This is the recipe for a yeast cake, also known as a Babbka, Babka or Ugat Shmarim in Hebrew. It is an Eastern European cake most well known among the Jewish community. Call it what you will this recipe makes between 4 and 6 long rolls of cake that can be frozen if they are not all gobbled up as they come out of the oven. It does take a bit of effort the first time you make them but the taste will keep you making it time after time. Don’t let the length of this recipe put you off, it is simple and easy. It can be filled with chocolate, dates or poppy seeds.

 

Ingredients:

 

Dough:

1kg White flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup oil (canola/sunflower etc.)

Approximately 3 cups lukewarm water

25g dry yeast/2 tbs fresh yeast

A beaten egg to brush on the cakes.

 

Filling:

Approximately 1 cup oil (canola/sunflower etc.)

1 cup cocoa

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

 

Syrup:

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.

Make the dough by mixing all the dry ingredients then adding the oil and water and kneed the mixture into a sticky dough.

Leave the dough to rise for about three quarters of an hour.

Split the dough into balls that fill the palm of you hand. You should get 10 balls, although I often manage to get another 2 balls out of the dough. It takes 2 of these balls for each yeast cake.

 

Mix the cocoa and sugar for the filling.

Roll out the first ball of dough into a square, the dough is sticky and once rolled out is quite thin.

Spread oil over the dough.

Sprinkle the cocoa and sugar mixture on to that.

Roll up the square into a sausage.

Do the same with another ball of dough, and then plait the two together.

Lay the cake in an individual oblong container for baking.

Brush the cake with egg.

Put in the oven for 20minutes/half an hour or until the cakes are a dark golden brown.

 

While the cakes are in the oven make a syrup on the stove by mixing together the sugar, water and lemon juice.

As the hot cakes come out of the oven cover them with the syrup. Be very generous with the syrup, as this is what gives then their moist quality.