What makes a good babka? and other questions about traditional Jewish desserts

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I occasionally buy babkas or rougalas (sp?) and the like, but I didn't grow up with them and don't have any theory about what they should be like. I can figure out what I like, of course, but what would be some things to look for in traditional Jewish desserts of various sorts?

― RS £aRue (rockist_scientist), Friday, 8 April 2005 23:48 (twenty years ago)

Damnit, I thought it said "What makes a good bukkake!" *le sigh*

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Saturday, 9 April 2005 00:02 (twenty years ago)

a good babka should taste like slightly stale bread. an even better babka will have chocolate in it!

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 00:25 (twenty years ago)

I grew up with Zabar's cinnamon bubkas. MMMMMMMMM- they are amazing. I don't recall them tasting at all like stale bread, so maybe they aren't very authentic. My favorite Jewish dessert is hamentoshen, which are the triangle shaped cookies with jelly that you make for Purim. My family isn't jewish, but there's an amazing Jewish bakery/deli by our house in NJ so I grew up eating all their food.

― lyra (lyra), Saturday, 9 April 2005 01:15 (twenty years ago)

a good hamantashen is all about a flavorful cookie -- otherwise you may as well just be eating spoonfuls of jam out of the jar. remember, sugar is your friend.

good rugelach: buttery outside, a little egg wash for lustre, crystallized sugar for sweetness and crunch. inside: moisture.

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 01:17 (twenty years ago)

jelly? jam? cookie?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 9 April 2005 01:21 (twenty years ago)

I've never had any traditional Jewish desserts. I've never had the opportunity.

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Saturday, 9 April 2005 01:29 (twenty years ago)

yes, gabbneb. what would you call them?

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 01:30 (twenty years ago)

Jewish desserts don't do much for me. Some Matzoh ball soup and a corned beef on rye, now we're talkin.

― Ian John50n (orion), Saturday, 9 April 2005 01:35 (twenty years ago)

http://www.silvervisions.com/Media/traditon/wltr131.jpg

― you better believe it (you better believe it), Saturday, 9 April 2005 07:01 (twenty years ago)

is that lekvar?

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 09:55 (twenty years ago)

where is the love for chocolate macaroons?

http://www.godiva.com/assets/images/recipes/326-z.jpg

chocolate matzoh?

http://www.kathrynbeich.com/ProductImages/Passover/Small/406.jpg

hanukah gelt?

http://jewishbazaar.com/BAZAAR/TN/RLCH-GELT-nosh.jpg

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 10:06 (twenty years ago)

joyva candies?

http://www.bulkfoods.com/pictures/2028_chocolate_raspberry_rings.jpg

i'd say "halvah" too, but i'm not so crazy about it.

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 10:09 (twenty years ago)

I love hamantaschen, but only the poppy-seed kind. I love halvah too, and macaroons.

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 9 April 2005 13:08 (twenty years ago)

What's that sort've strange, boxy thing the Hassidim seem to wear on their foreheads during prayer (I've witnessed this on airplanes).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 9 April 2005 15:58 (twenty years ago)

...oh, whoops. I thought the thread title said traditional Jewish dress.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 9 April 2005 15:58 (twenty years ago)

Is there such a thing as a traditional Christian dessert? A traditional Episcopalian dessert?

― caitlin (caitlin), Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:01 (twenty years ago)

I looked at a recipe for hamantaschen. It has orange juice (3 tsp.: 3 1/4 c. flour) in it! And vanilla (2 tsp.)! (There was a girl next to me at the gym today who smelled very good - not like orange juice and vanilla but maybe like someone who might make hamantaschen but maybe sort of younger really like she might help her mother or her grandmother. And she was wearing glasses with heavy black frames!)

― youn, Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:11 (twenty years ago)

Is there such a thing as a traditional Christian dessert? A traditional Episcopalian dessert?

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

2 entries found for Jew.
To select an entry, click on it.

Main Entry: Jew
Pronunciation: 'jü
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French gyu, from Latin Judaeus, from Greek Ioudaios, from Hebrew YehudhI, from YehudhAh Judah, Jewish kingdom
1 a : a member of the tribe of Judah b : ISRAELITE
2 : a member of a nation existing in Palestine from the 6th century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.
3 : a person belonging to a continuation through descent or conversion of the ancient Jewish people
4 : one whose religion is Judaism

9 entries found for Christian.
To select an entry, click on it.

Main Entry: 1Chris·tian
Pronunciation: 'kris-ch&n, 'krish-
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin christianus, adjective & n., from Greek christianos, from Christos
1 a : one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ b (1) : DISCIPLE 2 (2) : a member of one of the Churches of Christ separating from the Disciples of Christ in 1906 (3) : a member of the Christian denomination having part in the union of the United Church of Christ concluded in 1961
2 : the hero in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

In other words:

Jews = a people who happen to follow a religion called Judaism
Christians = Christians

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)

omg, I want all of these desserts. right now! Also: anything with poppyseeds in it. As with Indian sweets, I only know the names of a few things, so at the counter I just end up pointing to things and saying "this one, this one and this one, please". It gets the job done, but I feel a bit rude/dumb.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:27 (twenty years ago)

Is there such a thing as a traditional Christian dessert? A traditional Episcopalian dessert?

most jews as we know them today have their roots in eastern europe. however, not all eastern european people are jews. their culture is different. the culture of the soviet union was especially different. so "jews" is pretty self-explanatory.

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:48 (twenty years ago)

(do you really not know this, or are you just trying to be difficult?)

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:49 (twenty years ago)

Being annoying and awkward comes naturally, to be honest.

― caitlin (caitlin), Saturday, 9 April 2005 19:53 (twenty years ago)

to me, what makes a good babka are those buttery little crumbs on the top.

TS: chocolate or cinnamon babka?

i vote chocolate! seinfeld be damned.

― AaronK (AaronK), Saturday, 9 April 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

ooh yes buttery little crumbs

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 9 April 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

I don't use orange juice/orange peel in hamantaschen. Vanilla, yes I think so.

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 9 April 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

There's no place to buy bubka's that I know of in Seattle (obviously please post addresses if you know otherwise), and now i'm craving one. Or hamentoshen, but I know how to bake those... which I might end up doing tomorrow.

― lyra (lyra), Sunday, 10 April 2005 01:51 (twenty years ago)

i vote chocolate! seinfeld be damned.

Didn't Jerry want the chocolate babka, but had to settle for the "lesser" cinamon babka?

― nickn (nickn), Sunday, 10 April 2005 04:12 (twenty years ago)

a good babka should taste like slightly stale bread.

I don't think I understand. What's good about slightly stale bread?

― happy fun ball (kenan), Sunday, 10 April 2005 04:50 (twenty years ago)

if you have to ask...

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 10 April 2005 04:52 (twenty years ago)

what i mean is, babka isn't supposed to be soft and fluffy, it's supposed to require a little dental elbow grease to gnaw through it. there should be a clear distinction between the dry parts and the moist parts.

― jody the country girl doll (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 10 April 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

Alex – those little boxes are called tefillin. They're used for morning prayers.

Tefillin – Wikipedia

http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t309/T309784A.jpg

― you better believe it (you better believe it), Sunday, 10 April 2005 12:11 (twenty years ago)

I made a babka for a coworker who was feening for one and complaining that she couldn't find one in Portland. But I don't think I've ever had it myself, so I was just going by the recipe I had. She was thrilled (and I thought it was pretty damn tasty) but when I asked her how "authentic" it was she said it should be "less flakey more cakey". And I've checked around (and asked on ILCooking) and I guess most recipes use just egg yolks rather than the whole egg, which would be more cakey. But anyway, this babka came out almost like challah, crumb-wise. What should the texture be?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 23 April 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)

challah sounds about right to me!

― AaronK (AaronK), Sunday, 24 April 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

otm

― my friend flicka (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 24 April 2005 12:36 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

all i have eaten today is rugelach and coffee
it just happened
i have a few regrets

― rrrobyn, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:07 (eighteen years ago)

Jewish foods are more foreign to me than any foreign foods, ie I know Vietnamese and Korean foods way better than foods on Seinfeld.

― Abbott, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:08 (eighteen years ago)

They've just never been sold anywhere I've lived.

― Abbott, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:08 (eighteen years ago)

MMMMMMMM Rugelach. I wish I had some now.

― ENBB, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:10 (eighteen years ago)

they are sold 10 steps from the bus stop of the bus i had to take this morning! but usually i take the metro, which has nothing delicious even within 100 steps of it.

― rrrobyn, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:13 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.ahavathbethisrael.org/delidays.htm

― gabbneb, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:13 (eighteen years ago)

rosemont metro? i've always been kind of intrigued by the cheapo restaurants across the st from it... there's a vietnamese place

― s1ocki, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:18 (eighteen years ago)

When you're rolling out the dough,
Just make sure you roll it slow.
If you make the dough too quick,
Bibbibabkas make you sick

When you pour the filling in
Just make sure you wear a grin.
When you smile on what you bake
Bibbibabka turn out swell.

― one love, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:32 (eighteen years ago)

hm
well there is no bakery. but i guess all the people in those giant factory/warehouse/call-centre buildings gotta eat, right? there are probably cheapo cafes and etc inside those buildings. maybe i should be a better person about that whole zone but i'm always 'gotta get to work' or 'gotta get home'. it is not the most hospitable corner in general.
xpost

― rrrobyn, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:34 (eighteen years ago)

no it is defly kinda horrible

― s1ocki, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:34 (eighteen years ago)

sometimes i get off at laurier b/c i can't deal with it

― rrrobyn, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:44 (eighteen years ago)

me too!!!

― s1ocki, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:47 (eighteen years ago)

though i like crossing the tracks

― s1ocki, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:47 (eighteen years ago)

haha! i'm glad to know other people feel the same way! i have had my forehead almost frozen off walking over the overpass in winter omg

yeah train tracks are the best in the morning esp when it's sunny out - so quiet and weird. not so much at night in the dark and cold

i have more rugelach here but am over it now :/ now i just want vegetable soup

― rrrobyn, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:53 (eighteen years ago)

Bahahaha one love, I'm not sure Myposians were Jewish, tho good Mypos cuisine is srsly lacking around here too.

― Abbott, Monday, 12 November 2007 23:57 (eighteen years ago)

Are you at the same place, Rrr? I like those train tracks.

― jaymc, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 00:15 (eighteen years ago)

myposians were pretty much greek cypriot jews weren't they? seems few want to risk having the recipe turn out wrong in this post-9/11 world.

― one love, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 02:12 (eighteen years ago)

o fuk now I really want rugelach. Where am I going to find them at 9:30 pm?

― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 02:28 (eighteen years ago)

Or having to stuff all of the bibibabkas into their mouths in an auspicious 'homage' to a certain chocolate factory.

― Abbott, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 03:26 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, that's pretty wonked.

― one love, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 03:30 (eighteen years ago)

Oh good, I thought I told my babka-making story on here at some point.

― Casuistry, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 05:51 (eighteen years ago)

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