Easter Babka Three Ways

Happy Easter!

This year Easter is going to be at my place. Normally we would have it at my parents, but their oven broke and won’t be repaired in time. Most of the prep is still being done by my parents. Right now they are marinating a huge leg of lamb that will be roasted here tomorrow. My mom is also taking care of the pierogi, and the stuffed vine leaves (we have a multicultural Easter, part Polish, part Egyptian). All of the baking was done here yesterday. My mom came over around 10 and we baked all day.

The first thing we made were the Babkas. Babkas are a traditional Eastern and Central European yeasted sweet bread that are served for Easter. The traditional version is flavoured with dried fruit. That’s what my mom always makes. This year, I wanted to try something a little less traditional, chocolate babka.

My mom wasn’t super enthusiastic at first, but then I reminded her of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine tries to buy a chocolate babka. Everyone loves chocolate babka! That helped convince her. Once we decided to veer from the traditional, my mom suggested a third option, poppy seed babka.

So we made all three.

We made one batch of dough and divided it into three, using a different filling for each. In the traditional version, we used raisins and dried apricots soaked in rum. For the poppy seed version we used a store bought poppy seed paste that also had raisins and candied orange peel. The chocolate version was originally based on Smitten Kitchens technique. Unfortunately, the dough we used could not hold up to the weight of the chocolate and sort of .. imploded. So this morning I made another chocolate babka. This time I used Smitten Kitchens dough recipe and just added chunks of chocolate. Her babka dough is very similar to a brioche recipe. Although it tasted very good, I found my moms recipe much easier to work with. My moms also has a much lighter texture. I can understand now why her chocolate babka didn’t implode, the dough is much stronger.

This basic dough can be used with any filling or flavourings. It makes enough for three loaves.

Basic Babka Dough

5 tsps dry active yeast
1 cup warm water
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
8 cups all purpose flour, divided
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk, warm
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsps vanilla
2 tbsp dark rum
zest of one orange

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Add a pinch of sugar and set aside for the yeast to dissolve. Note, make sure the water is below 105 degrees F, otherwise it might kill the yeast.
While the yeast is dissolving, whisk the eggs slightly.
Put 6 cups of flour and the salt in the bowl of a standing mixer (or a large bowl if kneading by hand). Create a well, and pour in the eggs, yeast, warm milk, melted butter, vanilla, and rum. Add the orange zest. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined, then place in the mixer with the dough hook attached and knead. Slowly add the remaining two cups of flour. Knead for 10 minutes. If kneading by hand, this will take about 30 minutes.
If using dried fruit or chocolate chunks, add them to the mixer at this point and knead until combined.
Divide dough into three and place in separate greased bowls. Cover with plastic wrap let rise for an hour until doubled in bulk (or overnight in the fridge).
Punch down the dough. If using a filling like the poppy seed paste or a chocolate spread, roll the dough out into a rectangle, spread the filling over the dough, then roll the dough tightly like a jelly roll.
Place dough in a loaf pan, baking sheet or bundt pan. Cover, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Bake the babka for 15-20 minutes, then lower the heat to 325 and bake for another 15 to 20. Note, if using a loaf pan it may take a few extra minutes. When done, the bread will sound hollow if tapped.

Enjoy!

21 thoughts on “Easter Babka Three Ways”

I’m wondering if I should post my mailing address here or DM it to you?! hehe, they look great and I love the variety!

Looks so yummy, thanks for sharing :)

I saw some Easter bread today and it looked like challah. Now Easter babka? Next Easter whitefish salad? Bagels and lox?

In all seriousness, this looks fantastic… And seeing that I love babka, I would no doubt love this!

This is truly a beauty and I think I need to try some chocolate Babka. I feel so left out. Grand adapting of one recipe – that is always interesting and a fun debate at the table. Happy Easter!

Oh Seinfeld, I almost forgot about that. Your Easter sounds like fun and I am impressed that you made so many babkas…four if you include the one that imploded!

Great recipe, beautiful photos! And a cool idea to eat babka with butter like bread :-) Thanks for sharing!

The chocolate babka looks amazing. Hope you have a wonderful Easter!

Loved that Seinfeld episode. And love this babka! A slice of this chocolate babka would be perfect with my morning tea. Happy Easter!

منظر الكيك جميل ويفتح الشهيه

wow..thanks for sharing this! havent heard of babkas before but they look DELICIOUS! I would love the chocolate version please : j

I love the varieties of Babka you and your Mom made! Sounds like a fun day to me. Enjoy your dinner!

It sounds like you’ll have a fabulous Easter dinner! Love all your babka experimentation…they all sound excellent! Happy Easter~

These are all awesome! Where did you get the poppy seed paste? It sounds like it would make a great addition to all sorts of baked goodies :)

Your Easter feast sounds amazing! I want to try all three flavors of this babka! Happy Easter :) Wishing you a fantastic week!

Three babkas! Yum, got any leftovers ;-)

This looks really fantastic and super moist. Perfect for Easter. Nice!

Beautiful and what a fun thing to play around with. Tradition with a twist. :)

Beautiful! And so is that red egg.

I found this on Pinterest, it sounds like a wonderful Babka recipe, I was considering making it for Easter.
One question, you say to bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, then lower the heat and bake for another 15-20 minutes…to what temperature do you lower it?
Thanks so much…