The Baba's Paska Bread recipe, above, calls for "1 sifter (large)" of flour. What is meant by 1 sifter? I've never heard of that quantity before. Does 1 sifter of flour mean 1 cup of sifted flour, or what? Thank you very much. By the way, I am of Russian descent, and we call our Grandma, Baba. My mother's Mom was my Baba, and now I, too, am a Baba. So, this is really "Grandma's" Bread" recipe.

Hi Janet,

Baba, like most of our grandmothers, didn't really measure. She started with basic units, such as eggs, with measurements which couldn't be changed. As a shortcut to using measuring cups, she'd measure in handfuls, or use common utensils found around the kitchen. (I do this myself - for example, I have a small pan that measures about 4 cups that I dip into the flour bag when making white bread to avoid having to measure out 4 1 cup measures).

A large sifter is about 4 cups, but the description of "enough flour to make a soft dough" is the instruction to follow in making Baba's bread. Which is really why Baba didn't use measurements: when it comes to using flour to make bread, consistency is what really matters, not measurements, because flour and moisture content differs, and when measurements are followed slavishly, you won't be able to get the very lightest dough/bread you possibly can by adding the least amount of flour.

Hope this helps!

-- CM