The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

My Cinnamon Brown Sugar Babka

Holly96Rose's picture
Holly96Rose

My Cinnamon Brown Sugar Babka

So today i made a Cinnamon Brown Sugar Babka. I am quite new to baking and i'm fairly certain i'm not taking the regular route a novice baker would. I've made a few loaves of regular bread, some Pita bread that was quite heavenly (along with some Pita chips), and now today a Babka. I'm thinking about a baguette or perhaps some bagels next. Anyway here are some pictures of this lovely piece of heaven! 

It was really cool getting the twist right on it. I should have rolled it out a little longer when it was still dough so i could add another twist but im pleased with the look. 

Some of it's gooey delicousness :)

If you'd like the recipe for it just let me know. This is my first attempt at making a babka so any feedback would be great! I realize it may not be the prettiest thing you've ever seen but i'm learning!

Comments

Dave W's picture
Dave W

looks good, i'll give it a go. I'm always up for a challenge

Dave W

Holly96Rose's picture
Holly96Rose

Here's the recipe i followed if you want it. Sorry i'm so late getting back to you but i've been having trouble with my computer. It's all fixed now! 

1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1.25 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg white
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt

Dough:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) whole milk, heated to 110 degrees
2 large egg yolks, plus 1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened

  • Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Grease large bowl. Whisk milk, egg yolks, and vanilla together in 1-cup measuring cup. 

  • Using stand-mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, sugar, yeast, and salt on low speed until combined. Slowly add milk mixture and mix until dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Increase speed to medium-low and add butter, 1 piece at a time, until incorporated, about 1 minute. Continue to mix until dough is smooth and comes away from sides of bowl, 10 to 12 minutes. (If after several minutes of mixing the dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl, add 2 to 4 tablespoons of extra flour. Because I have a Pro model KA with spiral dough hook, my dough was smooth after 6 minutes.)

  • Transfer dough to prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in turned-off oven until dough has risen slightly, about 1 hour. 

  • Place in refrigerator until dough is firm and has doubled in size, at least 1 hour.

  • While dough rests, prepare filling. Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. Set aside 1 tablespoon filling. 

  • Line 8.5 inch by 4.5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, allowing excess to hang over edges. (I used a 9x5-inch loaf pan and greased the pan and parchment to ensure a smooth release.) 
  • Punch down dough on lightly floured counter. Roll out dough to 20 by 14-inch rectangle. Spread all but 1 tablespoon filling over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges. (This dough rolls out quite easily, the filling spreading is more of a challenge; as you can see, I dollop pieces all over the dough and spread the filling over the dough using a small offset spatula, it takes a few minutes, be patient and somewhat gentle.)
  • Working from short side, roll dough into a cylinder and pinch along seam to seal. Position cylinder seam side up and roll back and forth until stretched to 18-inch length. 
  • Spread reserved filling over top of cylinder. Fold cylinder on top of itself and pinch ends to seal. Gently twist double cylinder twice to form double figure eight. 
  • Place shaped dough seam side down in prepared pan, cover loosely with plastic, and let rise in turned-off oven until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (Now i had trouble with this. Dough didn't rise at all? Maybe it was my oven but i think you could skip this step of rising for an hour and just go straight to baking.)
  • Lightly beat whole egg in bowl. Remove loaf from oven and discard plastic. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush loaf with beaten egg. Bake until deep golden brown and loaf registers 190 degrees, about 45 minutes. (I think mine took a bit longer than that)  Let cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool completely, about 2 hours. Serve. (Who wait's 2 hours? i burnt my fingers trying to taste this beauty soon after it came out of the over :)    )

I hope it comes out well and please show me pictures if you ever do bake it!  Happy Baking!

Sincerely,

Holly

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

That is so beautifully filled and baked... looks very, very good. Great job! What a marvelous treat to have with coffee!

Happy Baking!

Diane

Holly96Rose's picture
Holly96Rose

I thought it would turn out awful and then it didn't look like the picture but it tasted great (i guess that's what matters :)  ) so i was worried how you guys would think it looked. It tasted very delicious with Coffee :) 

Happy Baking! 

Holly

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Wow that must have tasted great.  I love the gooey filling inside.

Regards,
Ian

Holly96Rose's picture
Holly96Rose

Ian,

I don't think it lasted two days. It was a really good treat to have and  the filling was very nice. I stepped out on a limb and decided to make something challenging and it turned out beautifully!

Sincerely, 

Holly

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

we love ooey gooey babka!  Nice baking.  I say stick with the B's and do some bagels next but, no ooey gooey ones :-)

Happy baking

Holly96Rose's picture
Holly96Rose

Sorry this is so late but we had a lot of trouble with my computer lately and i haven't been able to get on. Bagels? I might just try my hand at Bagels! Thanks for the input!