Tag: Ashkenazi

Schnecken — the word means “snails” in German and Yiddish — are the Jewish answer to the cinnamon roll, and they are infinitely better. Where a cinnamon roll is merely sweet, schnecken are complex: a rich, buttery yeast dough rolled with cinnamon sugar, nestled over a layer of caramelized pecan topping that becomes sticky, golden, and irresistible when the pan is inverted after baking.

Schnecken were a staple of every Jewish bakery in America from the 1920s through the 1970s — the golden age of Jewish baking. They were displayed in the window alongside babka and rugelach, their glossy caramel tops glistening under the bakery lights. They were the special-occasion breakfast, the treat brought to a bris, the indulgence that made Sunday morning worth waking up for.

This recipe uses a classic enriched dairy dough — butter, eggs, and milk create a tender, brioche-like crumb. The caramel topping is a simple mixture of butter, brown sugar, and pecans that goes into the pan first and transforms during baking into a gorgeous, sticky glaze.

For the chocolate version of Jewish enriched dough, try our Babka Buns or Chocolate Babka.

The knish is Jewish comfort food in its purest form — a thin, golden shell of pastry wrapped around a filling so creamy and savory that one bite can transport you to a Lower East Side pushcart in 1920. For more than a century, the potato knish has been the street food of Jewish New York: sold hot from carts on Houston Street, steaming in deli windows on the Upper West Side, and piled on platters at every kiddush and shiva from Brooklyn to the Bronx.

The word knish comes from the Ukrainian or Polish word for a dumpling or filled pastry. Eastern European Jews brought the concept to America, where it evolved into something distinctly their own: a larger, more substantial pastry with a flaky, golden crust and a filling of mashed potatoes enriched with deeply caramelized onions, salt, and pepper. Nothing more. The genius of the knish is its simplicity — and the quality of its execution.

This recipe produces baked knishes, not the fried version you might find at a hot dog stand. Baking creates a lighter, flakier pastry with a golden exterior that crackles when you bite through it. The filling is smooth, creamy, and loaded with sweet caramelized onions. These are the knishes you remember from your grandmother’s kitchen — or wish you did.

Knishes pair beautifully with our Bialys and Corn Rye Bread for a complete Jewish deli spread.

Kokosh cake is babka’s quieter, denser, more intensely chocolatey cousin. Where babka is braided and dramatic, kokosh is a simple roll — enriched yeast dough spread thick with a cocoa-sugar-butter filling, rolled up tightly, and baked until the exterior is golden and the interior is a swirl of dark chocolate layers. It is less showy than babka but, many would argue, more satisfying to eat: denser, moister, with a higher filling-to-dough ratio that means every bite delivers a hit of chocolate.

Kokosh cake (also called kokosh, kokush, or simply “chocolate roll”) traces its origins to the Jewish communities of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hungarian Jewish bakers, renowned for their pastry skills, created an entire repertoire of rolled and filled cakes — and kokosh was among the most beloved. When Hungarian Jews emigrated to America, particularly to Brooklyn, they brought kokosh with them. Today, it is a staple of Jewish bakeries throughout Borough Park, Williamsburg, and Flatbush.

The filling is the heart of kokosh cake: a generous layer of cocoa powder, sugar, and melted butter, sometimes enriched with chocolate chips or a splash of espresso. Unlike babka, which often uses a nutella-style spread, kokosh filling is grittier, more intensely cocoa-forward, and less sweet. The dough is soft and enriched — similar to babka dough but rolled rather than braided, which means the filling stays in distinct layers rather than getting swirled and mixed.

If you love our Chocolate Babka, kokosh cake is the next step in your Jewish chocolate bread education. Same family, different personality.