Book review Wild


blueberry and almond babka loaf


The Sweet Polish Kitchen


By Ren Behan Pavilion Books (£26)


Honey, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, citrus, cher- ries and sweet whipped cheese – all ingredi- ents welcome in any baker’s kitchen. And especially that of Ren Behan, if her latest book Sweet Polish Kitchen is anything to go by. This is Behan’s second book, following


Wild Honey and Rye, a compilation of modern Polish recipes. In Sweet Polish Kitchen Behan draws upon her Polish heritage and trips to the country to deep-dive into all things sweet, offering 80 recipes, from celebratory cakes and home bakes to nostalgic treats. Those unfamiliar with Polish baked goods


would benefit most from this book, as it provides flavourful ideas for desserts inspired by a country that is often described as a cross- roads between East and West Europe. There are recipes for the traditional bundt


and a blueberry and almond babka, as well as many chocolate treats, including a choc- olate and honey layer cake (stefanka) and a chocolate, hazelnut and cherry torte (mar- cello), while traditional gingerbread cookies – katarzynki – take the form of small cakes spiced with cinnamon, cloves and allspice and slathered in melted dark chocolate. Behan describes how her favourite


filling for the traditional Polish folded dump- ling (pierogi) is mashed potato and cheese, but offers up instead a sweet cream cheese version, the filling seen again in her recipe for Polish cheesecake, or sernik. In her recipe for Krakowian-style bagels (obwarzanek Krakowski), she describes how this “bagel-pretzel” hybrid has been sold by street vendors for more than 600 years and even holds PGI status. Its simplicity is mirrored throughout the book – even the Car- pathian Mountain Cake (karpatka) is just choux pastry sandwiched with pastry cream, marma- lade and dusted with icing sugar and toasted flaked almonds, but the snowy peaks on the choux mounds make for a teatime treat that would also stand up as a celebratory dessert. Those with a sweet tooth, take note. These


recipes are simple to follow, yet her thoughtful details on the background of each will encour- age any baker to look further into Polish cuisine. By Caroline Baldwin


30 | The Caterer | 8 March 2024


The babka seemed to have some- thing of a resurgence over lock- down and, of course, it is a well-known staple treat within New York delis. The original rec- ipe is said to have originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. This type of babka (a sweet braided bread, as opposed to a fluted bundt) was likely taken by the diaspora to Israel, and beyond, establishing itself as a ‘yeast cake filled with chocolate, cinnamon and sometimes fruit’. I was interested to learn that in the early 19th century, challah dough was rolled up with jam and baked as a loaf and that the addi- tion of chocolate and other spices was a much later incarnation. Some say the word babka


comes from the Yiddish bubbe, also meaning ‘grandmother’. A babka made in this way, of twisted strands of dough baked in a loaf form, is different to my earlier recipes for a more cake-like babka, baked in a bundt tin and reminis- cent of a grandmother’s skirt. Rather than using chocolate,


I like to make mine with either a home-made preserve or, in this case, with a wild blueberry preserve. There are Polish and French versions of such a preserve in most supermarkets. Ground almonds add a little additional texture and another layer of fla- vour, but you could use finely chopped hazelnuts, instead. Poppy seed paste also makes a good alternative filling to jam.


Makes 1 loaf


350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 14g fresh yeast, crumbled (or 7g active dry yeast) 75g caster sugar 75ml lukewarm milk 2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk, beaten (save the egg white for the glaze) 1tsp almond extract


PHOTOGRAPHY BY NASSIMA ROTHACKER.


Grated zest of 1 orange 1tsp salt 75g butter, cubed, at room temperature A little sunflower oil, for greasing


For the filling 300g wild blueberry preserve or any jam of your choice 50g ground almonds 50g soft light brown sugar


For the streusel 25g cold butter 40g plain flour 25g caster sugar or soft light brown sugar


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