Birthday Cake Babka Recipes

BABKA

Steps:

• Heat the milk; stir in the butter until melted; cool to lukewarm. Proof the yeast in the warm water.
• Beat the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until thick. Add the salt, grated rinds, vanilla, and Grand Marnier. Add the milk-butter mixture to the egg mixture. Stir in the yeast.
• Add the flour, a cupful at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon. The dough should not be dry, but it should not be sticky. Too much flour will make a dry, crumbly cake. Add the almonds and raisins.
• Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead for about 5 minutes, until dough comes away from your hand. Butter a very large bowl and put dough in bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Punch down and let rise a second time until almost doubled.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the pans generously. (You can sprinkle pans with a tablespoon of sugar if you wish.) Divide the dough into 3 portions. Arrange evenly on the pans and cover loosely. Let rise to top of pans.
• Bake cakes in oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until golden brown. There should be a hollow sound when you tap the top with your knuckles. Cool for 5 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto racks to cool.

BABKA I

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, heat milk until just below boiling. Add butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat, and let cool until lukewarm.
• Place cake yeast in a small bowl; pour 1/2 cup lukewarm water over the yeast. Stir with a spoon to break up the yeast slightly; set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat 4 eggs and egg yolks with an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Add 1 cup sugar and salt, and continue to beat until mixture is thick and pale. Stir in vanilla, orange liqueur, zests, and yeast mixture. Beat in 2 cups flour on low speed; when incorporated, add 2 more cups of flour and mix until combined. Add cooled milk mixture alternately with an additional 4 cups flour, beating on medium-low speed.
• If the dough is very sticky, add up to 1 cup of flour. Mix in currants, raisins, golden raisins, and almonds.
• Transfer dough to a well-floured work surface and knead about 8 to 10 minutes, adding reserved flour if needed. Shape dough into a ball. Transfer dough to a large greased bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with greased plastic wrap.
• Place in a warm place and allow it to rise until dough has doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down, re-cover the bowl, and allow to rise again for an additional 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter 3 tube pans.
• In a small bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in 4 tablespoons butter to form crumb topping. Sprinkle evenly among the 3 pans.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 1 minute. Cut dough into thirds. Flatten each piece of dough into a rectangle and roll it up into a log, pinching the seam to seal. Lay each log seam-side up in the prepared pans, pinching ends together to form rings. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
• Beat an egg with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash. Before baking, gently brush egg wash over each loaf.
• Bake babkas in preheated oven until until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped, about 30 to 45 minutes. Immediately turn out onto a cooling rack so bread does not stick to the pan. Cool completely before slicing.

CHEESECAKE BABKA

Steps:

• Dough: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook, beat together milk, yeast, flours, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and butter on low speed until well combined. Transfer dough to work surface and form into a 10-by-8-inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Wrap in parchment; refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Butter Package: Place butter between two pieces of parchment or plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, gently beat until butter is slightly softened, then roll into a 9-by-7-inch rectangle. Loosely wrap in plastic; refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an 18-by-9-inch rectangle with a short side parallel to edge of work surface. Place chilled butter package on top half of dough. Fold bottom half of dough over butter to cover completely and firmly press to adhere butter and dough to one another. Pinch edges to seal. Roll out dough once more to a 24-by-7-inch rectangle. Fold top and bottom of dough toward center until they meet. Fold bottom half up to cover top half, rotate dough package 90 degrees, and roll out dough to a 28-by-7 1/2-inch rectangle. Repeat folding process. Wrap dough in plastic; refrigerate 1 hour or freeze for later use.
• Filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on low speed until softened. Beat in ricotta until just combined (do not overbeat). Add half the egg (reserve remaining half for egg wash), vanilla seeds, lemon zest, confectioners' sugar, and cornstarch; beat until combined. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Streusel: In a medium bowl, stir together butter and sugar. Mix in flour until large clumps form. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.
• Spray three 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Roll out dough to a 27-by-9-inch rectangle. Divide into six 13 1/2-by-3-inch rectangles. Transfer filling to a pastry bag and pipe one-sixth of filling in a line down the center of each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Pull edges of dough up and pinch to enclose filling. Place two filled portions of dough, seam-side down, on work surface to form an X. Working from center of the X, twist ends. Transfer to prepared pan, seam-side down. Repeat process with remaining dough.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly cover pans with a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. (Dough should just reach edge of pan.) Gently brush dough with egg wash. Break streusel into pebble-sized pieces and gently sprinkle over loaves, dividing equally. Bake until crust is firm and golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cool 10 minutes. Invert loaves onto racks; let cool completely. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar.

BABKA (POLISH MARBLE CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease a fluted tube pan (such as Bundt®) with cooking spray and coat with bread crumbs.
• Combine egg yolks, confectioners' sugar, applesauce, and margarine in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in almond flour, rye flour, and baking powder slowly. Stir in all but 2 tablespoons of the milk into the batter.
• Beat egg whites in a glass, metal, or ceramic bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into the batter. Fold in raisins.
• Pour most of the batter into the prepared pan, reserving 3/4 cup batter in the bowl. Add reserved 2 tablespoons milk and cocoa powder to the bowl; stir until smooth. Drizzle over the batter in the pan. Trace over the batter with a spatula to create a marbled effect.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

BIRTHDAY CAKE BABKA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine warm milk, yeast and sugar and whisk to dissolve. Let sit for about 5 minutes until mixture becomes foamy (if it doesn't become foamy, your yeast may have expired or the milk was too hot, so start over with fresh yeast).
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine yeast mixture, flour, salt, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix slowly to combine. Once combined, add in butter, one tablespoon at a time. When butter is incorporated, scrape down sides of the mixing bowl, and knead dough for about 5 minutes on medium speed, adding sprinkles in during the last half of kneading.
• Remove the dough to a greased mixing bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about two hours.
• Grease two loaf pans and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together all filling ingredients.
• After two hours, punch down dough and divide into two even portions. Roll out one half of dough into a tall rectangle. Spread evenly with filling mixture to the edges.
• Roll up dough using the long side of the rectangle. Once rolled, cut the entire roll down the middle with a sharp knife, lengthwise. You should have two long pieces of dough with the layers of filling exposed. Braid the two pieces over one another, with the filling facing up.
• Twist the braid into a shape that will fit in the loaf plan and place it inches Repeat process with second half of dough.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover both loaves with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 20 minutes while the oven is preheating.
• Bake loaves for about 50 - 60 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

DATE NIGHT BABKA RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, turn out onto a floured board and knead well for 5 minutes. Allow to rise in a large bowl in a dark place, covered with plastic wrap or a towel for 1 ½ hours.
• Be sure to check that the dough is the right consistency (not too sticky but not too dry; should be able to hold a shape) adding flour or water, one tablespoon at a time as necessary.
• When the dough cycle is complete, remove dough from the bread machine and divide into 2 equal portions. On a floured surface, roll one of the portions into a rope, and using a rolling pin, roll it into a rectangle approximately 12 inches long and 10 inches wide.
• Spread a thin layer of date paste (approximately 3-4 tablespoons) on the rectangle, being sure to leave around ½ an inch border all around the edge. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over the paste. Starting with the long edge of the dough, gently but tightly roll the dough up to the end.
• Using a sharp knife, cut the strand in half the long way (freezing the dough for 10 minutes prior to this will make slicing easier).
• Lay the halves next to each other, cut side up, and lift one side over the next, twisting the two together. When completed, start on one side of the twist and slowly roll it until it reaches the end, creating a spiral. When you reach the end, tuck the tip under the spiral to complete the circle. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
• Repeat with the other half of the dough.
• Cover each babka with a towel and let rise for 20-30 minutes in a draft-free place.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Beat egg yolk with water and brush over the babka. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until set.
• Serve warm.