(New York Jewish Week) – Move over, Snoop Dogg. Martha Stewart has a new collaborator — in New York City’s Israeli-style Breads Bakery.
Known for its chocolate and cinnamon babkas, Breads is partnering with Stewart to promote the fourth season of her show “Martha Cooks” on Roku.
In honor of the show, Breads and Stewart created a limited-edition “Martha’s Good Thing Babka.” The recipe is made with the same laminated dough that Breads uses in all its babkas, and is filled with poppy, golden raisins and citrus zest. It will be sold at Breads locations in New York City for $17.50 and on the food delivery site Goldbelly — where anyone around the country can order a 2-pack for $69.95 — starting Friday, May 17.
In the season premiere of “Martha Cooks,” which airs on May 20, Stewart goes behind the scenes on Breads’ recipes with the bakery’s owner, Gadi Peleg. In the episode, the pair make Breads Bakery’s baguettes, challah and an egg sandwich.
“Having her at the bakery and creating this babka with her has been a dream come true,” Peleg said in a statement. “Working on a recipe with Martha Stewart is like collaborating on a song with Paul McCartney.”
Peleg said the first time he knew that Breads was onto something was when Stewart walked through the doors shortly after the bakery opened on West 16th Street in 2013.
“Many of us who have dedicated our lives to food and hospitality were inspired by Martha Stewart,” Peleg said. “Having Martha as a guest and a friend of Breads Bakery is the ultimate seal of approval for me.”
A sectional view of “Martha’s Good Thing Babka,” made with poppy, raisins and citrus in partnership with Breads Bakery. (Malin Hillemann)
The series as a whole features Stewart sharing her favorite recipes and techniques in her kitchen, while also venturing out to her favorite restaurants and working with a diverse array of chefs to learn more about the way they do things.
The celebrity chef and media maven has always made waves with her partnerships, especially after fostering an unlikely friendship and business relationship with the rapper Snoop Dogg over the last 15 years.
Stewart has visited Breads for segments on her shows multiple times in the past to feature the bakery’s cheesecake babka and strudel, but this is the first time the two have collaborated on a product.
Stewart is no stranger to appreciating Ashkenazi Jewish food on her shows. In the sixth episode of Season 3 of “Martha Cooks,” titled “The Bagel Show,” Stewart visited with Gary Greengrass of Barney Greengrass on the Upper West Side to discuss the perfect bagel toppings, from kippered salmon to smoked whitefish to pickled herring. Later in the episode, Stewart learns the techniques behind the viral PopUp Bagels with its owner Adam Goldberg. (PopUp Bagels, which started in Connecticut, just opened on the Upper West Side this month.)
This season, in addition to Breads, Stewart solicits advice from Acme Smoked Fish in Greenpoint about whitefish salad as she prepares “Martha’s Favorite Brunch” menu, which also includes frittata and rhubarb crisp.
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