either Russian-style simple roulade-shaped cakes, or the German-Austrian kugelhopf style pastries. Braided babkas, considered a staple of North American Jewish baking, arrived only later.

Another very popular version of yeast cake is baked in a round pan with several flower-shaped rolls arrange in a circle, hence the name “ugat shoshanim”, rose cake.

The great thing about baking a babka this way is that you get more of the softest delicious inner part of it (my kids always snatch the center) and less of the harder outside crust. And, the cake is bigger.

You can double any babka loaf recipe to fit to a 10” round pan for a “roses” babka, which is what I did below.

The fillings of the two recipes below are inspired by the High Holidays coming upon us pretty soon. You can see instructions below for making the babka ahead of time and freezing it until the holiday, which can save some hassle later.

Honey, orange and hazelnut babka

Recipe by Vered GuttmanCourse: DessertCuisine: Ashkenazi, Jewish, IsraeliDifficulty: Difficult

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hours

minutes

Honey, orange and hazelnut babka (as well as bitter orange, marzipan and date babka) are perfect for serving on Rosh Hashanah. The best thing? you can prepare the babka today and freeze it in the pan before you bake it (wrap multiple times with plastic wrap). When you’re ready to bake, thaw unbaked babka in the fridge overnight, then let it stand at room temperature for an hour and bake as instructed below.

Roasted hazelnuts are available at Trader Joe’s but you can easily roast them yourself at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until golden-brown, shaking the pan occasionally.

Candied orange peel or slices are available, again, at Trader Joe’s, at Middle Eastern and some kosher markets, and online. It’s a great ingredient to add to the dried fruit shelf in your pantry (yes, you should have one!), and can be chopped into cakes and used to top yogurt and substitute raisins or cranberries in any recipe. Candied orange peel adds its recognizable bittersweet wonderful taste to any of these dishes.

I highly recommend using SAF Instant yeast (it’s available online and can keep for months in the fridge.)
When using instant yeast, you should skip the process of proofing the yeast.
If you’re using active dry yeast, start the recipe by proofing the yeast and continue as usual.

INGREDIENTS

For the dough
1 lb. (440 grams) all purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough
1 tablespoons SAF instant yeast (or 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon active dry yeast) See note above
1/2 cup sugar plus more for the pan
2 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
2/3 cups warm milk
12 tablespoons soft butter plus more for greasing
Grated zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
For honey-orange-hazelnut filling
16 tablespoons soft butter
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup honey
¾ cup roasted hazelnuts (see note above), chopped
½ cup chopped candied orange (see note above)
For brushing
1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS

If you’re using DRY ACTIVE YEAST, skip to instruction number 2.
If you’re using INSTANT YEAST, make the dough using a stand mixer with the dough hook. Put flour and yeast in the mixer’s bowl and mix with a fork. Add sugar, then turn mixer on medium-low speed and mix for a minute. Add eggs and milk and continue to mix for about 2 minutes, until well incorporated. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the flour from the sides using a spatula and continue to mix. Add butter, a tablespoon at a time, then add lemon zest and salt. Turn speed to medium-low and mix for 8 minutes. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides as needed. The dough is very soft, but don’t be tempted to add more flour into in.
Skip to instruction number 3.
If you’re using DRY ACTIVE YEAST you need to proof it first. Put ½ cup warm milk, the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar in a glass and stir briefly. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it visibly foams.
To make the dough use a stand mixer with the dough hook. Put flour in the bowl and make a well in the center. To the well add yeast mixture, the rest of the sugar, eggs and the rest of the milk and mix for about 3 minutes on medium-low speed, until well incorporated. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the flour from the sides using a spatula and continue to mix. Add butter, a tablespoon at a time, then add lemon zest and salt. Turn speed to medium-low and mix for 8 minutes. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides as needed. The dough is very soft, but don’t be tempted to add more flour into in.
Remove bowl from stand mixer. Using a spatula, transfer dough into a lightly floured large bowl, cover in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature, preferably in a warm space (near the oven, for example) until dough almost double in volume, about 2 hours.
Check the dough, on a hot day it may be too soft at this point, and therefore hard to work with. Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling.
In the meantime, make the filling. In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar and salt and set aside.
Butter liberally two 8” x 4½” loaf pans OR one 10” cake pan and sprinkle sugar at the bottom.
Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin.
If you’re making two loaf-size babkas, divide dough into 2 (the dough weighs about 2 pounds, so divide it into two 1-pound portions). Sprinkle dough with a little flour and roll into an approximately 10-inch by 15-inch rectangle. Spread half the sugar-butter filling all over using an icing spatula, drizzle half the honey then sprinkle with half the hazelnuts and half the candied orang. Roll up dough jelly-roll style, starting with the short side. Gently cut the log in half lengthwise, leaving the top connected. Twist both sides over each other, making sure the cut side is on top and carefully transfer into the loaf pan. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
If you’re making one 10” babka, roll the dough in one piece into a 28” x 15” rectangle. Spread the sugar-butter filling, drizzle honey on top, sprinkle with hazelnuts and candied orange and roll up into a long log, starting from the long side. Gently cut log into 7-9 short logs (about 3 inches each) and transfer them, cut side up, into a 10” round spring form. (See photos.)
Cover with towel and leave to rise in a warm place in your kitchen for about 1 hour.
10. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Brush babkas with beaten egg. Bake babka loafs for 45-50 minutes, and round babka cake for 55-60 minutes, until golden brown on top. It’s important not to over bake the babkas, as they will dry on the inside. Touch the surface in the center of the babka to make sure it’s almost stable, but not completely firm. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes (if you can) before serving.
Alternative babka filling for the dough recipe above: Bitter orange, marzipan and dates: Mix 12 tablespoons soft butter with 1 cup bitter orange jam and ½ cup ground almonds. Spread over dough. Crumble 4 oz. marzipan on top and sprinkle with 6 chopped dates. Continue with the recipe as instructed above.