Recycling Challah Bread in Style: Mock Baba Recipe

Baba

The beloved French yeasted rum-soaked pastry.

It is also labor-intensive, so I enjoy it wherever I find a delicious one all ready for me.

Challah Leftovers = Mock Baba!

No problem! I just turned humble Challah leftovers into a fabulous mock baba:

Feeling so smug about this! This past Friday I had minutes to decide if I could whip up a dessert for a little “pitzel” graduation my children, Chabad Washington Heights, were hosting first thing Sunday morning for the children in their Day Care Center and their families.

Other Challah Desserts

Take a look at my Bread Pudding recipes! Here’s one with caramel sauce,   one with cranberries,  one with chocolate

Not a smidgen of challah will go to waste!
I looked around me, and this is what I found and put together. Hardly a recipe, but the kind of thing that tasted and looked more glorious than the modest sum of its parts. It had a texture very much like the French baba au rum (after all, challah is yeasted), spongy and rum-soaked, which got me and everyone very excited, except there was no dough making or rising, all aboard, end of story!  If the way the dessert disappeared was any indication, a star was born, for all kids big and small. Still, I replaced the rum with an un-spiked children-friendly juice-based syrup.

Dairy-free mock baba

I make my mock baba 100% dairy-free. It will be perfect too!

Ingredients

• 1 medium challah bread, cut up in large chunks
• 1 15-ounce can coconut milk
• 3 cups milk or dairy-free milk (soy, rice, almond, grain etc....)
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup rum or bourbon
• 2/3 cup dry currants, or raisins

Instructions