Bad Dog Babka is a weekly babka pop-up at Old Road Coffee. The shop is serving the sweet treat courtesy of Bad Dog Babka’s owner Lizzie Manasevit.
Manasevit is from Nashville and moved to New Orleans six years ago. She and her husband love cooking and baking, and Manasevit enjoys expressing her culture through her food.
“We’re Jewish and we have a Jewish household and a lot of my expression of Judaism and a lot of my connection to Judaism is through food and sharing it with the community,” she said. “I love to bake and I make challah every Friday.”
Manasevit started experimenting with babka when her Rabbi gifted her the book, Modern Jewish Baker. She had never made babka before and decided to try her hand at the traditional dessert.
“After I made it, I thought it was the best dessert that I had ever had,” she said. “My first thought was I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t everywhere. It’s like a cross between a cake and cinnamon roll.”
Manasevit started baking her babkas for friends when her husband suggested that she turn her passion for babka into a pop-up. Her first pop-up event was last December, and she has served the sweet (and sometimes savory) treat ever since.
Bad Dog Babka, lovingly named after Manasevit’s dog, who isn’t really bad, just a bit misunderstood, is available by the slice at Old Road Coffee, 2024 Bayou Rd. She also plans on popping up in other markets in the future.
Along with the traditional chocolate and cinnamon flavors, Manasevit has a variety of other flavors of babka, such as fig and goat cheese, pesto and sundried tomato, pumpkin spice, and her personal favorite, Bourbon pecan topped with a candied pecan glaze crust.
She’s always experimenting with new flavors for her babkas and adds her own touches to her recipes.
She said, “I ask people what they like and what flavors they would be interested in. My new thing is to see what kind of new flavors I can create.”
Bad Dog Babka isn’t just available at Old Road Coffee; Manasevit takes orders through Bad Dog Babka’s Instagram direct messages.
