babka

For another meaning, see Potato babka

Easter babka

Babka, or Bobka, also known as baba, is a sweet yeast cake.

East European version

It is a spongy yeast cake that is traditionally baked for Easter Sunday in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Belarus, Ukraine and Western Russia. Darra Goldstein, professor of Russian at Williams College says "babka comes from baba, a very tall, delicate yet rich yeast-risen cake eaten in Western Russia and Eastern Poland."^[1] Traditional babka has some type of fruit filling, especially raisins, and is glazed with a fruit-flavored icing, sometimes with rum added. Modern babka may be chocolate or have a cheese filling.

Jewish version

chocolate babka, with streusel

Babka is popular among Jews, particularly those with family origins in Eastern Europe. The Jewish version however is different from the one described above. It is made from a doubled and twisted length of yeast dough and is typically baked in a high loaf pan. There is never a fruit filling; the dough contains either cinnamon or chocolate. It is usually topped with streusel. A similar cake called a kokosh is also popular in Jewish bakeries. Kokosh also comes in chocolate and cinnamon varieties, but it is lower and longer than babka, is not twisted, and not topped with streusel.

Babka of this style has become popular in North American cities with large Jewish populations, including Montreal, New York, Miami, and Toronto.

Other than the dessert variety, there also exists a traditional Eastern European Jewish variety prepared during Passover in lieu of bread. Generally, this sort is not sweet and is prepared using crushed matzos with water, egg, and salt. Some Polish Jews refer to pancakes with these ingredients as bubbeleh, a name similar to babka.

Etymology

The Polish noun babka, Ukrainian and Russian baba mean "grandmother," and as applied to the pastry probably refer to its shape, a tall cylinder, sometimes with corrugations resembling a skirt’s pleats.^[2] The name of the pastry entered the English language from Polish, via French, although "babka" is also sometimes used in its original sense ("grandmother"), especially among those of Eastern European descent.^[3]

Pop Culture References

Babka was mentioned in the season 5 episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Dinner Party". Jerry and Elaine try to buy a chocolate babka to bring to a dinner party. Another couple going to the same dinner party buy the last chocolate babka. Jerry and Elaine must therefore buy a cinnamon babka, which Elaine describes as a "lesser babka".

See also

• Paska
• Rum baba
• Cozonac

References

1. ^ Joan Nathan, "Inviting an Old Favorite to the Hanukkah Table", The New York Times, (December 5, 2007) page F5.
2. ^ Oxford Companion to Food
3. ^ Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed.