Cultivating Sustainability

This was my first time experimenting with a new Polish recipe from my Polish cookbook (which I purchased last winter from a small, Polish bookstore in Chicago’s Polish Town). This cake (Babka) is typically served on Easter, but it can also be served as a dessert for a light spring or summer brunch. (Note: I used a bread machine to make the dough and saved quite a bit of effort and time.) (*Indicates CSA product.)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 organic eggs*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup organic half-and-half
• 1 tsp grated, organic lemon rind
• 1 tbsp organic, melted butter
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/3 cup organic sugar
• 2 cups organic, all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 1 envelope/package active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat eggs through half-and-half by hand with a wire whisk. Stir in lemon rind, melted butter, raisins and sugar. Add mixture to the bread machine container. Lightly spoon flour on top of the mixture. Make a small indentation in the flour with a spoon, and add yeast to the indentation. Choose the dough setting on your bread machine.
2. Grease and dust a cake bundt pan with flour. Place dough in the pan and bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack. When cool (about 10-20 minutes), carefully invert cake onto a plate.
3. To make the icing, mix confectioners sugar and lemon juice well with a wire whisk. Lightly drizzle over the cake.