Polish Babka Recipe (No Yeast) (2024)

FAQs

Why isn t my babka dough rising? ›

Add more yeast, blend in the starter, or knead in more flour to help initiate rising. Dough that has expired yeast, too much salt, all-purpose or cake flour, or antifungal spices like cinnamon might have trouble rising.

One theory says Babka is indigenous to the Ukraine, part of an ancient fertility symbol. The story of chocolate and the Jewish community is a bit different in the Mediterranean. There, Jews and chocolate went together like bagels and cream cheese. Don't miss what matters.

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!

Many different versions of this rich bread, laced with rum syrup and drizzled with icing, are served at Easter in Polish households. It's such a tradition, and so well-loved, that there are probably as many babka recipes as there are Polish bakers!

But almost as good as a proofing box is taking a Mason jar filled halfway up with water, microwaving it for two minutes, then putting your bowl of dough into the microwave with the jar to rise. The other thing you can do is place your lidded container or bowl of dough into a second, larger bowl of warm water.

To fix dough that won't rise, try placing the dough on the lowest rack in your oven along with a baking pan filled with boiling water. Close the oven door and let the dough rise. Increasing the temperature and moisture can help activate the yeast in the dough so it rises. You can also try adding more yeast.

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.

While they are both yeasted, sweet, enriched breads, paska tends to be wide and round with dough shaped on top to form religious symbols or decorative shapes. Ukrainian babka is a tall cylinder that sometimes contains raisins and/or citrus zest, and can have icing on top.

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.

Brush the warm, just-baked babka with simple syrup. This will help keep it moist. You want to get the sugar on the outer crust and let it drain through the cake, but take care not to drench it. "You should have a good idea of when the babka is absorbing the syrup, and when to stop.

How do you get more layers in babka? ›

Roll it up: starting with the rectangle closest to you, roll it up from the bottom along the longer edge, working evenly side to side and pulling back with your fingertips to make the roulade as tight as possible. Repeat for the second rectangle. The tighter the roulade, the more layers of chocolate you'll have.

A babka is a sweet braided bread which originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. It is popular in Israel (often referred to as simply a yeast cake: עוגת שמרים) and in the Jewish diaspora.

A baked cheesecake is one of the most popular desserts in Poland, made primarily by using twaróg, a type of fresh cheese. Apple cake called szarlotka or jabłecznik is made from sweet crust pastry and spiced apple filling.

Szarlotka is a traditional Polish apple pie that is hugely popular in all of Poland. There are countless ways of making it, but typically, it's made with shortcrust pastry or semi-shortcrust pastry and cooked or raw apples.

The Polish word baba and its diminutive, babka, mean either 'grandmother' or 'old woman' (or even just 'woman', in some contexts). The cake is shaped like a cylinder with a hole in the middle; sometimes, the sides display corrugations that resemble the pleats of a skirt.

Not developing the dough enough can cause a dense loaf. If you wish to have a short one day ferment, you need to work more on developing the gluten, either by kneading, folding or mixing more. If your gluten is not developed and you can't even pull a windowpane, expect a dense loaf with poor oven spring.

Temperature is a key factor in baking up puff pasty that actually puffs. Set the oven dial too low, and the pastry is likely to fall flat. Follow this tip: As a rule of thumb, a higher oven temperature (400°F is ideal) results in puff pastry with a higher rise.

To be extra sure that your babka loaf has finished baking, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check if the internal temperature has reached 190°F. This method is also great if you don't have a long enough toothpick to get to the middle of the loaf. Don't skip the sugar syrup at the end.

Outdated or improperly stored yeast: Yeast is a living organism that makes breads rise and creates flavor. But yeast loses its oomph as it gets older, or if it's improperly stored. Check the expiration date on packets, and store yeast in the refrigerator or the freezer to slow down its deterioration.