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

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