This twisted babka bread recipe is filled with the most colorful halva of sweet tahini, carrots, beetroot, nuts and baked to perfection.
So You Think You’ve Had Babka – Think Again!
There are recipes you stumble upon, and then there are recipes that feel discovered, like they’d been waiting quietly in the wings for someone to finally bring them to life.
My Carrot and Beetroot Halva Babka Bread is one of those rare creations. It’s a loaf that stops conversation mid-sentence the moment it’s sliced open, revealing ribbons of sunset orange and deep ruby red spiraled through tender, golden dough.
I created it almost by accident, chasing the idea of a festive bread that could hold its own on a holiday table but still feel grounded in the earthy, comforting flavors I love.
Starting with the idea of halva, sweet tahini candy I grew up adoring, then folds of grated carrots for warmth and moisture, beetroot for color and subtle sweetness, and a scattering of nuts for crunch, and it just came into being!
Babka Bread
Part bread, part cake, this rich brioche type bread, which originated in Jewish communities of Poland, also thought to have derived from a poplar Easter cake made in Eastern Europe, is as rich in flavor as it is in tradition.
Twisting the babka felt like braiding together all the flavors of my kitchen memories: the nutty perfume of toasted sesame, the caramel-like sweetness of cooked carrots, the jewel-toned beet puree that makes this loaf look as though it came straight from a fairytale. And once baked? The whole kitchen smells like a hug, sweet, nutty, buttery, earthy, and completely irresistible.
Why We Love This Babka Bread
While this babka recipe can easily be filled and braided with a dark chocolate-hazelnut spread, or just melted chocolate with tahini, which would make it a chocolate-halva babka, this particular babka with its ruby red swirls, is above and beyond, both in appearance and in flavor.
My homemade carrot and beetroot halva is one I created for a ladies fashion show, when I was after a show-stopper nibble for the artsy ladies attending. It’s the kind of bread people don’t expect, which is exactly why it delights them. A showstopper that feels both familiar and new. A slice that begs for coffee. A recipe I’m convinced should not be rare anymore, because once you taste it, you’ll want to bake it again and again.
Now, this halva recipe, rich with tahini, and a drizzle of a Mastic liquor in the quick simmered carrots, almonds and beetroots, takes on an amazing Mediterranean flavor not to be compared to anything like it.
Diverse Babka Recipe
I’ll bet the only babka bread you’ve ever had has been a chocolate babka, with dark chocolate melted and twisted between the braided brioche dough.
Or perhaps a cinnamon babka from your local grocery store, often way too soft and without the crisp glaze across the top from being freshly baked.
However, since I grew up on halva, have made Greek Tsoureki brioche bread every Easter, and love the beauty of carrots and beetroots together, I just had to create a new babka recipe, one you will not find anywhere except right here!
Halva – Best Candy Of The Middle East
Traditionally, halva (also known as halwa), is to the Middle East what fudge is to America, only better because it’s nearly healthy!
Tahini paste, which is a paste made from sesame seeds and a little sugar, is the primary ingredient in halva, which became my favorite candy as a kid.
If you’ve never heard of it, it’s really just an Arabic word that means ‘sweetness’ and while many Middle Eastern desserts are made with honey, halva however is one delicious dessert made with sugar.
Carrots and Beets Are The Roots Of This Recipe
No matter how you cook them, beets and carrots simply compliment each other in color, texture and sweetness, and both do the same in any savory combination.
The first diversion from a chocolate babka I made was to make a homemade strawberry jam and us it to spread on the babka bread dough.
Early in spring for Mother’s Day, or Easter, this beautiful Strawberry Babka Bread Recipe was exactly the right bread to serve for afternoon tea or a special brunch; Sticky, sweet and oh so strawberry!
However, the carrot and beetroot halva is not sticky or juicy, is stays put when spread on top of the bread dough, making it much easier to shape, braid or twist the lovely design known as the babka’s trademark of bread.
Carrot and Beetroot Halva
For me, delicious food needs to provide a little eye candy as well, and it’s a good thing I love to grow lots of veggies and edible flowers to make my food pretty as well as taste delicious.
This beetroot and carrot halva, rich with tahini and spices makes for a beautiful filling for this enriched babka dough.
Or, use to fill a favorite cookie, like a Linzer cookie, or simply use as a spread on your morning toast for a more nutritious start to your day.
How To Make This Carrot and Beetroot Halva
With the use of a food processor or simply a box grater, the carrots and beetroots are grated into small pieces that will simmer quickly into a paste, along with the other ingredients.
Raw almonds usually come with a brown skin, which is easily removed after soaking the almonds in boiled water for about 10-minutes, just the same technique as is used to make homemade almond milk.
Once the skins are removed, crush the softened almonds in a food processor or blender.
For the dates, make certain to remove the pits and finely chop the soft dates, making them easier to blend with the cooked roots.
My use of dates instead of sugar, gives the halva both a caramel like sweetness and the sticky dates help bind the roots together for spreading.
Once the preparation for these ingredients is done, everything is placed in a skillet and cooked to soften in under 15-minutes.
Assembly Of Carrot Beetroot Halva Babka Once The Bread Dough Is Made
Babka is not shaped the way we might braid any other type of challah bread or bread that uses multiple dough colors or flavors, such as my beetroot and spinach bread, or butterfly pea flower tea bread.
Once the halva mixture is made and the dough is rolled out into the desired size, the halva is spread on top of the dough, rolled tightly inside, cut into two pieces to expose the filling, and gently placed one over the other in an ‘under-over-under-over’ movement keeping the dough on the underside and the exposed filling on the top.
Gently placed in a parchment paper lined loaf pan, the bread is baked to a golden brown on the edges, and the sweet smell of the halva is intensified as it bakes inside of the rich babka dough.
Equipment For Halva Babka
- 2 loaf pans are used to shape and bake the babka, keeping the ribbon shaped dough condensed while it bakes.
- Nonstick Skillet large enough to saute the halva ingredients.
- Rolling pin, a classic wood rolling pin is needed to roll the bread dough easily into shape.
- Parchment paper cut into a wide strip and laid into the pans, overlapping the edges, making it easy to remove the bread once baked.
- Basting brush for brushing the egg wash across the tops of the bread before baking.
- Spatula – for spreading the halva across the risen dough.
- Sharp knife – to make a clean cut in the dough once it is filled and rolled.
- Bench scraper makes working with dough on a floured surface easier to move the dough without separating or tearing it.
Ingredients For Carrot and Beetroot Halva Babka Bread
- Carrots, bring a natural sweetness that feels both earthy and bright. When cooked down, they melt into the halva filling, adding moisture and warmth while amplifying the loaf’s striking orange ribbons.
- Beetroot is the ingredient that makes people pause, in the best way. Its deep ruby color transforms the filling into a jewel-toned swirl, and its subtle sweetness balances the richness of the tahini and butter. It’s nature’s food coloring with far more character.
- Raw almonds will need the brown skins removed, however it is easy and the recipe explains how. Almonds add the perfect bit of texture to contrast the soft halva and tender bread. Once pulsed or chopped, they offer a gentle crunch and a nutty depth that ties everything together, echoing the sesame notes of the tahini.
- Unsalted butter is what gives the halva its luxurious, melt-on-the-tongue feel. It softens the carrots and beets as they cook, carrying their flavors while adding richness to every twist of the babka.
- Dates, pitted and rough chopped, act like nature’s caramel. Soft, sticky, and deeply sweet, they help bind the filling while adding complexity, almost a molasses-like depth, that plays beautifully with the spices and tahini.
- Brown sugar for an added caramel flavor.
- Mastic (optional) – Just a pinch of mastic adds a whisper of the unexpected: a piney, resinous perfume that instantly elevates the filling. It’s subtle but unmistakable, giving the bread an old-world charm that makes each bite feel special.
- Cardamom, is the aromatic heartbeat of the recipe. Floral, warm, and slightly citrusy, it lifts the sweetness of the carrots and dates while balancing the earthiness of the beetroot. It’s the spice that makes the loaf feel festive.
- Tahini is the soul of the halva. Its creamy, nutty richness brings everything together, creating that unmistakable halva flavor, sweet yet slightly savory, familiar yet exotic. It turns the carrot–beet mixture into a lush, spoonable filling.
- Whole milk is preferred for its full fat content in the enriched bread dough.
- Granulated sugar, regular cane sugar.
- Powdered Ginger, or grated raw ginger can be used.
- Baker’s Yeast in individual packets is usually the right amount already measured out.
- Eggs left out to room temperature, provide structure and gloss to the dough, helping it rise into a tender, brioche-like loaf. They give the babka its soft, rich crumb and help keep the bread moist long after it comes out of the oven.
- All purpose flour or bread flour with a higher gluten content.
- Mild oil just to oil the bowl for the bread dough to rise in.
Carrot and Beetroot Halva Babka Bread
Equipment
- 2 loaf pans
- Food processor
- Skillet
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- Carrot and Beetroot Halva Filling Ingredients
- 4-5 Carrots medium size
- 2 Beetroots small
- 1/2 cup Raw almonds
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 7 Dates pitted
- 1/3 cup Brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp Mastic crushed
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom
- 2 tbsp Tahini
- 1/2 cup Mastic liquor or orange liquor
- Babka Bread Ingredients
- 1 cup Whole milk
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 8 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom
- 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
- 2 1/2 tsp Instant yeast
- 1/2 cup Warm water
- 4 Eggs room temperature
- 7-8 cups All purpose flour
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil mild oil
Instructions
- Halva Instructions
- Pour enough boiling water over the almonds to cover them. Cool and peel the brown skins off the almonds. Remove pits from the dates and finely chop them. Peel the carrots and beets.Â
- In a food processor, grate the carrots, beets, dates and almonds.Â
- In a large skillet over medium-low heat melt the butter and add the mixture from the food processor. Sauté for 5-minutes, stirring and turning occasionally. Add the sugar and spices. Cover and simmer for 5-minutes.Add the liquor and tahini, cover and simmer another 2-minutes. Cool.The carrot beetroot halvah is now ready to use as the filling inside of the babka bread dough. Can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Babka Bread Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, warm milk until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, remove from heat. Stir in sugar, butter, salt and spices. Whisk until sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.Â
- In a small bowl or cup, dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.Â
- In a large bowl, whisk 3 eggs (saving the remaining egg for eggwash), until well beaten. Slowly whisk in the milk mixture, followed by the dissolved yeast mixture and 2 cups of flour. Whisk well until lumps of flour are blended. With a wooden spoon, slowly stir in flour, little at a time adding only enough flour to make a soft dough. Dough will be sticky. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and work flour into the dough until it is no longer sticky.Â
- In an oiled bowl, preferably clay or glass, place the dough turning once so all sides are oiled. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to sit in a warm place (not hot), to let the dough rise and double in size. The first rise will be about 1.5 hours.Â
- Babka Bread Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 400. Press the parchment paper inside of both loaf pans, taking care to press deeply into the corners.Â
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With a sharp knife cut the dough into 2 equal sizes and set one aside. With a rolling pin, roll out one dough ball into a rectangle about 12 x 16 inches. Spread half of the beetroot carrot halva across the surface of the dough, leaving an inch empty on all sides. Starting from the long side and with the help of a bench scraper, tightly roll the halva inside of the dough.Â
- With the sharp knife, make a cut down the middle of the tightly rolled dough, from top to bottom, separating into two pieces with the exposed filling facing upward. Place one rolled dough across the other, forming a T. Gently lift under roll up and over the top piece, like a two-strand braid, until the dough has been braided, leaving the filling exposed on top. An example is on the video.
- Gently lift braided dough into the prepared pan. Repeat with the other dough ball and remaining halva.  Whisk the egg with a drizzle of water and generously brush the tops of both babkas. Allow to sit in a warm area for 20-minutes.Â
- Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes on 400. Then drop the temperature down to 350 and continue to bake until the top is golden brown and has risen high, about 25 minutes. Cool, slice and serve. Store in an airtight container.Â
Video
Notes
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.