Basic Sweet Babka Modern Jewish Baker

Babka, like rugelach, is a classic Eastern European cake made from a yeasted dough and layers of chocolate or cinnamon filling.

 In Israeli it is called kranz cake, kranz being German for crown. Until fairly recently, babka was almost a forgotten Jewish dessert. You could buy it in kosher shops or packaged from the gourmet shop Zabar’s in New York City, but it was hardly the star of the dessert spread. It is only in the past few years, particularly since the emergence of Breads Bakery in New York City, that babka achieved rockstar status.These days babka has taken on a life of its own—coveted by foodies, reinterpreted by chefs and bloggers all over the United States. I have seen every variety of babka from sweet matcha and black sesame babka to savory pulled brisket babka. Babka can seem daunting—how do you achieve those swirls? But once you know how simple it is to make, you will be experimenting with sweet and savory flavor combinations of your own.

How the Dough Should Feel

Babka dough will be the lightest of the yeasted doughs in this book. It should be very shiny and elastic with a luxurious texture and sheen.

Rising

The babka dough should only rise 1 to 2 hours at most. I do not recommend making babka dough ahead of time and allowing to rise in the fridge.

Storage

The dough recipe will yield 3 medium-sized babkas, or 2 larger babkas. Allow to cool completely before storing in a sealable plastic bag. You can wrap babka in tin foil, then place in freezer bag and store for up to 2 months. Defrost and warm slightly to serve.

Flour

You can use an unbleached all-purpose flour for babka.

Essential Tools

You may want to invest in three 8 ½-by-4 ½-inch loaf pans, as this recipe yields three medium babkas. You can also make one loaf and two rounds, or one loaf and one larger round. A good dough cutter is necessary for splitting the babka dough to create those coveted swirls. Using your food scale is also useful in babka. When you split the dough between pans, whether in half or thirds, use your food scale to measure the amount of dough. Make sure to have a wooden pastry brush for those babka recipes that call for sugar syrup.I was always intimidated to make babka because of those coveted swirls. But once I bit the bullet and saw how similar babka dough is to challah, I realized the task was far more realistic than I’d thought. This sweet babka dough is more elastic, smoother, and shinier than challah dough. You want to roll it out as thinly as possible on a lightly floured surface to achieve as many of those beautiful and delicious swirls as possible.[tasty-recipe id="6771"]