I live at a high altitude, 6500 Feet and want to know if I have to adjust anything? Also do you just put everything in at once in the mixer? And do you use the Dough hook to start with? Thank You for your help.
Kathy
vikalinka says
Hi Kathy, I am so glad the recipe for this Kulich brings good memories! You can use a paddle attachment in step one and then switch to the dough hook in step 2. I am not entirely sure how to adjust the recipe to a high altitude baking. I’ve never lived in high altitude and don’t have any experience in that regard. I am sure there are lots of articles online that give advice on it. Enjoy the recipe! Best, Julia
vera bentley says
i read your recipes & it just brings back so many glorious memories of the day before easter & all the work involved for my mum & babushka, not for me tho, i was too young! tho i had to clean my room lol
vikalinka says
I am glad my writing brings back memories, that’s all I’ve got left too! 🙂 Making the recipes bring memories back to life though and that is why I love cooking.
Val says
Would you have the recipe for a gluten free version?
vikalinka says
Unfortunately I don’t have one, Val. I know people have successfully used gluten free flour in place of the regular one in my cake recipes but this one is a yeasted bread, so I am not really sure how this would work.
Maria says
I’m looking for a better kulich recipe for next Pascha and I found yours. This is probably a dumb question, but most kulich recipes I see online involve kneading the dough. Does this dough get kneaded? If so, when is it kneaded? It just seems like there is so much liquid in this recipe that, even after 9 cups of flour, this dough would be too sticky to knead. I would appreciate any advice you can give! Thanks.
vikalinka says
Hi Maria, this dough is pretty sticky and it produces amazing results. It’s has the texture and taste of brioche rather than bread. Also, it is kneaded in a stand mixer with a dough hook, which is designed for that but you can definitely knead it by hand if you are not using the machine. I hope this helps.
Cheryl says
The shape of your kulich is perfect! What kind of “deep 8″ baking pan” do you use? Thank you!
vikalinka says
My pan is about 4″ tall if that help, Cheryl. They are available at Marks and Spencer in the UK. In Russia women bake them in large coffee cans like the ones you can get at Tim Hortons in Canada 🙂 to achieve the traditional shape.
Cheryl says
I will try the coffee cans! Thanks for the reply!!
Joan says
I’ve been eating it and then baking it for decades. Ours has always had egg yolks (not whole eggs), saffron, half cream-half milk, and ground star anise. I would venture a bet that it is better 🙂
Tammy says
You have the most beautiful. Most artistic. Most delicious photos I’ve seen. Wow! I just wish I could cook like you. Man, I guess I’m a little jellie over here
vikalinka says
You are too kind, Tammy! Thank you so much for visiting. 🙂
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Such a pretty bread, what a lovely Easter tradition!
Winnie says
This is such a stunning cake!! Absolutely mouth-watering.
I’m pinning and and also saving the recipe
Thanks for sharing 🙂 I can’t wait to try it
Gintare @Gourmantine says
Traditions are there to be passed on and cherished! Such a beautiful cake, I can’t believe I never tasted it! Xx
vikalinka says
Gintare, are you serious?!! You must have something very similar in Lithuania though, don’t you? Funny enough, I appreciate it much more as an adult than when I was a child. 🙂
Little Broken says
Such beautiful presentation Julia! I’ve never made kulich of my own and this year completely failed at baking anything but maybe next year. I turn to Natasha too for traditional dishes b/c we make them so rare and I have no clue on what I’m doing 🙂
vikalinka says
Same here, Katya. We don’t eat many traditional dishes. I never knew how to bake with yeast but I really wanted to learn so I experimented a lot. I still haven’t tackled piroshki. It might be a fall project once I finish my course and done with busy summer. 🙂
sue|theviewfromgreatisland says
Just stunning!!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Sue. You are too kind!
Oana says
We too (Romania) have similar Easter customs. But I love how a simple bread turns into a delicay with the white chocolate frosting. It looks stunning and I can imagine how good it tastes.
vikalinka says
I completely agree, Oana! Even my mom called it a cake! LOL Thank you for stopping by!
Jennifer Farley says
This cake is absolutely stunning!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Jennifer!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
Stunning bread, Julia! Hope you had a wonderful Easter 🙂
vikalinka says
Thank you, Jennifer! Happy Easter to you! 🙂
Lucy @SupergoldenBakes says
What an absolutely stunning Easter bread! Every year I keep meaning to blog about Tsoureki which is the traditional Greek Easter bread and every year I leave it a tad too late… I love the look of your Kulich I have a terrible feeling I would eat most of that loaf myself! Have a happy Easter xxx
vikalinka says
Thank you, Lucy! I am so looking forward to reading about your Tsoureki next Easter! I know what you mean with some traditional recipes…they seem so daunting but I think it’s the feeling we get from our childhood when we saw our our mums and grans as super heroes and everything they made was grand! Happy Easter, my friend! xxx
Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com says
Julia, I’m so happy you loved the kulich! 🙂 Reading your post made me smile big. That’s quite a compliment :). Pinned! 🙂 Have a happy and blessed Easter!
vikalinka says
I am absolutely in love with this recipe even though it takes all day to make! lol Now we are all looking forward to making french toast with it. Happy Easter to you, Natasha and that gorgeous family of yours!
Gina Collins says
Can you share the specific pan you used? Was it an 8 inch cake pan?
Thank you!
vikalinka says
This is the link to the pan I use, Gina. http://www.marksandspencer.com/non-stick-deep-round-cake-tin/p/p22358502?OmnitureRedirect=deep+cake+tin