Bakers Percentages (weight for 2 small loaves or one large, as per tutorial)
100% (350g) strong plain flour
2% (7g) fine sea salt
10% (35g) golden caster sugar
35% (123g) active 100% hydration white starter
30% (105g) whole eggs
30% (105g) buttermilk
30% (105g) unsalted butter
Day 1:
Make the dough
Place all the dough ingredients except the butter into the bowl of your stand mixer, and briefly mix with the paddle attachment on a low speed to a shaggy mess, making sure all the flour is hydrated and there are no dry patches. A bit lumpy and spotty is fine.
Rest for 5-10 minutes whilst you get the butter out of the fridge, cube it and bring it to a cool but pliable consistency.
Mix the dough on a medium speed for a few minutes until it starts to look more elastic and come together more, working out the lumps and messy looking patches (5 minutes or so).
Now add the butter a few cubes at a time, waiting for each batch to get emulsified into the dough before adding more. Once all the butter is added and incorporated, mix the dough for 6-8 more minutes, until it looks smooth, a little shiny and is starting to pull away from the sides of the bowl. It won’t be fully developed at this point so don’t worry if it’s not super stretchy.
Perform 1 stretch and fold, cover and leave at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Repeat this until you have done a total of 4 stretches and folds.
Now leave the dough at room temperature for another 1-2 hours, to make a total of 3-4 hours at room temperature from the moment you mixed it (time depending on the ambient temperature).
Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
Day 2/3:
Roll, fill and shape, then bake on day 2 or 3...
Next morning, make your fillings well in advance so they can cool/warm up as required. You want them room temp and super spreadable. See notes below for some filling ideas but also let your creativity shine here too!
Once the filling is ready to go, take the dough out of the fridge and, on a well floured surface, start to roll it out. The size you want will depend on the size of your loaf tin. You want the short edge of the rectangle to be 2-3cm longer either side than the tin, and the dough to be 4mm thick approx. Roll to the length that satisfies those criteria. Watch the video for a detailed and visual description!
Spread the filling in a thin even layer across the surface of the dough. Roll the dough up along the longer edge, so that the shorter edge defines the length of the roll you end up with.
Wrap in clingfilm and use the wrapping and rolling process to get your roll to the right length and thickness (5-6cm longer than your tin, basically).
Refrigerate for 1-2 hours until nice and firm but not rock solid (so that the filling hasn't fully hardened).
Grease and line your tins with a strip or two of baking paper. Now cut the roll along the length, down the middle, with a knife or dough cutter. Braid and seal the edges, then carefully transfer to the loaf tin. See video!
Cover and prove at room temp for 3-4 hours then bake. Or refrigerate for 4-24 hours, then prove at room temp for 8-9 hours and bake. See example schedules below... just time it for the optimal moment to have freshly baked babka! When ready to bake, it will have noticeably risen, and you should be able to check using the indentation test whether it has finished proving (gentle prod a doughy bit and you want the indentation to spring back very slowly - shown in the tutorial!)
To bake: preheat your oven to 180c. Brush the babka with some milk all over the top, then bake at 180 for 15-20mins, then lower to 150 for the rest of the cooking time. 40-45 minutes total, easiest thing to check is the internal temperature right in the centre, which you want to be 93C.
Whilst the babka is baking, make the final sugar glaze: place granulated sugar and water in a pan, heat gently to dissolve, then simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened. Reheat gently if it cools down by the time you want to use it.
When the babka is ready, remove from the oven and glaze with the syrup immediately. Let cool in tin for 5-10 minutes max, then loosen it with a spatula and gently lift out and transfer to a wire rack. Let it cool completely or until a little warm. The hotter it is when you tuck in, the harder to cut...
Fillings (each recipe makes enough for the full 350g flour quantity of dough):
Cinnamon
100g very soft unsalted butter
50g golden caster sugar
50g light muscovado sugar
6g ground cinnamon (approx. 2.5 tsp)
2-3g cornflour (approx. 1/2-1 tsp)
Mix all the ingredients together until a nice fluffy spreadable paste.
Chocolate Hazelnut
80g unsalted butter
40g golden caster sugar
40g light muscovado sugar
25g cocoa powder
40g dark (70%) chocolate
35g milk (35-40%) chocolate
25g milk chocolate chips
40g toasted and chopped hazelnuts
Melt the butter, and add the sugars, cocoa and chocolate - mix to combine and melt it all together. Let it cool until it's no longer warm, but still very spreadable.
When ready to use, spread this mixture over the dough then scatter over the milk chocolate chips and chopped nuts.
You could always just use chocolate and hazelnut spread....
Date & Pecan
175g pitted dates
125g boiling water
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
25g light muscovado sugar
3-4g ground cinnamon (1 tsp)
40g toasted chopped pecans
Mix the dates and bicarb and add the boiling water. Leave to soak for 10-15 mins then mash/blitz/puree with your chosen machine or elbow grease. Mix in the cinnamon.
When ready to use, spread this mixture over the dough then scatter over the chopped pecans.
Example Schedules:
3 Day Schedule:
Day 1
1000 mix dough
1100-1200 S&F
1400 put in fridge
Day 2
1000 make filling
1200 roll and fill dough, refrigerate
1400 final shape and prove, cover and refrigerate
2300 take babka out of fridge to prove at room temp overnight
