Chocolate Babka

My Lithuanian family makes a potato cake that we call babka. It wasn't until much later in life that I realized it's not really babka.

A quick online search came up with more babka recipes than I can ever make in a lifetime.
Eventually I will get to a good mix of them all...

A co-worker of mine recently went to a Polish festival and tried cheese babka. She was going on and on about how delicious it was. I mentioned chocolate babka to her and her eyes got that really dreamy glazed look about them.
"Mmmm chocolate" is all she could say.

So, in my quest to authenticate babka, I decided to try my hand at Smitten Kitchen's version of chocolate babka. Since it does make three loaves, I will be a good co-worker and bring her a surprise on this coming Monday!

Ingredients:

1 ½ Cups warm milk (110 degrees)

2 (¼ oz each) packages active dry yeast

1 ¾ Cups (plus a pinch) of sugar

3 Whole large eggs (room temperature)

2 Large egg yolks (room temperature)

6 Cups all purpose flour

1 Tsp salt

3 ½ Sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)

2 ¼ Lbs semi sweet chocolate (finely chopped)

2 ½ Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp heavy cream

Streusel Topping

1 ⅔ Cup confectioner’s sugar

1 ⅓ Cup all purpose flour

1 ½ Stick butter (room temperature)

Directions:

1. Pour warm milk into a small bowl.

2. Sprinkle yeast and a pinch of sugar over milk. Let stand about 5 minutes.

3. In a bowl, whisk together ¾ cup sugar, 2 eggs, and egg yolks.

4. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture. Combine.

5. Mix until all the flour is incorporated.

6. Add 2 sticks butter and beat until incorporated

7. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth

8. Butter a large bowl, place dough in, and turn to coat

9. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside to rise 1 hour

10. Place chocolate, 1 cup sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl, stir to combine

11. Cut in remaining 1 ½ sticks butter until well combined. Set aside.

12. Grease 3 loaf pans, line with parchment paper.

13. In a bowl, beat remaining egg with 1 tbsp cream

14. Punch back the dough and transfer to a clean surface. Let rest for 5 minutes

15. Cut dough into 3 equal pieces. Keep covered with plastic wrap when not in use.

16. On generously floured surface, roll dough out into a 16 inch square that is about ⅛ inch thick.

17. Brush edges with reserved egg wash

18. Crumble ⅓ of the chocolate filling evenly over dough, leaving a ¼ inch border

19. Roll dough up tightly, jelly roll style, pinch ends together

20. Twist roll 5 or 6 turns

21. Crumble 2 tbsp filling over the left half of the roll.

22. Fold right half over the coated left half. Fold ends over and pinch to seal

23. Twist roll two more times

24. Let rolls stand in loaf pans while oven preheats to 350

25. Brush the top of each roll with egg wash

26. Crumble ⅓ of streusel topping over each loaf

27. Bake loves, rotating half way through, about 55 minutes

28. Lower oven temp to 325 and bake 15-20 minutes further until babkas are deep golden

Print

Ingredients

Streusel Topping Ingredients

Come party with me HERE!

Blynai (Lithuanian Pancakes)

My great grandmother was always in the kitchen.
She wasn't happy unless she was feeding someone. When one would walk in the door, she wouldn't say "hi", she said "are you hungry?".

A lot of Gram's food was typical Lithuanian. We grew up with it all, and our friends started loving it all too. The funny part was watching some people try to pronounce the names of some of the foods!

When I would spend the night, she used to make me these incredibly light, yet crisp pancakes.
As I located this recipe here, and tried them on my own...in the first bite, I knew. They were Gram's. This is what she made me all those years ago.

Yum.
Thank you Gram!

Ingredients:

1 Cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp sour cream

4 Large eggs (separated)

1 Cup milk

½ Tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks until light

2. Add flour, sour cream, milk, and salt. Mix until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff

4. Fold egg whites into the yolk/flour mixture.

5. Add a small amount of butter to a non stick skillet to melt

6. Portion batter in tablespoons onto skillet

7. Fry until golden, flip and fry the other side is golden

8. Serve hot with honey, syrup, or preserves

Print

This recipe was shared on:
Monday: Flour me with Love, Pioneer Momma, The Chicken Chick, Kitchen Table Art, New Mama Diaries, Call Me PMC, Adventures in Mindful Living, A Southern Fairy Tale, Jam Hands, Mommy on Demand, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Feeding Big, Inside Bru Crew Life, My Joy Filled Life
Tuesday: Mandy's Recipe Box, Chef in Training, Table for Seven, Yesterfood, A Peek into my Paradise, Cornerstone Confessions, Pint Sized Baker, The Road to 31, Kathe with an E, Gina's Craft Corner, Sweet Silly Sara, This Ole Mom
Wednesday: Dizzy Busy and Hungry, Wine and Glue, Lady Behind the Curtain, Crafty Allie, White Lights on Wednesday, Ginger Snap Crafts, Mom's Test Kitchen, Lemoine Family Kitchen, Jam Hands, Buns in my Oven, The Nourishing Gourmet
Thursday: Saving 4 Six, Whats Cooking Love, Sweet Bella Roos, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Embracing Change, Lamberts Lately, Sweet Haute
Friday: A Conquered Mess, Play Party Pin, Kiddie Foodies, The Grits Blog, Love Bakes Good Cakes, 30 Handmade Days, The Country Cook, This and That, Hungry Harps, Craft Dictator, Endlessly Inspired, Cooking with Curls
Saturday: Will Cook for Smiles, Angel's Homestead, Made from Pinterest, Six Sisters Stuff, Raising Memories, Yummy Healthy Easy

Caboosta (Cabbage Soup)

I am part Italian and part Lithuanian...this means I pretty much LIVE on bread, pasta, and potato. No Atkins diet in my future!

It's my mother's side that is Lithuanian, and we eat a LOT of really good Polish food.

This soup (forgive the not-so-specific) has been passed down from generation to generation. It's not fancy, it's not hard...it's just comforting and delicious!

It's so simple to make, even after years of making it, I still feel like I am forgetting something!

There are no extra spices, just salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredients:
Pork
One head of cabbage
One large can of crushed tomato
6 cups of Water
Bayleaf


Directions:
1. Pour water into a soup pot
2. Shred cabbage, add to pot
3. Dice pork, add to pot
4. Add tomato
5. Add bayleaf
6. Cook until pork is cooked and cabbage is tender

Print

You do want the liquid in the pot to reduce by a few inches...it will make for stronger flavors.

Not pictured: Salt and Pepper to taste

Beet Soup

Before I even post this, I apologize for the lack of amounts. This is one of those recipes that have never been written down. We all just learned to make it, standing by Nana's side.

For all of you who are saying "beets...ew!" don't knock it until you try it!

As far as peeling the beets, so many people have their own preferred methods. I peel them while raw with a potato peeler. It just works for me.
Also, there are different methods for the bacon. Some people like to fry and crumble their bacon before adding to the soup, I chop mine up small and add raw.

Nana’s Beet Soup

Ingredients:
1 bunch of beets
½ lb of bacon
Pinch of salt
Splash of vinegar
Half and Half

Directions:
Cook and peel your beets
Dice beets
Wash and chop the stem and greens
Fill a pot with water
Boil beets as well as chopped greens and stems
Add bacon and a splash of vinegar
Salt to taste
Serve as is, or add a dash of half and half


Printable

Yes officer, I promise you I was only making beet soup!

You can have it plain...or

Add your desired amount of cream.

(I l-o-v-e the color with cream in it!)

Come party with me HERE!