17 March, 2008

Babka, kulich, paska ... Easter coming up

Sometimes the internet is wonderful, but sometimes it can also be confusing.

As this will probably be our last Easter



in this part of the world, I wanted to try a homemade Russian babka cake and the paska tvorog cheese pyramid. You can spend days reading recipes that call the babka and kulich the same thing -- depending whether your family was from Poland, the Ukraine or Russia. And you can find recipes that use 9 cups of flour or a ga-zillion egg yolks.

Our housekeeper said what I made was a babka -- she's part Ukrainian. I think Russians call this cake kulich. It turned out great -- and is a repeat recipe. I had a medium sized fluted ceramic form, so I cut the recipe in half and put half in a glass loaf pan. I also made a "panettone loaf" which was a complete bust -- I don't think I kneaded it enough and it wasn't what I expected, and it literally feels like it weighs a ton.

The babka is now in the freezer, but here are the hot cross buns that got made, too:

I got a little carried away with the frosting!

Sewing/knitting this week: I don't think so! I have to go to PT 2x, buy a baby present, make another babka and a bunny cake, shop for Easter dinner, go to a concert, go to a brunch, go to a baby shower AND eat Easter dinner: why do I feel like I've gained 10 lbs already!

2 comments:

Heather said...

Oooh, looks like you do some lovely work! Thanks for dropping by my blog.

Guzzisue said...

hot cross buns with personalites, I like it. They look like an extended family.