CHOCOLATE BABKA RECIPE + WonkyWonderful (2024)

FAQs

Why do Jews eat babka? ›

Like many Jewish-American specialties, babka originated in Eastern Europe – Poland and Ukraine in particular – in the early 1800s. As a way to use extra challah dough, Jews there would roll up the dough with cinnamon or fruit jam and bake it alongside the challah.

Babka originated in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe in the early 19^th century. Part bread, part cake, the name is thought to derive from a popular Easter cake made in Poland called “baba” which means “grandmother” in Polish.

Too much flour can create a very DRY yeast bread. Now if you really need a bit of flour go for it, but use as little as possible. The dough is so silky that it rolls out beautifully and I don't get need any flour at all!

Israeli style babka (עוגת שמרים) is made with a laminated dough, enriched with butter, which is then folded and rolled multiple times to create many distinct layers, similar to that used for Israeli style rugelach, and also croissant dough. Israeli style babka is available with a wider array of fillings and shapes.

borrowed from Yiddish & Polish; Yiddish babke (in sense a), borrowed from Polish babka (in sense b), literally, "old woman, grandmother," diminutive of baba "grandmother, midwife, old woman"

In the 1200s, the Jewish people weren't allowed to bake bread. This was due to the ties between bread and the sacrament. Poland was considered relatively progressive when it came to the land's Jewish population, and Jews were allowed to work with bread.

Babka used to be filled with scraps of Challah and seeds or nuts. It wasn't until Eastern European Jews arrived in New York that they decided to put chocolate in the bread. While Breadworks' Chocolate Babka isn't a twisted loaf, it still has delicious chocolate in it!

Trader Joe's Cinnamon Brooklyn Babka is a zesty, swirly, brioche-meets-cake loaf rooted in Eastern European Jewish traditions.

Chocolate babka tastes like a sweet, tender brioche bread loaf with swirls of chocolatey goodness inside. A cinnamon babka kind of tastes like a cinnamon roll, but a little less dense. It can be served warm or at room temperature. Either is delicious!

Do NOT underbake your loaves. I recommend checking them with a thermometer to make sure they're done. If you pull them out too early, the babka will sink in the middle and be doughy (it's happened to me before and it's a total bummer).

What is the difference between babka and Paska? ›

Babka is similar to “Paska,“ but is usually sweeter. and richer, almost cake-like. While babka and paska are two different Easter breads, you will often hear the names used interchangeably.

Our babkas are baked daily and, if you can resist eating them, will stay delicious for up to 5 days after purchase. To hold longer than 5 days, wrap the packaged babka in aluminum foil and freeze for up to 1 month. To defrost, remove from the freezer, recycle the aluminum foil and thaw at room temperature.

Rugelach are often served on Jewish holidays like Hanukkah and Shavuot, though of course they can (and should!) be made throughout the year. Our family typically serves them during Rosh Hashanah, when sweet foods are made to signify a sweet new year.

In the headnote for “The Famous Chocolate Babka” in his cookbook Breaking Breads, Scheft explains the addition of Nutella to the babka filling was his attempt to tap into the “taste memory” of the chocolate-spread sandwiches that he, like many children in Israel, used to eat at lunchtime.

Babka Recipe Variations

Cinnamon, poppy seeds, almond paste and cheese are all traditional companions for the cake with the challah-like crumb. But it doesn't get more popular than chocolate babka nowadays, which adds an element of decadence to the dense loaf.

Soon, bagels took on a variety of meanings within Poland's vibrant Jewish encalves. They were fed to women who had recently given childbirth as part of folk traditions designed to protect newborn children and became part of Jewish mourning rituals.

Like challah, it is braided and made from a rich yeasted dough, but unlike challah, it is filled and glazed with a sweet syrup. While chocolate babka has grown in popularity in recent years, it has also continued to evolve. New variations include different shapes, glazes, fillings and more.

Baka' Definition

NAS Word Usage - Total: 1. Baca = "weeping"

Babka is another braided white bread that is usually served with a cinnamon filling and syrup. But unlike challah, which includes eggs and oil, babka dough contains eggs, butter and milk, making it more airy, shiny and smooth.