Babka (бабка), also known as baba (баба), is a sweet spongy yeast cake that is traditionally baked for Easter Sunday. Babka originated in Eastern Europe and was introduced to North America by early immigrants.Traditional babka has some type of fruit filling, especially raisins, and is glazed with a fruit-flavored icing, sometimes with rum added. Modern babka may be chocolate or have a cheese filling.Despite its Christian associations, babka is also popular among Jews, particularly those

with family origins in Eastern Europe. Other than the dessert variety, there also exists a traditional Eastern European Jewish variety prepared during Passover in lieu of bread. Generally, this sort is not sweet and is prepared using crushed matzos with water, egg, and salt.

Etymology
The name babka is a diminutive of baba ‘old woman’ or ‘grandmother’, and probably refers to the shape of the pastry, a tall cylinder, sometimes with corrugations resembling a skirt’s pleats.