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babka base

Prep Time 1 day 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c whole milk
  • 1 pack dry active yeast
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 4 1/2 c all purpose flour
  • 1.5 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 4 eggs
  • 10 tbs butter

Instructions

  • warm the milk to 110 degrees (even 30 seconds in the microwave sends it up to 130 for me, so make sure to let it cool a bit and use a thermometer so you don't burn your yeast in the following steps!)
  • add yeast and a pinch of sugar and set aside for 5 minutes, it should get foamy
  • using a dough hook, mix flour, sugar, salt, vanilla, zest, nutmag. add in the milk-yeast mixture and eggs
  • add half the butter and mix for 5 minutes
  • add the rest of the butter, mix for 5-7 minutes
  • the dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be able to hold a ball shape
  • slip the ball of dough in a greased bowl and let it rest in a warm place for 2 hours, covered with a towel
  • punch dough down and place in fridge for 24 hours
  • seperate the dough into 2 halves, roll each out to a 9x17'' rectangle and smear with any filling you choose
  • place each filled roll in the freezer for 10 minutes
  • take them out, slice them up the middle and wrap each slice around like a braid, when you reach the end fold the loaf in half and slip into a loaf pan that has been lined with a parchment paper hammock.
  • coat with streusel topping of your choice
  • let the loaves proof (if you don't have a proofing drawer, just slip the loaves in an oven with the light on and a pan of hot water on the rack below and the door closed) for about an hour and half
  • bake for 50 minutes at 350, the bottom should shound hollow when you take it out
  • immediately pierce with a poking thing and drizzle with simple syrup, pull out of parchment hammock and set on cooling rack