Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (278 page)
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Babka is made by Jewish bakers with several different fillings. Cinnamon is the most popular, with chocolate a close second. Some people fill their babkas with a mixture of sweetened cheese and raisins. This babka is made with a rich dough resembling brioche, made by a similar technique to the classic recipe, but because the dough is soft, the best way to make it is in a mixer with a dough hook.
1 envelope dry yeast (
1
â
4
-ounce or 2
1
â
2
teaspooons)
3 tablespoons warm water (110°F)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1
â
2
cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, cut into 16 pieces, room temperature
1
â
3
cup brown sugar
1
â
4
cup cocoa
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
1
â
2
cup chopped walnuts
1.
Sprinkle yeast over water in a small bowl; add
1
â
4
teaspoon sugar. Let stand 10 minutes or until foamy. Stir yeast mixture.
2.
Put flour into bowl of mixer; make a well in center. Add salt, remaining 2
3
â
4
teaspoons sugar, and 3 eggs. (Keep fourth egg in refrigerator to use as glaze.)
3.
Mix ingredients in center of well briefly with dough hook of mixer. Add yeast mixture. Mix at low speed until mixture comes together into a dough, pushing in flour occasionally. Scrape down mixture. Continue beating on medium speed about 12 minutes or until dough is very smooth. Add butter pieces. Beat on low speed, scraping down dough often, just until butter is blended in. (Dough will be soft.)
4.
Lightly oil a medium bowl. Place dough in oiled bowl; turn dough over to oil surface. Cover with damp towel or plastic wrap; let dough rise in a warm draft-free place about 1
1
â
2
hours or until nearly doubled. Gently turn dough over several times to knock out air. Return to bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
5.
Grease an 8 Ã 4-inch loaf pan. Thoroughly mix brown sugar and cocoa in a bowl for filling.
6.
On a cool floured surface, roll out dough to an 8 Ã 12-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with cocoa mixture, then with walnuts. Press so walnuts adhere to dough. Roll up tightly in a cylinder. Put dough in prepared loaf pan.
7.
Cover loaf with a warm, slightly damp cloth and let rise about 1 hour or until nearly doubled. Preheat oven to 375°F.
8.
Beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Brush risen loaf gently with beaten egg. Bake about 30 minutes or until top and bottom of loaf are firm and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. Run a metal spatula or a thin knife carefully around loaf. Turn out of pan and cool on a rack.
Desserts, Cakes, and Cookies
Jewish home cooks and bakeries are well known for their delicious cakes, cookies, and desserts. Cakes and other desserts are part of every holiday celebration, including the weekly Shabbat. Even people who are busy try to bake homemade cakes for these occasions. Getting together for coffee or tea and cake during holidays remains a popular custom.
In the United States, Jewish bakers from Russia, Poland, and Hungary have popularized such treats as cheesecake, strudel, and rugelach. Thus these treats now have a Jewish identity, although, like bagels, they are widely available in supermarkets. But they are even better when made at home.
In the kosher kitchen, many desserts are pareve. After all, festive meals traditionally feature meat as the main course. Sponge cakes, nut and chocolate tortes, honey cakes, chiffon cakes, and Sephardic nut-filled phyllo pastries are some popular pareve desserts. Blintzes often have blueberry or other fruit fillings, hamantaschen are filled with prunes or poppy seeds, and sweet noodle and rice kugels are flavored with raisins or apples rather than cream or cheese.
When a kosher cook reads new cake recipes, substitutions for making them pareve come easily to mind. Orange juice or applesauce replaces milk and buttermilk in cake and pastry recipes, and pareve margarine or vegetable oil are used instead of butter. These alternative ingredients create variations of flavor and texture, leading to two versions of many recipes instead of one. Fruit juices and purees are used to make pie fillings, puddings, and ice creams instead of milk-based custards. Today, with soy milk and rice milk widely available, they are being used to develop an even greater variety of pareve desserts with a creamy consistency.
= Pareve  = Dairy  
= MeatFRUIT DESSERTS
Dates are considered by some Bible scholars to have been the fruit of the Tree of Life in the story of Adam and Eve. Some say that figs were the fruit of the Tree of Knowledgeâthe forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve tasted and that led to their banishment from the Garden of Eden. Dates and figs have long been favorite fruits of the Land of Milk and Honey. Here they are matched with a dollop of soft, white cheese drizzled with honey and sprinkled with pine nuts. For a richer treat, substitute mascarpone or crème fraîche for the cheese.
This is a fitting dessert for Sukkot, when fresh figs and dates are in season. Use fine dates, such as Barhi or Medjool, and ripe figs. My husband and I like to make this dish with sweet, delicious Brown Turkey or Black Mission figs that we pick from our tree as we imagine ourselves in the Garden of Eden.
4 fresh figs, halved
4 plump dates
6 tablespoons soft, white cheese, such as ricotta, regular, low-fat, or nonfat
1 teaspoon liquid honey
2 teaspoons toasted pine nuts
On each of two dessert plates, near rim of plate, put 3 fig halves cut-side up, and one half cut-side down. Add dates to plate between fig pieces. Mound 3 tablespoons ricotta in center of each plate. Drizzle ricotta with honey, then sprinkle with pine nuts.
Serve this colorful fruit as an accompaniment for sweet noodle kugels and dessert casseroles, such as
Pareve Challah Pudding
or
Matzo Kugel with Apples, Almonds, and Raisins
. After a substantial dinner, the fruit makes a light, appealing dessert on its own.
1 to 2 tablespoons honey
2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice
1
â
2
teaspoon grated orange rind
2 bananas
1 large orange
2 cups sliced strawberries
Mix 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons orange juice, and orange rind in a serving bowl. Peel and slice bananas; add to bowl. Cut peel from orange. Divide orange into segments and cut them in half. Add orange segments and strawberries to bowl. Mix gently. Add remaining honey and orange juice if you like. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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