Savory Sourdough Babka Recipes

SAVORY SOURDOUGH BABKA

Steps:

• Mix all of the dough ingredients together. The dough will be slightly tacky.
• Either let rise slowly in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or set out at room temperature for 4-6 hours. Any combination of room temperature and cold retarding is fine. For the longer cold fermentation, you might flip the dough after a day or so to prevent a dryer top layer. The dough should grow to be about 150% the original size.
• When your dough is finished with the bulk fermentation, prepare your filling. The savory fillings can be done in a food processor, blender or by hand. The chocolate-cinnamon filling is best done in a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or by hand.
• Scrape the dough onto a floured counter. Flour the top of the dough and press it into a rectangle, roughly 10x13 inches.
• Flour the top of the dough again, and flip it over. Then lightly flour the new top of the dough, gently brushing the flour onto the surface of the dough just so it isn't tacky. This flipping and flouring is to make rolling and cutting the dough easier.
• Spread the filling on the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch empty on one of the short sides. You can dampen this stripe with a wet fingertip to help adhesion.
• Roll from the dry short side, and let the rolled dough rest on the seam for a few minutes.
• Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
• Using kitchen scissors (or a knife), cut down the middle of the roll.
• Make an X with the two strands of dough (see gallery below), then twist the top strand under the bottom strand. Do this both above and below the X. Pinch the ends together.
• Using a bench scraper and/or spatula, scoop up the twisted dough and place it into the parchment-lined loaf pan. Your long twist will scrunch up during this process, allowing it to fit into the loaf pan.
• Cover and let proof for about an hour at room temperature, or 8-10 hours in the coldest part of your refrigerator.
• Preheat your oven to 325F.
• Brush the loaf with milk (or egg) and sprinkle with more cheese if you want.
• Bake uncovered for 60 minutes or until the inside of the loaf is above 190F. Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and peel off the parchment paper.
• Instructions for Making Naan
• At the end of the bulk ferment in the instructions above, scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured counter.
• Roll the dough into a tube and cut it in 8-10 pieces (~680g total dough weight).
• Start warming up a cast iron frying pan 10" or bigger on your stove at medium heat.
• Roll out a dough piece into a circle (ish) shape about 1/4 inch thick. Flour your rolling pin and counter as needed.
• Brush the top of the rolled-out dough with water.
• Place in the hot frying pan, water side down.
• When the naan has bubbles all over the top and is starting to curl under at the edges, then flip it over.
• Optional: You can brush the naan with butter before flipping, but if you find your brush is popping bubbles, wait until the naan is already cooked for this step or skip it altogether if you want.
• Cook until both sides have dark golden brown areas. You can roll out each naan while cooking the previous naan and be done in about 20 minutes. Keeping the process moving also prevents the pan from overheating. You can also lower the heat if you fall behind. Your first naan might be a little unattractive as you gauge how hot you want your pan to be and when to flip.
• Cool on a rack. You can serve immediately, store loosely wrapped in paper or plastic on the counter, or freeze in a plastic bag with small pieces of parchment paper between each flatbread.

APPLE ALMOND RAISIN SOURDOUGH BABKA

Steps:

• Dough Mixing & Bulk Fermentation
• In a large bowl, mix together the flours, water, starter, and salt. Knead the dough by hand for a few minutes. If the dough is too wet to knead, add a little more flour.
• Cover and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, and then stretch and fold the dough, going around the bowl several times until the dough is tighter. Click here to see a video of stretching and folding, as well as other forms of gluten development. You can do more stretching and folding after another 20-30 minute rest, but the dough will likely be quite strong after just one round.
• Let the dough ferment until it's puffy and expanded by about 75%. For my dough, this was about 7.5 hours at 78F room temperature.
• At this point you can chill the dough for several hours or overnight, which may make it easier to shape, or simply proceed to the next step.
• Filling Prep
• Peel and core two apples. Thinly slice one of the apples and set aside for now. Cut the other apple into chunks for the next step.
• Combine all the filling ingredients (minus the apple slices) in a food processor and blend until you have a thick paste.
• Babka Shaping (see the Photo Gallery below)
• Scrape your fermented dough out onto a heavily floured countertop and roll it into a rectangular sheet that's about 3/8" thick.
• Spread the filling on the dough with an offset spatula, and then layer the apple slices on top of the filling.
• Roll the dough into a long tube, and rest the tube on its seam while you lightly grease a loaf pan.
• Reposition the tube so the seam is facing up and centered. With a serrated knife, cut the tube in half, lengthwise and more or less along the seam. (This is so you don't have a loose strip of cut dough.)
• Cross the two strands of dough at their center points, and then twist the strands around one another on both sides of the center.
• Using your hand and a bench knife, scrunch the long twist to be shorter, place it in the loaf pan, and cover.
• Final Proof & Baking
• Let the babka dough proof for 1-2 hours or until it has expanded and is puffier. In a medium USA pan the center of the dough will crest over the edges of the pan.
• Preheat your oven to 350F for at least 15 minutes.
• Load the pan into the oven on the middle rack and bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the temperature of the center of the dough is over 190F. Cover the dough with a foil tent after about 50 minutes so the top doesn't burn.
• Syrup Drizzle
• In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and rum. Bring to a simmer and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• When the babka is finished baking, remove the loaf pan from the oven and immediately poke holes in the babka with a skewer and then pour the syrup onto it.
• Leave the babka in the pan for about a half hour to absorb the syrup, and then transfer it to a cooling rack.
• Storage
• Once it is completely cool, wrap the babka in plastic or place it in a tightly covered container. The babka can be stored at room temperature for about a week. Babkas also freeze well (wrap tightly in plastic and then in foil).