Typically people think of Babka’s as a glazed Polish sweet bread often made with dried fruit and served as a dessert. My go to dessert Babka recipe is a bread soaked in rum and topped with an orange zested glaze, but we’re here to talk about Babkas as loaf bread, which in our recipe can be braided, shaped into a ring, or baked as a loaf. Polish babka bread is made with honey, milk, and butter that’s lathered with either a savory or sweet layer, rolled into a log, split and then braided. Between the butter and flavoring, there is a rich oil base providing smooth elasticity, while the milk and honey give it a firm but soft texture. This is a nice bread on its own, but the savory version works well as a starter for your next Italian dinner and the sweet version makes a nice breakfast roll. It is a bit more involved than standard breads, but worth the effort.
Ingredients
- 275 g Bread flour (2 cups)
- 180 g Whole milk – warmed (6 oz)
- 53 g Butter (4 TBL) – divided
- 49 g Honey (2 TBL)
- 7 g Salt (1 tsp)
- 4 g Yeast (1 tsp)
- Chocolate Babka
- 140 g Dark Chocolate (~5 oz)
- 4 g Cinnamon (~1.5 tsp)
- 67 g Sugar (~1/3rd cup)
- 55 g Butter (~2 oz or 0.25 cups) – chilled
- Cinnamon Babka
- 100 g Sugar (~0.5 cups)
- 16 g Cinnamon (~2 TBS)
- Savory Babka
- 60 g Pesto (4 TBL) – or make your own savory paste
- 5 g Sesame seeds – toasted (1 tsp) – optional
Process
- Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Pitch the Yeast
- Warm the milk to around 90 F (warm to the touch).
- Add honey and 2 TBL melted butter and mix well.
- Gently stir in yeast and let sit for ~10 mins. Yeast should be actively foaming.
- Mix and Knead Dough
- Add flour salt in stand mixer and stir (speed #1).
- Pour in yeast mixture and continue to stir for 4 mins.
- Increase speed to #4 and knead for 4 mins.
- First Proof
- Place dough in bowl, cover with film and let rise until doubled (~1.5 hrs).
- Punch down and cover with a damp cloth and allow to relax for 10 mins
- Shape Babka
- Dust your counter with flour and place dough on top.
- Roll out until ~3/8th” think and rectangular. You want width to be ~9.
- If roller sticks, lightly dust top, but try not to get dough too dry or it won’t stick while braiding.
- Fill
- Pesto: Smear top evenly with pesto, leaving about 3/4″ along edges clean.
- Cinnamon: Mix cinnamon with sugar and sprinkle 75% on dough, the rest is for sprinkling on top of the loaf before baking.
- Chocolate: Break chocolate into small pieces (put in freezer and then chop in food processor). Combine sugar, cinnamon. Mix 75% with cold butter. Knife butter in to mix like you do when making a pie crust. Add the chocolate and mix well. Sprinkle onto dough and lightly press. Use remaining cinnamon mix later.
- Starting at the long side edge, roll dough into a log. If the dough sticks to the counter, use a scraper to lift it. You want a tight roll
- Lightly dust the log.
- You can either decide to braid the loaf or bake at a single piece
- Single strand: Shape into a circle and using scissors or a sharp knife, cut slits every 1″
- Using a loaf pan: Shape dough into the pan dimensions and place inside.
- Braided: Use a pizza cutter to split the log in two even halves down length, stopping 1″ before end. Braid the two slices and pinch the ends together.
- Second Proof
- Place Babka on tray and cover with towel for 45 mins.
- Preheat oven during last 20 mins of proofing to 350F, (325 F fan).
- Bake Babka
- Brush remaining butter on top and sides of Babka.
- Pesto: Sprinkle top with toasted sesame seeds if you are using them and lightly press into dough.
- Cinnamon/Chocolate: Dust top with remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture
- Place Babka in middle of oven and bake for 30-40 mins (20-25 mins fan).
- Brush remaining butter on top and sides of Babka.
- Post Baking
- Cool Babka for at least 10 mins. Longer is better to give the dough and filling a chance to cool. If you slice the bread to early, the filling may run out. Also, filling can burn your guest’s mouths, and that never ends well for you.
