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Babka, Cinnamon (Low Sugar, Low Carbohydrate) (P, TNT)
Source: Norene Gilletz' book, "MealLeaniYum," adapted by Wendy Baker
Serves: 16-20

1 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup warm (110°F) water
1 pack dry yeast-or 2 1/4 tsp dry yeast from jar
1 cup water-with 1-2 tsp of maple flavoring added optionally
3 tbsp. canola oil (or other vegetable. oil)
3 cup all-purpose flour- I made it with half and half white and whole wheat
1/2 cup Splenda- or equivalent in other heatable sweetener
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs or 4 egg whites-I used whole eggs
3/4-1 cup coarsely chopped peeled apples with a bit of lemon juice, cinnamon and Splenda sprinkled on
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup Splenda
1 tbsp. cocoa

Put sugar and yeast in the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes or so.

Heat water in the microwave 1 minute. Add oil to water and maple flavoring.

Put flour, sugar, salt into the processor. While machine is running, add eggs, water-oil and yeast mixture and run for 1-1/2 minutes. The dough is quite sticky and moist. Add apples and process just to mix.

Pour and spread 1/2 of the dough into a sprayed 10" ring-form, bundt or springform. I used a 10" angel food pan with the loose bottom. Put half of the cinnamon- Splenda-cocoa mix on the dough. Put the rest of the dough on by spoonfuls and spread carefully. Top with the rest of the cinnamon-Splenda-cocoa mixture.

Cover and let rise until it fills the pan. Maybe 1-1/12 hours. It rises faster than if it had lots of sugar in it.

Bake in a 350°F oven 45-50 minutes, until it is golden. Let cool in the pan 20 minutes and then promptly remove. The bottom can get soggy if you leave it in too long.

Cool completely and serve. This cake freezes well. I keep out 1/4 and freeze the rest in quarters.

Poster's Notes: With grateful thanks to Norene Gilletz who supplied the basic recipe in her MealLeaniYum low-fat kosher cookbook. I have made her low-fat babka in a Splenda version, once again and have a great report!

I made it entirely pareve, using water for the milk and, of course, omitted all the sugar except for one tsp. to feed the yeast. This time, instead of leaving out the raisins for nothing. I used coarsely chopped apple (peeled), about 3/4-1 cup-on which I put lemon juice, cinnamon and Splenda and let it sit a few minutes. I proceeded with the recipe as directed and have produced a delicious cake that is this time, not dry. I think the apple incorporated into the dough makes the difference.

I can't recommend this cake enough for us sugarly-challenged ones. It's also so easy to make if you have a food processor.

Posted by Wendy Baker

Nutritional Info Per Serving: I roughly calculated the carbos for the cake and it comes to 12.6g for 1/20th of the cake to 16 for 1/16th of the cake, just about one slice of bread for a nice, but not large piece of cake. As it has only 3 tbsp. of oil, it is also not high in fat.