Babka wielkanocna
Easter Babka- Yield
- One 10-inch Bundt cake; 12 to 16 slices
- Active
- 45 minutes
- Total
- 5 hours, including rising and cooling
- Difficulty
- Advanced
The story
Babka wielkanocna is the tall yeast cake of the Polish Easter table, baked in a fluted ring mold and finished with icing or a dusting of powdered sugar. Babka also goes into the święconka basket that families take to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday, March 27, 2027. In the usual reading of the basket's contents, the sweet cake expresses joy that the Lenten fast is over.
The Easter babka proper is a yeast dough rich with butter and egg yolks, and Polish cooks keep it distinct from babka piaskowa, the plainer sand cake made without yeast. Older recipes called for dozens of egg yolks beaten with sugar. Today's versions use fewer, though still at least four eggs, and the finished cake should smell of vanilla and be light and fluffy inside. Raisins soaked in rum are a common addition, and a thin citrus glaze, here made with lemon, balances a crumb that is only lightly sweet on its own.
The dough needs two rises, so start in the late morning. Bake on Holy Saturday and slice it at Easter breakfast after the eggs and cold meats, with coffee or tea.
This recipe contains alcohol. It is meant for adults of legal drinking age.
Ingredients and method
The full recipe, with US and metric measures and stand-ins for hard-to-find ingredients, is part of the Easter edition. Buy it once and keep the PDF.
Want to try first? Barszcz biały is free to cook.