enly homemade slice of chocolatey goodness. I nodded to myself nostalgically as she said those words — my Shabbos morning coffees are missing that special something since my Babby passed away, and her homemade cakes are all but scrumptious memories. As Pessy continued yapping about this and that, I thought about that list, once written with such certainty. Because I knew that there, at the very top, in big, bold block lettering, was the first thing I had promised myself I’d never, ever do. Bake kokosh. Ouch. If I was aspiring to be half of what my Babby was, or to be a beloved Babby who bakes goodies for her grandchildren, I realized, I had better reassess #1 on my never-do list and start baking!
And this, my dear readers, was the beginning of the end of the Kokosh Saga. Without further ado, I can now (very!) proudly declare that my Things I’ll-Never-Do List will now become shorter, for I have mastered the art of The Kokosh. No, it will never taste like my Babby’s cake, or yours, but I did come pretty close, and that makes me happy enough. Dare I say, it tastes even better than those oozing babkas on the bakery shelves! In truth, I have no idea why in the world I’d put the baking of kokosh on my never-do list. It proved to be a simple, enjoyable and accomplishing feat, and I’m thrilled — and honored — to share the kokosh-baking journey with all of you.
Come and join me in my kitchen for a step-by-step visual on the magic of baking kokosh cake with less stress and no mess.
The recipe I finally settled on is an absolute winner. The dough is my mother’s recipe, the filling recipe is one my friend Miriam generously shared with me, and the crumble is a combination of a few recipes. When I received only rave reviews from the taste-testers who begged for seconds and thirds, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. First off, and most important, was choosing the day of the week that works best for me: I prefer to bake on a day when there’s not much cooking or baking that needs to be done. That eliminated Wednesdays and Thursdays, which are usually designated for baking and cooking for Shabbos. Fridays are usually out of the question, since there’s so much happening on Erev Shabbos, and Sundays… Sunday is my lazingaround, doing-errands kinda day. So that left Mondays and Tuesdays. On Mondays I like to prepare my suppers for the week, so Tuesday was the lucky day earmarked for kokosh-baking. Also, on Tuesday I have some help with my now-almost-seven-month-old, not-so-quiet and oh-so-yummy twin boys, which is the only way I can even think of baking anything, let alone kokosh cake. The day before I plan on baking, I make sure to have all the ingredients the recipe calls for in my house. Running out every few minutes because I’m missing this and that, or knocking on my neighbor’s door for a missing egg, makes me frazzled, discombobulated and usually causes some kind of mishap to occur in the midst of the baking process.
88 / THE MONSEY VIEW / April 29, 2020 www.themonseyview.com / 845.600.8484