- [Andrew] This episode is sponsored by Trade Coffee.
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The link is in the video description.
(jazzy music)
(smooth music)
All right, so today we're making three different
kinds of babka, and for each,
we're gonna make the same base babka dough.
Into the bowl of a stand mixer goes 550 grams
of all-purpose flour, tiny whisked together
with two and a half teaspoons of instant yeast.
Then, in a separate bowl, we're combining two thirds
of cup of milk, warmed to 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit,
with two large eggs, 55 grams of granulated sugar,
and two teaspoons of kosher salt,
optionally adding one teaspoon of vanilla paste
if you're making a sweet babka.
Add that to the stand mixer along with 140 grams
of unsalted butter at room temperature
and set about kneading with a dough hook
for six to eight minutes once everything is combined.
In the end, you should have a smooth bouncy dough
that just barely passes the windowpane test.
This recipe makes two loaves,
so we're gonna divide that dough in half.
Then I'm gonna laminate each piece.
That is, roll it out and fold it into thirds
to try to get it into a more rectangular shape.
Then ideally, we're gonna wrap it plastic wrap
and fridge it overnight, but if you want same day babka,
you can place it in a covered bowl and let it rise
at room temperature for one hour.
Next up, we need to make our filling,
and I'm gonna start with cinnamon.
Into a large bowl goes 250 grams of brown sugar,
30 grams of all-purpose flour, two tablespoons
of ground cinnamon, and a half teaspoon of kosher salt.
Once combined, I'm adding 140 grams of unsalted
melted butter, along with one large egg white for structure.
Set that aside, fetch your dough,
and generously flour your work surface,
upon which we're gonna roll out our dough
to a roughly nine by 15-inch rectangle.
This can vary depending on your loaf pan.
You want it as wide as your loaf pan is,
and as long as you want there to be layers in your babka.
Did that make any sense? No?
Just roll it out, I don't know.
Then we're spreading out half of our cinnamon mixture
on our dough, reserving the other half for the second loaf.
If you didn't add enough butter, like I did,
it can be difficult to spread out,
so I put little gobs all over the dough like this,
spreading into a thin even layer using an offset spatula
or butters knife, leaving maybe a half-inch border
on the outside edge of the dough.
Now we're gonna optionally rotate the dough 90 degrees
so the audience can see what you're doing
and then roll up the dough nice and tightly...
Longways? Is that what you call this?
Lengthwise? Widthwise?
You see what I'm doing.
Pinching the end of the dough together
with the roll to seal it shut.
Then we need to slice this guy in half cleanly,
so we're gonna pop him in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Then we have to thoroughly prepare our loaf pan.
There's a lot of sugar in the loaf
that's gonna melt out and turn into caramel,
so we need lots and lots of melted unsalted butter
brushed over every single square inch.
You can also line the pan with a piece of parchment paper
for easier retrieval.
Now our loaf emerges from the freezer,
slightly firmer than it was before,
so we can cut it in half cleanly lengthwise.
I used that word correctly.
Then I'm gonna press and squeeze out each length
so it's a little bit longer, line them up parallel,
and press their ends together with the heel of my hand,
making sure the doughs kind of seal together
before I start twisting the two ends around each other,
trying to keep the cut side facing upward
as I form the loaf.
Once the dough's been twisted together,
we're gonna seal the other end the same way
with the palm our hand, pressing and smearing
and tucking it underneath loaf to make sure
that it doesn't come apart during baking.
And then if you want an extra layer
of crunchy sugar on the outside of your loaf,
you can line the pan with brown sugar.
I think this works especially well
with the cinnamon iteration.
The citeration.
Now we're gonna tuck the loaf into the pan,
trying to push the ends down and the center up,
covering it with a moist clean kitchen towel
and letting it rise at room temperature for one hour,
or until roughly doubled in size.
While that rises, for this loaf,
we're gonna make a streusel, combining 85 grams
of light brown sugar, 60 grams of all-purpose flour,
and a half teaspoon of kosher salt in a small bowl.
Mix up the dry boys until they're homogenous,
and then we're gonna add 40 to 50 grams
of melted unsalted butter.
This should form a crumbly sort of wet sand mixture
that we can then sprinkle generously over the top
of our risen loaf.
Place this guy onto a rimed baking sheet to catch any
errant drops, pop him into a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit
oven for 45 to 55 minutes until deeply brown
and its thickest point registers 185 degrees Fahrenheit.
Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes
before letting it cool completely on a wire rack,
at least two hours.
Slice in and serve.
Now, this guy didn't end up with as many layers
as I ideally would've liked.
This can be solved by rolling out the dough
a little bit longer than 15 inches,
making, you guessed it, more layers.
But it's still totally awesome.
Cinnamon, sweet, spicy, soft, crunchy, the works.
But what about the classic chocolate babka?
For that, in a double boiler, we need to melt 190 grams
of chopped dark chocolate and 115 grams
of unsalted butter, room temperature.
Once totally melted but not overheated,
we're gonna take it off the heat, add 80 grams
of powdered sugar, 35 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder,
a half teaspoon of cinnamon,
and a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt.
Mix that together into a spreadable paste,
and then from there it's the same procedure as before.
Spread half the mixture out onto half of our dough,
roll up, freeze, cut, twist, rise, and bake,
this time the only difference being,
once it comes out of the oven, while it's still hot,
we're gonna brush it down with simple syrup,
which is gonna help give the loaf
its characteristic burnished sheen.
You could also make this one with streusel if you wanted,
or you could dust it with powdered sugar before serving,
or just slice it up as is.
And there you have it, a loaf as social media ready
as it is delicious.
But what about savory babka?
You heard me right.
This time, in a bowl we're combining 225 grams
or one block of cream cheese with 60 grams
of unsalted butter, both softened, with three tablespoons
of everything bagel seasoning.
This is gonna make a soft, spreadable mixture that we can,
you know, spread on our babka like the other stuff,
treating it the exact same
all the way up to the point of baking.
This time, we're gonna brush our guy down with a beaten egg,
both for color and to adhere more everything bagel seasoning
that we're gonna sprinkle generously over top.
Pop this guy in the oven for the same amount of time
until the same internal temperature is reached,
and you'll end up with what is decidedly
not a traditional babka, but one that is extremely,
extremely delicious, about as wonderful a thing to snack on
in the morning as ever there was.
In fact, I'd say all we need now is a delicious
cup of coffee from today's sponsor.
Thank you again to Trade Coffee for sponsoring this episode.
Trade has a massive amount of high-quality coffees
from the nation's top roasters,
customized to your preferences and continually evolving
to suit your taste.
With their quick and easy quiz, you'll be matched
with the roasters and beans that best suit
your brewing practices.
My favorite coffee in this shipment was the Alma Soulmate
medium roast, with notes of milk chocolate, clementine,
and candied walnuts.
Trade is offering $20 off your first three bags of coffee
when you go to drinktrade.com/babish.
That's more than 16 cups for free.
Head to the link in the video description.