Daniela Gerson

Olive Oil Challah Babka Buns with Mexican Canela & Jam!!! FINALLLLLY the latest and greatest recipe I’ve developed for Filippo Berio Olive Oil US, these super cutie preciously mini buns that I know you’ve all seen me tinkering with by now, is finally HERE!!! Filippo Berio’s Extra Light Olive Oil adds a delicate and subtle richness and earthiness, making the buns more savory complex and delectable! Friends: It’s the very first campaign I’ve ever worked on that asked... me to weave my heritage into it and the result is a recipe that is exceptionally near and dear to my heart! My Heritage: I am a Mexican Jew. That’s both parents born, raised and married in Mexico City while all 4 grandparents are Eastern European Jews (from Austria, Poland and Ukraine), moving to Mexico City, in the ‘30s and ‘40s, due to persecution in their country of origin. Our everyday food was Mexican. Our Holiday food was Jewish, but with a Mexican twist (think gifelta fish a la Veracruz). Comfort food was just as much a quesadilla as chicken noodle soup in my household. But back to this epic recipe + some backstory: Challah is a special braided egg bread traditionally eaten by Jews on Shabbat and other Holidays. References to this bread can be traced to the later 1400’s in Judaic text and it comes in various sizes and shapes, all of which have meaning in the Jewish tradition. Nowadays, you can find all sorts of sweet and savory challah variations too! Babka was originally developed in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine in the 19th century, explicitly as a way to use up extra challah dough, and brought to the US via Jewish immigrants to NY. Sweet yeast dough is wrapped around a filling (such as chocolate or jam but savory fillings are possible too!) that’s twisted, creating those spectacularly quintessential babka swirls. Now here’s the thang: I’ve had a *HUGE* diversity of babka at my holiday table in my day - ranging from dry & crumbly to buttery & cakey to more bread like babka. And I gots my go-to-every-Fri challah dough recipe. If babka was originally developed as a way to use up leftover challah dough and I gots my fav challah dough recipe, what if I make babka out of my challah dough recipe?!?! And thus, this fab recipe development process began! I filled these cuties with jam, though any spreadable goodness will work. The cannela is an homage to my Mexican heritage as is my decision to use all different jams for this final shoot as Mexican culture is bursting with color! With just a few simple ingredients, you’ll be able to quickly whip up my go-to Filippo Berio Olive Oil US Challah recipe from scratch (thank ya food processor!). Recipe on the blog, link in profile! Xxx. #FilippoBerio #ExtraLightOliveOil #FilippoBerioPartner #FilippoBerioLove #OliveOil

A riff on the iconic Chicken Marbella with dried figs and olives that I developed for Valley Fig Growers! It’s a deceptively easy dish to make that's bursting with sweet, savory, tangy, salty, briny and garlicky flavor! Grab the recipe on their site: https://valleyfig.com/dri/chicken-marbella-olives-and-figs/

2 of my all-time FAV things in life: Anik-a-licious and Olive Oil!!! Created this Olive Oil Cake with Balsamic Glazed Strawberries, Ricotta and Cornmesl for Filippo Berio Olive Oil US! Recipe on the blog! #sponsored. https://wavesinthekitchen.com/olive-oil-cake-with-strawber/