and I will, at some vague time in the future. However, yesterday I was looking at some photos of a delicious sounding cake that a friend sent to me, and I realised that it looked very much like a cake which used to be somewhat of a staple in my family… It’s a very versatile cake, and stupidly easy to make – here’s the recipe!
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Babka
This is a type of Polish Tea Cake – I think the “authentic” Babka recipes use yeast, but this one doesn’t, so it’s not really a traditional Babka, and it’s not quite as “chewy” as an original Babka. But it is really yummy. This particular recipe was given to my mother by the mother of a friend of hers, who had escaped out of Poland as the Nazis were marching in. This cake is incredibly easy to make, and goes down well with everyone – there are lots of variations you can make, too!
You will need:
114 g (4 oz) of melted butter
1 and a ½ Cups of white granulated sugar
2 Cups of Self Raising Flour
3 eggs
½ a Cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla, lemon, or almond essence
And this is what you do:
Mix ALL the ingredients except the flour in a Vitamizer or Blender, blend well, then add it to the sifted flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Place the mixture in a greased ring tin and bake in a 185°C (370°F) oven for about 30 minutes. Test with a skewer – if the skewer comes out clean, the cake is ready, however it may take 45 minutes or longer, depending on your oven. Invert onto a cake rack to cool, then put the cake onto a plate and dust with icing sugar.
Variations:
Only half fill the greased pan with the mixture. Place teaspoonfuls of (dry!) Nescafe, or (dry!)Cocoa powder and sugar*, or Cinnamon and sugar, or chopped walnuts, or chopped mixed peel (teaspoons of marmalade are really nice, too) – or whatever you like (within reason!) evenly around the tin on top of the mixture. Do try not to get any of these dry mixtures on the sides of the tin, as it tends to make the cake stick to the tin when you’re trying to turn it out! Carefully pour the rest of the mixture over your sprinkles and bake as above.
To serve:
Cut into generous slices and serve with coffee or tea as a special afternoon treat – or whenever you feel like a little something….
*Warning!
Do not, under any circumstances, use powdered Drinking Chocolate, unless you want a horrible cake with yukky lumps! You can, however, dust the finished cake with Drinking Chocolate instead of the icing sugar!