One of my favorite foods growing up was my Grandma ‘Stelle’s babka. It is absolutely delicious. We typically ate it at Easter with the traditional Ukranian kielbasa and pierogies, followed by Grandma’s super-sweet yellow cake with vanilla frosting — topped with marshmallow Peeps®, jellybeans and any other sweet, colorful Easter candy she could find.
My mom has since mastered baking Grandma ‘Stelle’s Babka and I couldn’t be more thankful. I received my box filled with three loaves just before Easter and have been savoring every bite. I prefer it toasted and topped with sweet, unsalted butter. Thanks, mom, Grandma would be proud!
For those of you who have never had Babka, here is Wikipedia’s definition (we eat it with raisins only… no icing or rum):
Eastern and Central European babka, especially among Christians, is a spongy, brioche-like yeast cake that is traditionally baked for Easter Sunday. The cake is traditional in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Western Russia, as well as among the Rusyns (Ruthenians) in northeastern Hungary. 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.
