in Cedarhurst, NY) and Levy’s (@levyskosher_hollywood) of Hollywood, FL (which we had frozen from our last trip and saved just for this occasion). They were all solid babkas and did not disappoint, especially since we were all on empty stomachs, having started this journey before 7 AM! Similar in their rich chocolate fillings and crumb topping, there were only subtle differences that made each unique in its own way. Levy’s babka was deemed a cross between kokosh and babka; it was a bit flatter with lots of layers drenched in chocolate, reminiscent of Israeli rugelach. Bakes and Steaks had solid height, generous crumb topping and rich chocolate center that was just on the edge of being oozy. Babkatoure's dense yeast dough had the least amount of chocolate filling, which Kayla loved and we all enjoyed their phenomenal maple cinnamon babka. Our first official brick and mortar stop was Patis Bakery; because of the early morning hour, the service took a while, but it was well worth the mega breakfast we had (which honestly distracted us from our true mission of the day). Full of brie egg toast, kippered salmon toast, authentic French cannelles (first I’ve ever triedcustardy, sugary amazingness) and spot on croissants, the babka almost became an after-thought. We all ordered at least one challah for shabbos and we were able to taste Patis’ bread-like babka lightly filled with their homemade Biscoff spread that provided subtle warm spice notes. This babka is great for those who enjoy a lighter, less-sweet pastry.
At this point we felt like we could go back home. (We had already noshed on two babkas in the car and ate a full Patis breakfast.) We journeyed on to Williamsburg, a mecca for all things heimish. Inspired to perhaps do a separate Williamsburg food crawl after stopping at a local Shabbos takeout joint, Greenfelds (where we bought kugel and deli salads because who has time to make Shabbos when doing a Friday babka crawl?), we found ourselves at Oneg Bakery, a real blink-and-you’llmiss-it kind of establishment. Oneg keeps their offerings minimal by offering fresh babka, rugelach and challah. We loved their simple version of babka; very tall and lightly layered with chocolate spread.
Oneg bakery closeup. Photo credit: Gary Lai @asynchronos.
Oneg excels at creating layers upon layers of dough. While Kayla enjoyed the lightly filled babka, the rest of us devoured the extra heavy version. At Oneg you can order babka to suit your taste. It is worth noting that Williamsburg is home to Green’s famous babka, "which is the brand synonymous with babka”, according to Quality Foods CEO Mattis Soffer. While we didn't have a chance to stop by, if you are in the neighborhood, you definitely should (and be aware that they have a neighboring pizza store with very decent New York style pizza.) Our final stop was a few miles away, in the heart of Flatbush, Redefined Coffee, a tiny 400 square foot coffee shop located in the entryway of an upscale children’s clothing boutique. The coffee here is astounding, but the babka is it’s secret treasure. It had both the ooze and the crunchy texture of chocolate (made using only Belgian chocolate), with a solid dough and great streusel topping. Everyone had a different opinion on which babka was the clear favorite, and while it is tough to declare a real winner (all babkas were good in their own right) there was one babka that was unanimously voted the richest, most decadent- the babka from Redefined. I would describe it as a babka meets a hot chocolate lava cake. There was no denying that the last babka in our crawl was deemed the one most worthy to travel for. It’s not surprising that our favorite babka was from the most inconspicuous locale. As they say, don’t judge a book by its cover.
Oneg bakery two babka varieties, light and heavy. Photo by @mikejchau for @foodbabyny.
Babka Types Dough Varieties: • Dense/cake-like texture • Fluffy • Butter or margarine or oil based
Height Options: • Tall Babka/about 6-inches • Short babka (not flat like kokosh), about 3-inches
Filling Options: • Light chocolate (sometimes chocolate hazelnut) spread • Rich chocolate spread • Added chocolate (chopped or chips) • Chocolate spread + sugar-cocoa combo (this combo provides a textural contrast to the filling)
Topping: • Streusel crumb • Simple egg wash
Patis bakery babka.
MAY/JUNE 2019
Fleishigs
87