Babka
16 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | pack | Active dry yeast; or 1 cake compressed yeast |
| ¼ | cup | Warm water |
| ½ | cup | Butter or margarine |
| ½ | cup | Sugar |
| 5 | Egg yolk | |
| 1 | teaspoon | Salt |
| 1 | tablespoon | Lemon rind; grated |
| 1 | tablespoon | Orange rind; grated |
| 1 | cup | Milk; lukewarm |
| 4 | cups | All-purpose flour; sifted |
| ¼ | cup | Blanched almonds; chopped |
| 1 | cup | Raisins, golden |
| Almond slivers | ||
Directions
Recipe by: The Eastern European Cookbook-ISBN 0-486-23562-9 Sprinkle or crumble yeast into warm water. Use very warm water for dry yeast and lukewarm water for compressed yeast. After a minute or two, stir to dissolve. Cream butter in a large bowl. Add sugar. Beat 4 of the egg yolks with salt; add to butter mixture. Stir in yeast and lemon and orange rinds; mix well. Add milk and enough flour to make a soft dough; mix again. Stir in chopped almonds and raisins. Turn out on a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic. Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Turn over and place in a warm place, covered with a towel, to rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Arrange dough in a buttered fluted tube pan or a round pan.
Let rise again, covered, until doubled in bulk. Mix remaining egg yolk with 2 Tbs water and brush over top. Sprinkle top with almond slivers, pressing into dough (or omit almonds and spread with frosting when cooked and cooled). Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) about 40 mins, or until cooked. Makes about 16 servings.
NOTES : The national cake of Poland is called babka. It is derived from
the word for "old woman". This flavorful nut and raisin-studded yeast cake was probably so named because the fluted pan in which
it is baked resembles the skirt of a woman. The cake, similar to
the kulich of Russia, is traditional fare for Easter.
from my kitchen to------------------------------->yours..... Dan Klepach