When dessert is named after grandma, you know it’s good.
Babka, lovingly named for the Eastern European Bubbes who shaped and filled the pastry for generations, has long been enjoyed by Jewish children and grandchildren the world over.
So when did babka leave Bubbe’s kitchen and make its way to foodie main street?
Babka vendors run the gamut from Jews to non-Jews, religious to secular, mass produced to small batch specialty stores. The swirls of this flavor-filled pastry are able to unite babka connoisseurs and newbies alike- a trend that’s both heartwarming and delicious.
Perhaps the mass blogosphere frenzy surrounding Trader Joe’s tremendously beloved chocolate babka played a part. A simple Google search for “Trader Joe’s babka” sends you to an overwhelming display of the baked good obsession. Take Bridget from Bake At 350- a Midwestern babka newbie who only knew of the pastry from an old Seinfeld episode. After taking home Trader Joe’s offering, Bridget became a babka fiend, and she wasn’t alone. Trader Joe’s brought this kosher bakery special into the homes of the masses, and raving five star reviews ensued.
Since 2014, kosher chocolate babka has been sold in every Trader Joe’s across the United States. In response to my questioning of the popular grocer on their colossal babka success, Trader Joe’s responded, “We believe that customers "vote" on what they love and want to see in our stores with their dollars.”
Hear, hear! As long as babkas keep dropping into Trader Joe’s carts, they’ll keep selling the delicious treat.
But can mass produced babka really live up to Bubbe’s confections? Enter the rise of specialty babkas and online tutorials.
Chef Shimi Aaron, an Israeli-born, LA-based chef, has made it his mission to produce artisanal babkas for a sophisticated palette.
Chef Shimi’s sephardi background (a mix of Egyptian, Iraqi and Yemenite Jewry) doesn’t lend itself to babka baking memories. While his home was always full of food and middle eastern flavors, it wasn’t until he spent extended time in London as an adult that he was exposed to babka as a popular dessert. He saw his cousin’s nanny baking the treat and was instantly hooked.
“I was really fascinated by the aesthetics of it- the taste of course too, but the technique and aesthetics is what drew me in and fascinated me. I got the recipe from her- it wasn’t great to be honest, I took it from there.”
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Soon after babka entered his life, Chef Shimi moved to LA and started posting his babka experiments to Instagram. Before long his gorgeous works of art were being noticed. He ran Zoom workshops for up to 80 people at a time- inspiring his audience with the exceptional flavor and exquisite designs of his babkas. He’s been hired to create his unique babkas directly in customers homes to account for their special dietary needs- including vegan and kosher.
Chef Shimi has received praise for topping many of his babkas with unexpected elements like orange peels and rose petals, flavors he adapted from his humble beginnings as the child of frugal Middle Eastern immigrants.
“For me these choices came naturally,” Chef Shimi explained. “I don’t like candies and artificial flavors, but as a child I used to collect orange peels from my neighbors to make orange candies with my mom. The rose petals, besides being beautiful and adding color, remind me of my grandmother, who used rose water as perfume because they were poor.”
“I’m very proud to be able to have a piece of the success of babka in the world,” shared Chef Shimi. “It makes me very proud as an Israeli and as a Jew.”
As to what has brought babka to the wider culinary arena in recent years, Chef Shimi explained, “People love pastries- and everything has its time- sourdough bread and croissants, for example. It was the right moment for babka. Everyone wanted to know how to make babka- the world is fascinated by Jewish and Israeli food!”
That fascination garnered over 7.5 million views and over 4,000 comments on Binging with Babish’s Seinfield inspired video highlighting babka.
The comment section was alive with babka-newbies rejoicing in their fresh baked discovery.
Clearly, the second part of your life can begin when babka enters the scene.
A follow-up to Binging with Babish’s babka video reached over one million views and nearly 1,000 appreciative comments.
Don’t worry, Sue, the babka addiction hit you and about a million other Trader Joe’s customers.
Tye Sule, a pastry chef who went to online culinary school (#covid) shared his first babka exploits to his large social following. While he wasn’t assigned babka as his weekly bake, he couldn’t help but get his hands into the dough. Good call, Tye.
His comment section too was ablaze with babka fans, new and old, declaring their mouthwatering approval.
So while we don’t know exactly who to thank for the rise of babka, it’s safe to say appreciation is in order to a motley line up of classic sitcom writers, quirky national grocers and creative social media influencers. But most importantly, we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to the baba’s behind the babkas, who likely chatted in Yiddish as they expressed the nearly universal Jewish Bubbe love language: feeding the best to their family and friends.
Bake ‘em or buy ‘em- just remember to ask each new babka taste tester to try to settle the decades old debate: cinnamon or chocolate?
