Cherry Vanilla Babka
I had babka for the first time when I had to make it for an assignment in bread baking class, and I immediately fell in love with how beautiful, delicious, and surprisingly easy to make it was. We made chocolate babka in class, but I wanted to think of a way to add other flavors into this fun bread form. Cherry and vanilla is one of my favorite flavor pairings, and they worked well together to make this fruity twist on babka.
This babka dough is very easy to make in terms of yeasted dough, but it does need to sit overnight, so make sure you plan accordingly.
Day 1: Prep the Dough
Start by mixing milk, flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and egg in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment on low speed for 5 minutes. Then, increase the speed to medium and mix for an additional 10 minutes. Pull off a small amount of dough and stretch it. If the dough stretches thin enough to see through without ripping, it is ready. If the dough tears easily while stretching, mix for an additional 2 minutes and check again. Repeat this until the dough can stretch thin without tearing - this means the gluten structure has properly developed.
Add cubed butter and mix on medium speed until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.
Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and round it into a smooth ball, adding flour to the work surface as needed to prevent sticking. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes then move it to the refrigerator to allow it to ferment overnight. It will increase in volume as seen in the images below.
Day 2: Roll the Dough and Add Filling
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured work surface. Press on the dough gently to let out the gases. Roll the dough into a 12 inch square. Spread vanilla pastry cream on the dough. (Click here for my vanilla pastry cream recipe!) Then spread cherry jam on top of the pastry cream. Keep the layers thin to prevent too much spillage. Do as I say, not as I do - I always tend to overfill and end up with a big mess - oops!
Shape and Proof the Babka
Prep a loaf pan by brushing the bottom and sides with softened butter.
Roll the dough into a cylinder and then cut the cylinder in half lengthwise using a serrated knife. Make sure both pieces have the cut side face up and make an X shape by placing one over the other. Twist the dough over itself on both sides (keeping the cut side up), creating a rope-like look. Place the twisted dough in the prepared pan.
Let the dough proof away from drafts for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until doubled in volume.
Bake and Enjoy!
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until the babka is a deep golden brown. You can tent the pan with aluminum foil if the top is browning too quickly. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan. Serve plain or with extra cherry jam.
Store leftover babka in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Cherry Vanilla Babka
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 package dry instant yeast
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes. Plus extra for preparing the baking pan.
- 1/2 cup vanilla pastry cream
- 1/2 cup cherry jam or preserves
Instructions
- Add the milk, flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and egg to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed for 5 minutes.
- Increase the speed to medium and mix for an additional 10 minutes.
- Pull off a small amount of dough and stretch it. If the dough stretches thin enough to see through without ripping, it is ready. If the dough tears easily while stretching, mix for an additional 2 minutes and check again. Repeat this until the dough can stretch thin without tearing - this means the gluten structure has properly developed.
- Add the butter and mix on medium speed until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.
- Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and round it into a smooth ball, adding flour to the work surface as needed to prevent sticking. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes then move it to the refrigerator to allow it to ferment overnight.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured work surface. Press on the dough gently to let out the gases.
- Roll the dough into a 12 inch square. Spread the vanilla pastry cream on the dough. Then spread the cherry jam on top of the pastry cream. Keep the layers thin to prevent too much spillage.
- Now you will shape the babka. Roll the dough into a cylinder and then cut the cylinder in half lengthwise using a serrated knife. Make sure both pieces have the cut side face up and make an X shape by placing one over the other. Twist the dough over itself on both sides (keeping the cut side up), creating a rope-like look.
- Brush the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with softened butter. Place the twisted dough in the prepared pan.
- Let the dough proof away from drafts for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until doubled in volume.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 45 minutes until the babka is a deep golden brown.
- Store leftover babka in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
