Babka here is the Belarusian potato casserole — grated potato baked dense with onion and pork until the top crusts golden — kin to Lithuanian kugelis and Jewish kugel. It is humble farmhouse food, all from the cellar.
Cut into babka — golden-brown crispy top, dense pale-cream potato interior speckled with bacon and onion. Bite: top crackly-crisp, interior soft-dense with potato's earthy starchiness, bacon's smoky salt, onion's caramelized sweetness, egg binding everything. Pair with sour cream and pickled cucumbers for contrast. Hearty Slavic peasant comfort.
Squeezing excess liquid prevents soggy casserole. Egg binding sets the structure. High oven heat creates the crispy crust.
Variations
With added mushrooms. With more bacon. Vegetarian (no bacon, with cottage cheese). With herbs. With cheese topping. Slow-cooker version.
On the Palate
Where Babka Belarusian sits in the Belarusian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min active + 1 hour 5 min waiting
- 13 min
Preheat oven to 200°C. Butter a 23-cm baking dish.
- 211 min
Dice 200 g smoked bacon; render in pan over medium heat 5 min until crispy. Add 2 chopped onions; cook 5 min.
Watch outRender the bacon slowly until it's crisp and the fat has run out clear — that rendered fat is what carries the flavor; rush it and the bits stay chewy and pale.
- 38 min
Grate 1.2 kg potatoes; squeeze excess liquid.
Watch outWring the grated potato out until it stops dripping — leftover water steams inside and gives you a gluey, soggy babka instead of a crisp one.
- 45 min
Combine grated potato + bacon-onion mixture + 2 eggs + 100 ml milk + 1 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp pepper + 2 tbsp flour.
- 51 min
Pour into baking dish; smooth top.
- 656 min
Bake 50-60 min until golden-brown and crispy on top, set in middle.
Watch outLook for a deep golden, crackly top and a middle that's set — if the surface is still pale, it hasn't formed its crust yet.
- 711 min
Cool 10 min before slicing.
- 82 min
Serve hot with sour cream and a side of pickled vegetables.
