Chocolate Swirl Babka Muffin Buns # Baking Partner's Challenge

Babka, as most of you know, is a traditional Easter coffee bread from Europe. Apparently, babka is also the word for grandmother in Polish...  which is why a traditional babka bread was usually baked in a fluted round mold with a center tube and was said to resemble a women's full skirt from centuries past. The babkas as we know them today are elaborately flavored and heavily downsized... They are strueseled, swirled in chocolate and cinnamon and baked in ordinary loaf pans.. This version, nevertheless delicious, is believed to have descended from the Eastern European Jewish tradition.

Eggless Slovak Easter Bread - Paska

Hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving with your dear ones. Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time for everything Christmas-y. But. Oops ! I have a East European Easter Bread for you today. As a compensation I decorated it to look more Christmas-y.. with leaves and berries just so that you do not think that I forgot about Christmas all together and jumped to spring..

I baked this Slovak Easter Bread as part of Gayathri's Baking Eggless Challenge wherein the challenger presents the group with a eggilious recipe and challenges everyone to convert it into an eggless one. This month Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Spot challenged us with this sweetish butter bread East European Bread. The original recipe was for 3 7 inch round loaves and used 3 large eggs. I decided to make 6 peeps and a 6 inch round loaf and so made only one third of the recipe using whole wheat flour and all purpose flour in 1:1 ratio and yogurt + a pinch of baking soda as a substitute for one egg. The whole wheat made the bread slightly dense, nevertheless it was tasty. We had it with spicy curry for Thanksgiving and enjoyed it much. 

With its buttery deliciousness this loaf will look grand at any holiday table. Be it Christmas or Easter. The peeps of course look more Easter-y so its best to reserve them for spring...

Spiced Orange Buns

Besides the Ricotta Cake, I also baked these Spiced Orange Buns for Easter Sunday. Well. I actually had my mind set on Tsoureki, the Greek Easter Sweet Bread and was looking around for a bread machine recipe for it. and the first link that popped up was by Maria Sgourakis Buehler .  i had all the listed ingredients and the recipe seemed simple. so i went ahead with it. I understand that there are several other versions of Tsoureki that are spiced with Chios mastic, cardamom and vanilla. but this version is simple. it  just uses ground nutmeg. nevertheless it is flavorful. and with its blend of spices and citrusy flavor its makes a perfect bite to go with your breakfast milk or evening chai.

Tsoureki breads are traditionally braided  into a circle or into two large braids and sprinkled with nuts and  served with Easter eggs that have been dyed deep red to represent the blood of Christ or red rosebuds. however I wasn't aware of the symbolism before and therefore braided my buns the way i did and decided to call them the Spiced Orange Buns, just so that my ignorance does not  misguide someone else. 

Delicious Italian Easter Breads

Italian Easter Breads in preparation...

and afterwards...

prepared with flour, eggs, butter and love 

and 

Dorothy's Bread Machine recipe of her Grammy's Italian Easter Bread.

If you are in search of that perfect bread machine recipe for Italian Easter Bread... then look no further.  Hop over to 

Shockingly Delicious and get started on your bread. 

Sending the first photograph to Black and White Wednesday, a photography event started by 

Susan of  The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and 

hosted this week by  The Well-Seasoned Cook.