When I heard the term Babka Osterbrot, It didn't sound German. I had never heard of it. So when I researched it I found the term "Babka" meant "Grandma". So what does "Grandma" have to do with a loaf of Easter bread?
There is a pan called a Kugelhopf or Guglehopf pan that is very similar to a Bundt pan and many have said that it resembles the skirt that grandma wears when the cake is upside down. |
Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA" |
INGREDIENTS:
2 loaves
Ingredients:
2 packages active dry, or cake, yeast
2 cups scalded milk, lukewarm
8 cups sifted all-purpose flour, divided
5 egg yolks beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup currants (sultanas)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
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Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Kugelhopf Bundt Pan |
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk. Add 3 cups flour, mixing thoroughly.
Let rise until double (overnight).
In morning: Add egg yolks, sugar, butter, currants, vanilla, salt, enough
remaining flour to make a light dough. Reserve to rise in warm place until
double.
Turn out on floured board; knead well, using more flour if necessary to make
medium dough. Place in 2 large, greased loaf pans. Let rise to double bulk
once more. Bake 10 minutes at 400°. Bake 50 minutes more at 350°.
Notes
70 g chopped almonds and lemon zest, to taste, are nice additions. Some
bakers prefer orange zest. Candied lemon zest is another possibility.
Personally, I like to add some crystallized ginger.
The loaves, themselves, may be formed into rounds or braided. At last, baked
as is; or, either topped with a light icing or dusted with confectioner's
(powdered) sugar. A German tradition is to dust with vanilla sugar
(vanillezucker).
One can also braid the dough and work colored hard boiled eggs into the dough
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