Today another recipe I’ve wanted to make for a long time: the sweet original babka recipe with easy twist. While searching for information on the web, I discovered, and I apologize if you are already aware, there are 2 types of leavened babka: one is an Eastern European babka and the other is a Jewish babka.
The Christian version of babka typical of Poland, Ukraine, Albania, and other countries has a dough similar to that of leavened brioche, generally without filling but covered with vanilla or chocolate glaze and then garnished with almonds or candied fruit.
The Jewish version of babka has the shape of a twist with 2 layers of braided leavened dough with a filling made with cinnamon or chocolate. It is baked in a tall mold and filled with streusel (crumbly shortcrust pastry) and is associated with Easter.
A similar dessert to babka of Jewish origin is kokosh, which always has cinnamon or chocolate variations but does not have any twist, no filling with streusel, and is baked in a lower and wider mold than the babka I was talking about above.
In Eastern Europe, for more information, there is a “savory” babka prepared during Jewish Passover and eaten as bread, cooked with crumbled matzah, eggs, and salt.
I then looked for a tall mold to contain my babka with berries and with the leftover dough, I made some small mini babkas with chocolate to please everyone’s tastes!
Most of the babka leavened sweet recipes I’ve seen on the web are chocolate-based, so I used chocolate hazelnut cream to fill the small leavened dough roll and twisted it like a soft and delicious leavened donut.
After writing so much, I wondered which babka my babka was inspired by and… the twist is that of the Jewish version, the filling is Annalisa’s own, so…
How to vary the small filling layer of the babka? Well, we can add:
– chocolate cream and crushed pistachios or hazelnuts,
– soft butter and ground cinnamon cream,
– mixed berries jam,
– mixed berries jam and crushed pistachios….
At least that’s what I would add to vary the taste of the original babka recipe with easy twist!
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I also leave you instructions for converting fresh yeast to dry yeast:
1) The fresh yeast block we buy at the supermarket weighs 25 grams and corresponds to a sachet of dry yeast in granules that weighs 7.5 grams;
2) To convert the amount of fresh yeast to dry, the factor is 3.5, so we need to divide the weight of the fresh yeast indicated in the recipe by 3.5, and the result will be the weight of the dry yeast that we need to use for that recipe. For example:
25 grams of fresh yeast : 3.5 = 7 grams of dry yeast
3) Conversely, to convert the amount of dry yeast to fresh yeast, the conversion factor is still 3.5, but we must MULTIPLY the weight indicated in the recipe of the dry yeast by 3.5 to get the grams of fresh yeast needed for our recipe, and so…
7 grams of dry yeast x 3.5 = 25 grams of fresh yeast
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I’ve opened a recipe channel available to everyone for free on WhatsApp with no notifications and no sound, which you can join by clicking the link here https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaHbGIn9cDDig7Cw2x0F and every day you can read a sweet and a savory recipe!
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I leave you with more sweet leavened recipes that are absolutely delicious….
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Polish
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
FOR THE FILLINGS I USED BERRY JAM IN THE LARGE BABKA AND NUTELLA IN THE MINI BABKA AND PLEASE DON’T BE STINGY!
- 2 1/2 cups Manitoba flour
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp butter (softened and in pieces)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp fresh yeast
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 pinches salt
Tools
#ADV
- Stand Mixers
- Baking Pans
- Food Scales
- Brushes
Steps
1) For the preparation of the soft babka braid, I used the stand mixer, but as always, with more effort, we can make the sweet braided leavened dough with our own hands!
2) Let’s proceed… I warm the milk and dissolve the fresh yeast, and in the meantime, I put the flour, sugar, and egg in the stand mixer’s bowl, and slowly pour in the liquid with the dissolved yeast, activating the mixer with the hook attached!
3) When the dough gains consistency, detaching from the sides and starting to form a ball, I add the butter in pieces; it’s such a tiny amount that… it happens in a flash!
4) Once the dough ball is formed (add a pinch of salt, hehe), it should result smooth and homogeneous; I place it in a bowl, cover it with cling film, and let it rise until doubled.
5) At home, it’s rather cool, and I waited just over an hour to see the entire dough rise.
6) Now I make a rectangle considering the mold I want to use, and so I set aside a ball of babka dough leavened sweet with easy twist
7) After rolling it out to just under 1 cm, I take the berry jam and sprinkle the babka dough generously!
8) I roll the babka, then slice it vertically along the entire length exactly in the center of the roll, and wrap the 2 obtained pieces in a braid, then place them in the pan I previously lined with parchment paper.
9) Here is the babka braid filled with berry jam already placed in the baking pan!
10) I let it rise again for about 45 minutes, and in the meantime, I’ve prepared the mini chocolate babkas!
MINI CHOCOLATE BABKA
As I mentioned above, the most widespread version of babka on the web is chocolate, similar to a braided brioche, soft and super delicious.
To prepare the mini babkas, I rolled out a small rectangle of dough, filled it with Nutella (or chocolate cream), and rolled it up from the longer side.
At this point, I cut the roll in half lengthwise, leaving a couple of centimeters attached at the top, and braided the two sides, leaving the cuts visible.
I formed a small donut, let it rise for at least 30 minutes, and then baked it in the oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes, adjusting according to my oven….11) The LARGE BABKA is now ready to be baked at 350-375°F in static mode and should be baked for about 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven.
12) When it’s still warm, glaze the babka with a syrup of water and sugar (ratio 1:2) by boiling for 3-4 minutes.Enjoy your meal!
Annalisa
Annalisa says….
Leavened desserts like the sweet babka should be made and eaten on the same day, but if needed, we can cut thick slices and freeze them.
When tasting, after defrosting and heating them in a microwave or regular oven for a few minutes, enjoy them as if freshly baked…
