Now, maybe because I grew up in the suburbs of Houston and went to college in Oklahoma, but I'd never even heard of babka until watching Seinfeld. Remember Elaine wanting to bring a chocolate babka to a party...gets stuck with the "lesser" cinnamon babka...and Jerry breaks his no throw-up streak due to a black & white cookie?
That was my introduction to babka...and I've wanted to eat one ever since.
Trader Joe's describes this as "a sweet rich pastry layered with chocolate." An 18-ounce babka costs $4.99. In our Trader Joe's, I've seen this come and go. It's always right by the first register and nowhere else in the store that I have seen. Keep your eyes peeled.
A mom's (my) take: BABKA...where have you been all my life? Oh, y'all. This is my ultimate food. This is like a cross between bread and a croissant, all marbled and swirled with chocolate. The top is glazed and studded with chocolate chips. Bonus: babka is super fun to say. You know they have those forks by the door at Trader Joe's? (I'm sure they're for to-go salads.) I may grab one on my next trip and eat one of these in my car.
Overall rating: (a very enthusiastic) 5 of 5 stars
A teeanger's (kiddo's) review: I've never eaten any sort of babka before, but this particular one was amazing. To me, it tasted like several layers of crossiant-ish bread spaced by chocolate and all sorts of sugary goodness. The consistency was very interesting, as the outside and bread was sort of chewy but the inside, especially the chocolate, was very soft and rich. I could EASILY eat the whole thing.
Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Trader Joe's Chocolate Brooklyn Babka:
Elaine wants you to have one. (So do we.)
Read all of our Trader Joe's sweet treats and dessert reviews!
