Wielkanocna babka (easter babka)

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
½ cup Soft butter or margarine
½ cup Sugar
5 Egg yolks (save 1 yolk separately for an egg wash)
1 pack Active dry yeast or 1 cake compressed yeast
Water*
1 Lemon, Grated rind of
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 cup Milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
4 cups All-purpose flour (about)
1 cup Golden raisins
¼ cup Sliced blanched almonds (I always use more and cover the whole top)

Directions

Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat 4 egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Stir into creamed mixture. Soften yeast in ¼ cup water.

*Use very warm water (115#F) for dry yeast; use lukewarm (80#F to 90#F) for compressed. (I also proof my yeast by adding a teaspoon of sugar.) Add to mixture with the lemon rind. Beat in salt and cinnamon. Add milk and flour to make a soft dough. Stir in raisins. Knead in bowl until dough no longer sticks to the hands. (I let my Oster Kitchen Center do most of the kneading and then finish by hand.) Cover dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 2 hours). Punch down dough and let rest 10 minutes.

Butter a 3-quart bundt pan and shape dough to fit it. Put dough into pan, cover and let rise again until doubled (about 1½ hours). Beat remaining egg yolk slightly with 2 tablespoons of water. Brush on raised dough and sprinkle with almonds. Bake in preheated moderate oven (350#F) for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Posted to EAT-L Digest 27 Jan 97 by "Raymond F. Falcon" <rfalcon@...> on Jan 28, 1997.

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