Sweets

Christmas Jam

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Last Fall I came across a recipe for Christmas Jam. What was particularly intriguing to me was the use of cranberries and the warm spices. This is the time of year that fresh cranberries are available in the supermarkets, and I always buy several pounds so I can make whole cranberry sauce. I feel like chicken dishes need a side of cranberry sauce! When I canned my applesauce last Fall I threw in some cranberries along with the apples. The cranberries added a little color and gave it some nice pops of flavor. So this jam recipe really appealed to me. The tartness of the cranberries, in combination with the other berries, makes this jam particularly tasty. And when you add in the orange zest and the spices it does make this jam taste like a holiday!

Ingredients:

30 ounces of berries (I weighed out 10 oz of each)

Cranberries, blueberries, and strawberries

1 T orange zest

1/4 tsp each of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg

1 package sure jell

1/2 cup water

small pat of butter

4 cups sugar

Coarsley chop your fruit. I used my mini ninja, and they were perfect after a few pulses. You don’t want to purée them.

In a heavy stainless pot combine the chopped fruit, water, spices, orange zest, and sure jell. Add a small pat of butter to reduce the foam.

Over medium high heat bring the berry mixture to a full boil stirring constantly. Once it boils add the sugar and bring it back up to a boil stirring occasionally. Once it is back at a boil, boil for one minute without stirring. Remove the pan from the heat.

Ladle the jam into sterilized jars leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Seal with lids and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove the jars to cool on a towel and let them sit 24 hours. Make sure all of your jars have sealed before storing. If you have any that didn’t seal refrigerate them.

I got 8 jars per batch. Enjoy on toast, pancakes, as a filling for cookies, as an ice cream topping, or just a plain old PB&J. If you are inclined to share, add a festive ribbon or bow and you have a delightful holiday gift. Homemade is best!

NOTES: Stick with 10 oz of cranberries, but you could also use raspberries or blackberries. I also substituted ground ginger for the cinnamon in my second batch. I like my jam to have some chunks of fruit but, if you prefer, you can do a finer chop on the berries.

Chocolate Beet Cake

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We used to regularly go out for breakfast on Sunday mornings, but since we adopted Leo, our rescue pup, I’ve been making our bacon and eggs at home. After breakfast and clean up I enjoy watching a couple of shows on the food network…Mary Makes it Easy, The Kitchen, and, most recently, Girl Meets Farm with Molly Yeh. Molly lives on a farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border, and is a Juilliard music major turned food blogger. Her blog became very popular, and Saveur named her Food Blogger of the Year in 2015. This is a recipe from a recent episode of Girl Meets Farm that sounded very interesting, and I had to try it. We have a group of friends that we regularly get together with on Saturday nights, and we were celebrating three birthdays. It was a perfect time to try Molly’s Chocolate Beet Cake recipe. When I served it I left out the part about the beets because we have anti-veg folks as well as people who just plain old don’t like beets. I have made a chocolate sauerkraut cake and a chocolate zucchini cake before, but using beets never occurred to me. Save for a couple of slices the cake was devoured. Chocolate meets beets for a delicious smash up! Full credit for this recipe goes to Molly Yeh! Thank you for sharing your food Molly.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup (100 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder

1 cup boiling water

8 oz beets (1 1/2 cups) raw, peeled, and coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups heavy cream at room temperature

3/4 cup full-fat sour cream at room temperature

4 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1 3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil, soft but not melted

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar

zest of one orange

4 large eggs at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350° and grease three 8” round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. In a high-speed blender whiz together the cocoa powder and boiling water. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes to bloom the cocoa and allow the mixture to cool a bit.

Add the beets and blend to a smooth purée.

Add the heavy cream, sour cream, and vanilla and blend until just combined. Do not over blend.

In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour and baking powder and lightly stir in the espresso powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer cream together the butter, coconut oil, sugar, and orange zest on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Reduce the speed to low and add the dry mixture and heavy cream mixture in 2 or 3 alternating additions, mixing until mostly combined. Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish up the mixing, making sure to evenly mix without over mixing.

Distribute the batter among the 3 pans, spreading it out evenly with the bottom of a spoon or offset spatula.

Bake until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pans, then loosen the edges with a butter knife, and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If necessary level the tops of the cakes with a serrated knife. Once the cakes have cooled you’re ready to ice and assemble.

I used my standard cream cheese icing. Molly Yeh used a similar icing as well. If you prefer chocolate on chocolate that would be great too. Slice and enjoy.

NOTE: A great way to get vegetables into your kids, and even into non-veg adults.

I used melting chocolate and a piping bag to write the celebrants names, Patti, Chuck, and Chellie. I piped the names onto wax paper and kept them in the freezer until I was ready to serve the cake.

Caramel and Heath Bars

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My husband loves sweets, and Heath Bars are one of his favorite candy bars. So I modified a bar cookie recipe to incorporate toffee pieces with caramel, and they were a big hit. Here’s a bit of Heath trivia for you. Heath Bars were born in the USA. They were first manufactured in 1928 in Robinson, Illinois by two brothers, Bayard and Everett Heath. Their confectionery business was called Heath & Sons Inc., and the chocolate bars were marketed as “America’s Finest” with people traveling from afar to get some. When the Heath family sold the confectionary business and started a dairy farm, the brothers brought their candy making equipment with them. The dairymen delivering milk and cheese added Heath Toffee to the list of items customers could order. The Heath Bar also made an appearance in the supplies of fighters during World War II. Hershey began manufacturing Heath Bars in 1996.

Ingredients

12 T butter, melted

1 cup AP flour

1 cup long cooking oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

11 oz bag baking caramels

1/4 cup heavy cream

8 oz bag of heath bar pieces

Preheat your oven to 350 and line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper sprayed with Pam. Pour the baking caramels into a microwave safe bowl along with the heavy cream, and microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Once the caramel is melted set it aside. You can also melt your caramel stovetop in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the caramel pieces are melted and mixture is smooth.

In a medium size bowl combine melted butter with the flour, oats, brown sugar, soda, and salt.

Stir well to combine. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of a 8×8 pan using a spatula to even it out. Set the remaining mixture aside. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Sprinkle the Heath Bar pieces over the base.

Pour the melted caramel on top of the Heath Bar pieces. Scatter the remaining oat mixture as evenly as possible over the top.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack. Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing.

Cut into bars and enjoy.

NOTE: You can substitute chocolate chips or chocolate candy pieces like KitKats, Snickers, or Reese Peanut Butter Cups to equal 1 cup. You can see in the picture that I tossed in a few random pieces of KitKats. If your kiddos get too much chocolate this Halloween you know what to do…chop it up and make a pan of bars!

One of the tricks I’ve learned after years of making bar cookies is to always line my pan with parchment paper with an overhang. This makes lifting the bars out of the pan, cutting them, and cleaning the pan, SO MUCH easier.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

/ featherheadlady / 1 Comment

A few weeks ago on a Friday evening I decided to make a treat to send with my husband to a meeting he was attending the next day. Because it was late-ish I decided bars would be less time consuming than cookies. I looked through several recipes and modified a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I thought would work in a 9×13 pan. Initially I thought it might be a fail because as the bars cooled the center sank a bit and the sides seemed extra tall. But everyone loved them and they were gobbled up in no time. The side pieces are perfect for the people that love the crispy edge pieces, and the center is still soft and chewy for the people who, like my daughter, prefer center bites…like the cinnamon roll in the middle of the pan. Today I made another pan of these cookie bars to share with friends. Still less time consuming than individual cookies. Still have sides that are taller and crispier than the center. Still just as delicious.

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups (405 g) all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 T cornstarch

18 T of butter melted

1 1/2 cups brown sugar packed

3 eggs

1 T vanilla

3 cups of chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli and combine milk and dark chocolate)

Preheat your oven to 350 and line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper allowing for overhang. The parchment paper makes for easy clean up, no sticking, and the bars lift out easily for cutting.

Combine all of the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Set aside. Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar together with the melted butter.

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in the vanilla.

Dump the dry ingredients into the butter and egg mixture. Stir until combined. Set aside 1/2 cup of chips and stir the remaining 2 1/2 cups into the batter.

Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared pan. Use a spatula to even out the batter. Sprinkle the chips you set aside over the top.

If you’re into sweet and salty sprinkle some salt flakes on top of the batter. Bake for approximately 35 minutes. The top should be a nice golden brown.

Allow them to cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

NOTE: You can change up the chips based on personal preference…butterscotch, peanut butter, white chocolate, or any combination. This recipe would also be good with some chopped walnuts. I always freeze some individual bars and other desserts in case someone is looking for a midnight snack. These freeze nicely.

Key Lime Pie

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March 14th was Pi Day. My daughter texted me and asked if I had a piece of pie to celebrate Pi Day. I had not. She said she brought home a piece of strawberry rhubarb (one of my dad’s and my favorites), a piece of banana crème, and a piece of key lime. I also realized that I hadn’t had a paczki on Fat Tuesday either. To make up for those two dessert opportunity fails, I made a key lime pie for St. Patty’s day. Other recipes I’ve used for key lime pie have sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and eggs and require baking. This recipe is super simple and requires no baking. And it comes together quickly, especially when you use a pre-made graham cracker crust.

Ingredients

1 package of lime jello (regular or sugar free)

3/4 c boiling water

8 oz of room temperature cream cheese

3/4 c powdered sugar

1 1/2 c heavy cream

lime zest

4-6 T of fresh squeezed lime juice (I used key limes)

Graham cracker crust (your own or from the grocery)

In a small bowl whisk together the jello and boiling water. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese, lime zest, and powdered sugar until thoroughly combined.

Add the jello that has cooled to room temperature, the lime juice, and the heavy cream.

Beat at medium speed for a couple minutes, then increase the speed, and whip until light and fluffy. Using a rubber spatula put the mixture into your pie shell. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.

Slice and enjoy!

NOTE: I have also made this substituting lemon for the limes. While I haven’t tried it, I think you could easily change this up using raspberries or strawberries and coordinated gelatin. Always great to have a dessert that comes together so quickly and satisfies the sweet tooth without being too heavy or filling.

Apple Cream Pie

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This is a recipe I learned about from Amber, one of my daughter’s dear friends, and my surrogate daughter. Amber posted this pie on FB, and said she was never going back to “chunky lumpy apple pie.” So I asked her for the recipe which leads to another brief story.

She got the recipe from this post on Post Secret.

My first introduction to Post Secret was a dozen or so years ago when we were visiting our daughter in Chicago. She had been gifted a Post Secret book which I read cover to cover. Post Secret was the brainchild of Frank Warren who was working on a community art project. He asked people to anonymously mail him a postcard with one secret on it. He took his art project online, and it became widely popular. For a time there was a Post Secret ap, but that has since been taken down. I still occasionally see Post Secrets on Instagram.

Thanks to Post Secret the family secret is out of the bag. Now onto the recipe. With the exception of the type of apple I followed the recipe as it was written by Grandma. I did not have Granny Smith apples so I substituted Pink Ladies, and I used four apples instead of three because mine were not very large.

Ingredients:

3 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and grated

4 T of melted butter

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 T flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs beaten

Start out with a pie crust (homemade or from the grocery refrigerator section). Using a box grater, grate the apples into the pie crust.

Pour the melted butter over the apples. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Whisk in the milk and then the eggs. Pour the cream mixture over the apples.

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Slice, and enjoy warm with a dollop of whipped cream or a little ice cream. I used butter pecan gelato.

NOTE: Having made this for the first time I would do a couple of things differently. I usually think of recipes as guidelines that can be tweaked based on personal taste. I would cut the nutmeg down to 1/4 tsp vs. 1 tsp. It was too nutmeg forward for me. Granny Smith apples are much tarter than Pink Ladies but, regardless, I would cut the sugar back a bit. My husband however, who is the connoisseur of all things sweet, did not think the sugar level was too high.

I am glad the family secret is out and I will definitely make this again.

Apple Fritter Bread

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A couple days ago my friend Patti brought me a bag of Wolf River apples.  I had never heard of Wolf River apples.  No one else I asked had heard of them.  I’ve made a lot of pies, apple crisps, and apple sauce over the years, been to numerous orchards, and I’ve never met a Wolf River apple.  So I went where all curious people go…the internet.  Apparently Wolf River apples are one of the stars of an orchard in Northport Michigan.  People are said to travel from Detroit, Chicago, and even oversees to taste the long forgotten apple varieties at the Northport orchard including the Wolf River.  These apples are use mainly for cooking and are notable for their large size.  They are not the best eating apple, but they keep their shape when cooked and need very little additional sugar.

I learned something new.  And perhaps you did too.  Now that  I had the apples I wanted to use them for something, and  the next morning I spotted a recipe on FB for Amish Apple Fritter Bread.  I doubled the recipe and made two loaves so don’t be confused by my photos.  The bread is excellent!  The recipe comes from Fadma Akir’s Homecooking Page so I must give credit where credit is due.  The recipe is for a single loaf.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced apple (tossed with a little sugar and cinnamon to coat)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with Pam.  Peel and dice the apples and toss with just enough sugar and cinnamon to coat.

Measure out the brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

In a medium size bowl cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  (Remember, there are 4 eggs in the picture because I doubled the recipe.)

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir into the butter and egg mixture.  Stir in the milk.

Spread half of the batter in the prepared loaf pan.

Top with half of the apples, gently pressing them into the batter.

Repeat with the second half of the batter and apples.  Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on the top.

Bake for 60-70 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack.  Mix the glaze while the bread is cooling.

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 T room temperature butter

2 T milk

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together.  Once the bread has cooled for 30 minutes drizzle with the glaze.

NOTE:  I used 2 cups of apples per loaf.

The bread is very moist and kind of a cross between a quick bread and a coffee cake.  I used the Wolf River Apples but I think any good baking apple like Braeburn, Jonathan, Cortland or Northern Spy would work well in this recipe.

Lace Oat Cookies with Hazelnuts

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A few years ago my daughter gave me a cookbook for Christmas called Nordic Bakery.

I’ve made several recipes from this book including the one pictured on the cover (Blueberry Tart with rye base) as well as some excellent savory dishes like their Vegetable and Blue Cheese Tart which I’ve made several times.  It’s a very interesting collection of recipes.  For some time I’ve been wanting to try these Lace cookies.  I had visions of shaping them into a bowl and adding a small scoop of ice cream or whipped cream and berries.  Or rolling them into logs.  Neither of those things happened.  Maybe next time.  While they are definitely delicious, I found these a little extra challenging.

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter melted

2 T heavy cream

Drizzle of honey

1/2 cup caster sugar

3/4 cup rolled oats

2 T AP flour

1/4 cup raisins chopped

2 oz dark, bittersweet chocolate chopped

1/2 cup hazelnuts chopped

Reading the ingredients you may ask, “what is caster sugar?”  It is superfine sugar.  I didn’t have any, so I made my own using my coffee grinder.

Preheat your oven to 400 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Make sure your chocolate, nuts, and raisins are all chopped.

Put the melted butter, cream and honey in a small bowl and mix well.

In a larger bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together.  Pour the butter mixture into the bowl and stir well.

Drop one tablespoon of the batter per cookie onto the prepared baking sheet.  The cookies will spread.  I did four cookies per sheet.  Seems silly, I know.  But trust me.  Four cookies per sheet.  Also, flatten them out a bit with a fork before baking.

Bake until golden brown, between 5-10 minutes.  Check on them after 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing them from the baking sheet.  This will allow them to set up properly as they cool.

The book suggested creating shapes before the cookies have cooled by laying them over a cup (or small bowl) or draping them over a rolling pin and letting them set up.  I think my inability to shape my cookies was a lack of patience.  I slid the cookies off of the baking sheet and allowed them to cool on a wire rack making it difficult to even get them off the rack intact.  Next time I will be more patient.  The book also suggests storing them in an airtight container with greaseproof paper between each cookie.  Mine remain “stored” on the wire cooling rack and they get munched on as we walk by.

NOTE:  This recipe makes about a dozen cookies.  It also calls for 1 oz of white chocolate and 1 oz of dark chocolate.  I had no white chocolate so I used all dark chocolate.  The next time I make these I will be patient and shape them.  And when I do I will come back here and post more pictures.

Wacky Cake

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During this Coronavirus Pandemic we are all spending more time on the internet.  Food has become a preoccupation and, if we aren’t cooking, we’re on line looking for recipes.   A week or so ago I came across a post with this recipe for Wacky Cake.  This particular version is from a cookbook called “Really Cookin” by Carol Ferguson.  Credit where credit is due.  I messaged this recipe to my friend Georgia and asked if this was the same recipe she uses.  She said yes.  She has been making this cake for years and she always doubles the recipe.  It’s one of their family favorites.  The recipe was created as a result of rationing during World War II when milk and eggs were scarce.  If you research the recipe it’s also called Crazy Cake, World War II Cake, and Depression Cake.  One of the few cake recipes I’ve seen that has you use an ungreased pan and actually has you mix the cake right in the pan.  I did make a double batch  so that I could share one pan with our neighbors.  I mixed it in my mixing bowl and divided the batter between two ungreased pans.  But I get the logic of mixing the batter right in the pan…much less cleanup.

Ingredients Doubled:

3 cups AP flour

2 cups sugar

6 T cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 T white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups warm water (or coffee…I used coffee)

No mixer.  No bowl.  Simple directions.  Get out one 9×13 pan or 2 8×8 pans.  Or don’t double and just use one 8×8 pan if you want less cake to tempt you.  Preheat your oven to 350.  Combine all of your dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with a whisk or a fork.

Once the dry ingredients have been mixed, level off the top and make three wells.  Pour your oil in one, your vinegar in one and your vanilla in one.

Now pour your warm water or coffee over everything and mix thoroughly with a fork or whisk.

Put your pans in the oven and set your timer for 25 minutes.

Once the cake is done remove from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack,

When your cake has cooled completely you can dust with powdered sugar or ice with a ganache or a chocolate  buttercream.  I used a chocolate butter cream.

Slice and enjoy.

NOTE:  I can’t eat chocolate but I’m thinking this might also be good with a peanut butter icing or a vanilla butter cream.  I substituted warm leftover coffee for the water because I’m told that coffee brings out the rich chocolate flavors.

Would really have to search to find a cake recipe easier than this one.  And it will be perfect during our Coronavirus Pandemic if you are short of eggs and/or milk.

 

Babka

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During this Coronavirus pandemic many of us have been busy cooking and baking. The stores, at least temporarily, are out of yeast and flour. Fortunately we had a small stockpile. Last week my friend Jane and I were on voluntary quarantine with my daughter in Chicago. We decided baking bread was a good project to pass the time. Our first loaf of bread was an herb loaf that we apparently allowed to rise too long. It fell during baking and, while it tasted okay hot out of the oven, it was too dense and it later became croutons. A second batch of dough didn’t want to rise at all. We tried deep frying dough balls to simulate donut holes on the theory that anything tastes good deep fried. Wrong. Everything does not taste good deep fried. Our “donut holes” were overcooked on the outside and raw in the center. Even liberal dosing with cinnamon sugar didn’t help. Then we decided to make a Babka. Babka is a traditional Polish Jewish bread. In Polish Babka means old lady or grandmother. If I was a grandmother I wouldn’t mind being called Babka. Soft and sweet and smelling of cinnamon and vanilla. Babka is thought to have originated in the early 1800s when extra challah dough would be spread with cinnamon or jelly and rolled up before baking. The recipe we used is a King Arthur Cinnamon Babka recipe with golden raisins and pecans. Last week we made an initial babka run. I failed at reading the instructions correctly and we cut the dough wrong. It still tasted great! Once I got back home I made another loaf of babka. This time I knew how to properly cut the dough.

Dough Ingredients:

3 cups (361g) AP flour

2 tsp instant yeast

1/4 tsp cinnamo

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

5 T unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all of your dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl, starting with the lesser amount of water. With a wooden spoon mix all of the ingredients together until everything is moistened. If necessary add more of the water until the dough comes together. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. Remove the dough to a clean, lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and smooth. Place the dough into a lightly buttered bowl, cover, and allow the dough to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the dough is quite puffy.

While your dough is rising make your filling.

Filling Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

1 T AP flour

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup diced pecans

1/2 cup golden raisins


Just before you’re ready to shape the dough combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon and stir in the water and melted butter. Set aside.

Once the dough has risen place it on a clean, lightly floured surface and shape into a 9” by 18” rectangle that should be about 1/4 inch thick. If the dough is fighting you let it rest about 10 minutes, then stretch some more. I used my hands to shape the dough.

Smear the dough with the filling coming to within an inch of the edges. Sprinkle with the nuts and raisins.

Starting with the short end roll the dough gently into a log sealing the seam and ends.

Using a pair of scissors or a sharp knife, cut the log in half lengthwise, not crosswise.  You should have two pieces of dough, each about 10” long.  Take care to prevent too much filling from spilling out.  With the filling side up, twist the two pieces into a braid, tucking the ends underneath.  Place the twisted loaf into a lightly greased 9×5 loaf pan.

Whisk an egg with a pinch of salt and brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash.  Cover the loaf and let it rise until very puffy and crowned a good inch over the rim of the pan, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.  Toward the end of the rise time preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Now the bread is ready for the oven.  Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil during the final 15 to 20 minutes of baking.  The loaf should be a deep golden brown and the internal temperature should be about 195.

Remove the babka from the oven and immediately loosen the edges with a spatula or kitchen knife.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Slice and enjoy.

NOTE:  King Arthur suggests a topping (also known as supreming) consisting of:

2 T AP flour

1 T brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 T cold butter

Mix the topping ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle over the loaf before rising.  

I used the topping on one loaf but not on the other.  We also omitted the raisins in the first loaf.  As with so many recipes, it’s all a matter of personal preference.  

It seems like it would make excellent French toast but I haven’t tried that.  It is excellent briefly warmed in the microwave or oven.