Is Babka a Cake or the Love Child of Chocolate & Bread?

Babka is an Ashkenazi specialty that was in all likelihood originally made from excess challah dough on the Sabbath. Some say it originally came from Jews in Spain while others think it’s more likely related to the French pain au chocolat. Like challah, it is braided and made from a rich yeasted dough, but unlike challah, it is filled and glazed with a sweet syrup. While chocolate babka has grown in popularity in recent years, it has also continued to evolve. New variations include different shapes, glazes, fillings and more.

Babka was best known in Jewish communities in the US but gained in popularity in the 1980s and after an iconic Seinfeld episode from 1994 where Jerry and Elaine got thwarted in their pursuit of chocolate babka at the neighborhood bakery. Interestingly, chocolate was an American addition and not found in the European versions which typically used cinnamon or fruit jam.

In the late 2010’s, Instagram became flooded with images of chocolate babka from professional and amateur bakers (and eaters) worldwide. In 2016 chocolate babka recipes were featured in both Food & Wine and Bon Appetit magazine.

Bakey Boston babkas photo credit Daniel Lailah

Modern Babka

It’s no surprise that such a delightful confection evolved to be so highly sought after. “Why is babka popular? It’s chocolate and bread. Bread and anything is popular–if you think about it cheese and bread, it’s pizza! But chocolate and bread, that is the thing,” says Uri Scheft, the Israeli Danish baker who owns the renowned Lehamim Bakery chain in Israel, co-founded the renowned Breads Bakery in New York City, and opened Bakey in Boston in September 2021. Breads Bakery is often cited as the birthplace of “modern” chocolate babka.

Sliced chocolate babka from Bakey Boston photo credit Daniel Lailah

Babka origins

Babka has indeed changed since I was a kid picking up treats at Zabar’s on New York’s Upper West Side before visiting relatives. Says Scheft, “It used to be traditionally very dense with a long shelf life.” At Bakey, “we wanted to make a very fresh product, we sometimes bake babka more than 10 times a day.” They use a laminated dough similar to croissant dough to create a flaky airy crunchy pastry, filled with hazelnut spread, then a layer of “high-end” Barry Callebaut dark chocolate chips. “The shop is located in a tourist area and a lot of visitors say ‘What is babka?’ Then they take a small bite, do a U-turn, and come right back in.”

Like challah, babka is always twisted or braided, but those braids can be freeform, or in a loaf, a ring, a wreath, or a star, the elaborate variations showing off the layers of bread and filling within. The original round, kugelhopf-style shape might explain the name babka, according to Scheft, who says the name may have come from an endearing term for grandma, because the cake looks like her flowing skirt.

Variations on Chocolate Babka

Shimi Aaron has recently gained a reputation as the King of Babka, at least on the West Coast. His LA business skyrocketed during the pandemic–he baked 250-300 babkas a week out of a friend’s kitchen for pickup. His elegant Classic Chocolate Babka gets filled with 65% chocolate ganache and chopped hazelnuts, then scattered with caramelized orange peels, rose petals, and a cinnamon star anise glaze for a taste of his native Israel. “If you slice other babkas, you will see they look like challah bread, there’s more bread than chocolate. My babka has an even amount of chocolate and dough.”

In Chicago, Mindy Segal calls up “my tradition, my heritage, my Eastern European background” to create her widely craved Hot Fudge Babka at the brand new Mindy’s Bakery, which opened in July 2022 after she closed her restaurant, Hot Chocolate. “We use brioche dough, and hot fudge made from unsweetened chocolate in a recipe taught to her by Judy Contino of Bittersweet Pastry.”

Shimi Aaron's babka photo courtesy Shimi Aaron

How to Make Babka

Babka with tons of fine layers is made in bakeries using a sheeter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a decent version at home. If you decide to take on the challenge of baking babka, I recommend Smitten Kitchen’s Better Chocolate Babka recipe for the perfect combination of Deb Perelman’s East Coast know-how and Yotam Ottolenghi’s Israeli roots, as she bases her recipe on his delicious Chocolate Krantz Cakes from Jerusalem: A Cookbook. Take your time and use the best ingredients, and you may become the next Instagram #babka sensation.