THIS CLASSIC JEWISH PASTRY IS BUTTERY & INDULGENT
Babka is a sweet, braided yeast bread of Eastern European Jewish origin, made from an enriched brioche- or challah-style dough that is rolled with a filling, twisted, and baked in a loaf. It is most often swirled with chocolate or cinnamon, brushed with sugar syrup for a glossy sheen, and sometimes finished with streusel. Delicious hot or at room temperature, babka works equally well as a sweet breakfast or a luxurious dessert. But where does it come from, how is it made, and who makes the best? Here is everything you need to know.
Where Did Babka Originate?
Like many Jewish-American specialties, babka originated in Eastern Europe – Poland and Ukraine in particular – in the early 1800s. As a way to use extra challah dough, Jews there would roll up the dough with cinnamon or fruit jam and bake it alongside the challah.
Babka remained relatively unknown outside of Eastern Europe until the 1950s, when European-style bakeries in Israel and the United States began to offer it. By the 1970s, babka had become a mainstay at Jewish bakeries in the New York area, and while it’s made its way across the country since then, it remains most popular in and around New York City.
How Babka is Made
The babka that you’ll find in New York starts with a sweet, eggy, brioche-style dough that closely resembles the dough used to make challah. In order to give babka its signature braided shape, the dough is rolled out, spread with the desired topping, rolled up like a jelly roll, cut into strips, braided, and finally tucked into a loaf pan and baked.
Once it emerges from the oven, it’s brushed with sugar syrup to give it its signature sheen, and is occasionally finished with streusel. It’s served by the slice.
Israel has its own style of babka, which is made with laminated dough instead of challah-style dough. Laminated dough is made by layering dough with butter over and over again, and the resulting pastry is flaky and buttery – think a croissant or rugelach. The shape of Israeli babka can also differ from the standard loaf.
Read More: Jake Cohen Shipping His “Jew-ish” Bakery Classics Nationwide
Most Famous Babka Breads
If you want to try a fresh-baked babka for yourself (and trust us, you do!) but don’t have a Jewish bakery nearby, not to fear! Several of America’s most delicious and iconic babkas are shipping straight to your door on Goldbelly.
Brooklyn’s OG Babka: Green’s Babka
Using their Hungarian mother’s recipes dating back to the 1930s, Chana Green’s children opened a kosher Brooklyn bakery to honor her, called Green’s Bakery, in 1980. This family-run bakery is turning out more than a million babkas – in flavors including chocolate and cinnamon, as well as a unique round babka – every year.
“The Best Babka in NYC”: Breads Bakery
Located near Union Square, Breads Bakery makes New York’s most famous babka, widely regarded to be the best in the city. Available in both chocolate and cinnamon with walnuts & currant flavors, it has a crisp, burnished crust and is made with French cultured butter for an unbeatable buttery flavor.
A Beloved Classic: William Greenberg Desserts
Manhattan’s William Greenberg Bakery was founded in 1946, and today it’s renowned as the home of possibly the city’s finest black & white cookie. But loyal patrons know that its babka – available in both chocolate and cinnamon – are not to be missed. They start with a dough that’s been kicked up with sour cream, and it’s smeared with plenty of melted butter and brown sugar before being baked and finished off with a streusel topping.
Babka FAQs
Babka tastes rich and buttery from its enriched dough, with the flavor of its filling running throughout, most often chocolate or cinnamon-sugar. The inside is tender and flaky, the sides and bottom turn slightly crisp, and the top bakes up golden brown and crusty.
Babka is pronounced “BAHB-kah.” The name comes from a Slavic word meaning “grandmother,” a nod to the bread’s old-world, home-baked roots.
Babka is both. It is traditionally served as a dessert at holiday and family gatherings, but its sweet, bready character also makes it a popular choice for breakfast alongside coffee or tea.
Store babka wrapped tightly at room temperature for up to three days, or freeze it for up to three months. Because it is an enriched bread, it dries out faster than cake, so keep it well wrapped and warm slices before serving to bring back the just-baked texture.
Both use a similar sweet, eggy dough, but challah is a plain braided bread traditionally served on the Sabbath, while babka is rolled with a sweet filling, twisted, and baked in a loaf pan as a dessert bread.
In the mood to indulge in a babka all for yourself? Shop now and have it delivered straight to your door with Goldbelly!
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Wow — I never knew Israel had its own style of babka. Now I want to try it to see how it compares to the babka I’ve had before. Also, the birthday babka looks super cute! I just saw the Goldbelly video with Jake Cohen on YouTube where he talks about how it’s made, and now I’m drooling. Has anyone tried it? Is it as delicious as it looks? Does it really taste like birthday cake?