A babka is a sweet braided bread which originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine.[5][6][7][8] It is popular in Israel (often referred to as simply a yeast cake: עוגת שמרים)[citation needed] and in the Jewish diaspora. It is prepared with a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as chocolate, cinnamon, fruit, or cheese, then rolled up and braided before baking.
Babka developed in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe in the early 19th century.[citation needed] Extra challah dough was rolled up with fruit jam or cinnamon and baked as a loaf alongside the challah.[3] Chocolate was not originally used, as it was not generally available; the chocolate babka was likely a mid-20th century American development.[9] Its name (though not necessarily the dish itself) may be related to a type of Easter cake popular in Poland and Ukraine known as baba or the diminutive babka, which means "grandmother", related to the Yiddish bubbe.[3]
Although the Polish and Ukrainian babka are mutually eponymous with their Jewish counterparts, the appearance and preparation of each babka is drastically different. The Eastern European babka draws its name from its tall, stout, fluted sides formed in a traditional pan, and reminiscent of a grandma's skirt. In comparison, the variant introduced to Western culture by emigres to New York consists of strands of rich yeasted dough interwoven and baked in a loaf tin.[7][8]
The Jewish babka was mostly unheard of outside of the Polish Jewish community until the latter part of the 20th century. European-style bakeries started to offer it in late 1950s in Israel and in the US. In addition to chocolate, various fillings including poppy seeds, almond paste, cheese, and others became popular, and some bakers began to top it with streusel.[3]
By the 1970s babka was a widely popular Ashkenazi Jewish delicacy in the greater New York City area. The most well known commercial bakery is Green's of Brooklyn. Ashkenazi New York Babka is typically more bread loaf shaped, and is different from Israeli Babka, which tends to be flatter and rectangular in form. While likely every Jewish bakery in that period had a Babka on offer, Green's became widely distributed at Kosher markets around the area and to other Jewish American communities till the 2000s and the popularity of babka has continued to increase across the United States.
In the 2010s, Israeli style Babka became available in New York. One example was from a popular Israeli bakery from Tel Aviv owned by Gadi Peleg,[10] Breads Bakery, opened a location and began to sell their Israeli style babka[11] filled with traditional fillings such as cinnamon, as well as non-traditional fillings such as Nutella, apple, and cheesecake, as well as a savory version with za'atar and feta cheese. They won several local awards for their chocolate babka.[12][13]