Chocolate Cinnamon Babka

After years of intending, I've baked my second babka in two weeks!  This is the kind I always meant to make, the kind filled with chocolate.  And like so many things I delay, I wonder why I've waited so long.  It wasn't difficult at all.  The babka is rich and soft, and the chocolate has a nice bittersweet flavor that isn't overly sweet.  The exterior is flaky and breaks off in dozens of shard-like crumbs as you cut it.

The most daunting part might be planning the timing, but you can break it up into stages, even two days, by refrigerating the dough.  I made the babka in one straight shot.  And most of the time is inactive -- I made the dough, went out to an appointment, came back and shaped it, worked out at the gym, and came home and put it in the oven.  Babka is a traditional Easter dessert, so you might want to try it this weekend.  Just don't wait as long as I did!

1. The dough before its first rise.
2. The risen dough.
3. The dough rolls out easily, with no sticking or snapping back. A sheet of parchment underneath dusted with flour is helpful.
4. Scatter the chocolate-cinnamon-butter mixture on top, and get ready to roll!

1. Roll up the dough, then use your hands to elongate it.
2. Give the log a bit of a twist.
3. Coil the log into a snail shape.
4. Stand the coil up on its end, then press down to compact into a loaf shape.
5. Move the dough to a loaf pan, then wrap it up for its second rise.
6. The dough after its second rise. Ready to bake!

Polish Babka

Babka has been on my to-bake list for years.  Even after I grew comfortable with baking yeasted breads, babka seemed like a big project.  I've bookmarked a few recipes, but this one looked so easy I jumped on it almost right away. King Arthur Flour writes that the bundt shape is supposed to be reminiscent of a grandmother's skirt.  The dough comes together easily in a stand mixer, and the two risings are brief.  What you get is a rich bread that is a bit like cake, in the style of brioche, but denser.  I adore the rum syrup, which turns the babka into something like baba au rhum.  I could do without the white icing on top, which I found cloying and unnecessary, and just double down on that rum syrup.

Other babka recipes will call for shaping, and filling with chocolate or cinnamon (or both), and I fully intend to tackle one.  By Easter, I hope.  But I'm mostly about the easy and quick recipes these days.  In fact, some (very few?) of you may have noticed I've been posting way less.  I'm stepping back my blogging because life is just getting too hectic.  Also, I've recently adopted a healthier lifestyle that doesn't fit with baking cake and pie every week.  And I feel great!  But I've gotta say, sometimes I get an itch not necessarily to eat, but to bake something like pie.  I'm working on another dining review for the paper this week, but maybe I'll get around to baking that chocolate babka!  Fingers crossed.

Boston Globe Review: Traditional Irish Breakfast

Shirley Goh/Globe Staff

Have you ever had a traditional Irish breakfast, with the sausages and soda bread, and black pudding and white pudding?  Mad Hatter Cafe in Weymouth does one.  On an aside, ever notice how many things the British and Irish call pudding?  Black pudding, white pudding, Yorkshire pudding, desserts -- and I think not one is like the creamy stuff in a cup I think of as pudding.  In the meantime, that Reuben sandwich has inspired Joe and I to mix up our St. Patrick's Day menu this year.  We usually do the corned beef and cabbage, but we're going for Reubens this year!  It is, after all, Joe's all-time favorite sandwich.  What are you making on St. Pat's?

Read the review at: http://bo.st/16ivzIz

Coconut Nian Gao

For years I've been looking for the right Nian Gao recipe.  Do you have a treat from childhood that you want to re-create, but it eludes you?  As I described in my failed attempt last year, my mom would sometimes make Nian Gao, the aptly named "new year cake," when I was a kid.  She would melt and slowly caramelize sugar, then steam the cake.  Once I could not wait for it to set, and stuck my finger in to get a taste.  I hadn't learned the concept of not leaving behind evidence, and my mother found a fingerprint in the cake.  Oops.  The thing about mom is that she never wrote down recipes, and usually didn't measure ingredients or time her cooking.  She just had a knack for it.  But it's been a number of years since she made Nian Gao and she doesn't remember all the specifics, so her instructions to add "a little of this" and "cook this for a while" just aren't successful for me.

If I couldn't re-create the cake of my childhood, I figured I might as well try something completely different.  My friend and colleague Wendy shared this recipe by her husband, Joe, for a Coconut Nian Gao.  The part that makes it radically different is that it's baked.  That part made me do a double-take, too.  In fact, when I told my mom about it, she was doubtful but wanted the recipe to try as well.  And when I ticked off the list of ingredients -- butter, eggs, brown sugar -- she said, "This isn't Nian Gao!"  And I told her, trust me, it tastes just like it, with improvements.  It isn't as dense and hard as the storebought versions.  The edges bake up more like a Western-style cake, so it's easier to cut because it's less sticky.  And the coconut milk, butter, brown sugar, and eggs add subtle flavor and richness, but not so much that it tastes very different from what you're used to.  It's got my endorsement.  Happy Year of the Snake!

Chocolate Pots de Creme

If you celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope it was a good one.  I view it as a commercial holiday, but always worthy of a good dessert. In years past I've made desserts that Joe would like, but they're usually flavors that don't appeal to me (like the combination of peanut butter and chocolate).  I did the same this year and will cover that in another post, but this year I also made something for me.  These are Chocolate Pots de Creme I've been eyeing ever since I saw them on Facebook around New Year's.  They are creamy, indulgent, and very chocolaty.  They're also gluten-free.  And they are the easiest thing in the world to make.

The only difficult part is chopping a block of chocolate.  I should stick to buying bars from now on.  You just toss the chopped-up chocolate in the food processor, pour in some hot milk and cream to blend, and you're almost done.  Blend in an egg, some vanilla, and allspice.  Pour into cups or ramekins, and chill for a few hours.  The recipe filled exactly two 6-ounce ramekins, perfect for a Valentine's Day dessert.  But I plan to treat myself to the recipe throughout the year.  Joe also got me flowers for the occasion -- I wonder if I can keep the cats from eating them?

Boston Globe Review: Kam Man

Photos by Shirley Goh/Globe Staff

Happy New Year!  Or, as my family says, Xin Nian Kuai Le!  I hope all of you are safe and warm after Blizzard Nemo.  I fell behind with posting, which wasn't important when coping with the storm.  On Friday a statewide driving ban was issued in Massachusetts, but exceptions were made for some people including the media so off I went.  Driving home from the Globe in the blizzard was surreal and a bit terrifying, and it made me a staunch supporter of the ban.  Then the power got knocked out just before I arrived home, along with the heat.  It was a punishingly cold night, but electricity and heat returned the next day.  Joe did lose a couple fish because the tank got so cold, but otherwise we were fine.  My thoughts are with friends and others still without heat or electricity.

I hope there will still be reason for celebrating, with the Year of the Snake beginning today.  For this story I reviewed the biggest Asian market south of Boston, Kam Man in Quincy.  It's got just about everything you need for your new year in one location, including a bakery and huge housewares section.  And beyond Chinese products, it also covers Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Indian, and Thai cuisines.  I also write briefly about Chinese New Year customs.

Read on to find out what I thought: http://b.globe.com/12CWMW2
If the subscriber wall locks you out, proceed to the freebie site: http://bo.st/152woog

I'll leave you with some wintry scenes I snapped with my phone.

Rosemary Cheese Crackers

I've often wondered why anyone would bother making crackers at home. I figured the homemade taste must be superior, but it didn't seem worth the fuss. I have happily discovered there is no fuss, and the crackers truly are superior. If you can make chocolate chip cookies, you can make these crackers. You don't even need a rolling pin!

These don't have the snap of Cheez-Its or Ritz -- rather, think savory shortbread. Softened butter and shredded cheese are beaten together with flour and a few other ingredients. You roughly roll the dough into a log and chill it until firm, then slice and bake. That's it! The crackers are flavored with rosemary, cheddar, cayenne, and red pepper flakes. They're not too hot, but I reduced the pepper and pepper flakes on my second try because I didn't want that much heat and mouth-tingle.

The chilled log of dough is sliced into crackers; for a fancier touch, use a fluted cutter;

use a fork to poke holes in the crackers before baking.

The crackers also remind me of some blue cheese crackers I had during afternoon tea at Upstairs on the Square.  And that makes me think of ways to play around with this recipe, including substituting blue cheese for the cheddar.  Swap in a different herb, or sesame or poppy seeds.  How will you play with it?