ESL Blogs

Ahoj! Here’s a blog about my first attempt of trying Miss Czech Republic’s ‘Babovka’ recipe. Please bear with the delay. I must have been high due to its sweetness. My writing challenge about a traditional dish would end up for nothing if I didn’t at least try any of your recipe entries. Luci’s Czech specialty food caught my attention primarily because I love baking and the ingredients were already available at home. That’s why I decided to bake one for my family last weekend.

It’s really enjoyable to learn something new although I’ve baked different cakes with chocolate in the past. Are you curious how I baked this one? Please continue reading. It’s a golden rule to prepare all the necessary ingredients and utensils prior to baking because it saves time and effort.

For this recipe, I used a 9-inch bundt baking pan because I haven’t gotten a silicone cake form yet. That’s the one she used for her cake. As you can see, my version above wasn’t the same as Luci’s and mine was a bit shorter. Here’s what I did, though. I pre-heated the oven at 160 degrees Celsius then I started beating two eggs and a cup of brown sugar using my whisk. Sometimes, I’d like to do some elbow grease and mix all the ingredients using a spatula throughout the blending process. I modified her recipe and added two large ripe bananas that are slightly mashed to make the cake more delectable. I’d like to see the bits and pieces of those bananas in the cake when I take a bite!

After mashing the bananas with a fork, I added in the egg mixture and combined the remaining wet ingredients (3/4 cup of canola oil, a cup of milk, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract). Then I blended those in with the dry mixture (2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, one teaspoon of baking soda and a half teaspoon of salt). I continued mixing all the ingredients using the folding method until the batter reached the right consistency. Then I got 1/3 of the batter and placed in a separate bowl where I added two tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and a teaspoon of purple powder flavoring to make it simply - purplish.

In the pan which I greased with butter (to prevent the batter from sticking to the pan), I transferred the first half of the white/yellow batter, then followed by the chocolate batter and finally the remaining half of the batter. I tapped the pan to remove the air bubbles in the batter. It looked like this.

I also altered the cooking procedure. I baked this cake like the usual way of baking a loaf of banana bread. It’s done after 45 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius (about 320 degrees Fahrenheit). Take note that the baking time varies depending on the type of oven you're using, so make sure to glue your eyes on the cake before the time lapses. In other words, don’t overbake it!

You’d know if the cake is almost done when it’s starting to smell gloriously hi hi. And the cake is completely cooked when you inserted a toothpick and it comes out clean. I let it cool for about fifteen minutes and topped it with confectioner’s sugar. A glaze could be ideal too. Tada!

This was our mid-afternoon snack paired with a cuppa! It’s always best to share it with your loved ones!

If you have an oven at home, I suggest you to try Luci’s Babovka recipe. It’s delish! You’ll definitely love it unless of course you’re allergic to chocolate.  This could be a nice birthday present too.

Do you have a sweet dish you’d like to share here? Perhaps the latest pastries you’ve baked?

Děkuji!  Thank you for reading!

P.S.

This cake is a treat for your continued support and appreciation. I'm also pleased to inform you that this is my 8^th blog for the month of November. This is record-breaking for me! So go on, have a slice of this cake and enjoy your stay on MyEC! Cheers! :)