Strawberry Jam Babka
A babka dough, from a classic Mediterranean brioche dough recipe, with a delicious filling of strawberry jam.
Servings 2 loaves
Equipment
- 2 loaf pans with parchment paper 8x5 inch loaf tin
- Rolling Pin
- Sharp knife
Ingredients
- Bread Recipe
- 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
- 3 Eggs
- 7-8 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp Mild oil
- Strawberry Filling
- 3 cups Strawberry jam homemade or other fruit preserves
- Simple Syrup
- 2 tbsp Strawberry jam
- 1 tbsp Water
- 3 tbsp Freeze dried strawberries, crushed optional
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.
- In a small bowl or cup, dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs 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 floured surface and work flour into the dough until it is no longer sticky.
- 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 resting place (not hot), to let dough rise and double in size, about 1.5 hours.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. 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. Repeat with the other dough ball. Chill for about 20 minutes, making the dough easier to roll. Press the parchment inside of both loaf pans, taking care to press deeply into the corners.
- Spread half of the strawberry jam across the top of one dough rectangle, leave an inch away from the edges free of jam. The jam will spread further as we roll the dough.
- Starting from the short end covered in jam, roll the jam covered dough into a tight log. Once fully rolled, make small pinches down the seam of the edge, securing the closure.
- With a sharp knife or serrated knife, cut the rolled dough into two pieces, through the length of yeast dough. Position each half parallel to each other with the cut sides facing up. Twist the halves together, keeping the cut sides facing up. Tuck the ends under and gently place dough into the prepared loaf pan. Do the same with the remaining dough and jam. Loosely cover the pans and let rise in a warm place a second time for 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake the risen loaves for 40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown, and a wooden pick can be inserted into the center and come out clean.
- Simmer 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam with 1 tablespoon of water just long enough to dissolve. Brush over the baked babka while warm. Lightly dust the crushed freeze dried strawberries across the tops. Lift out from the pans, set on a cooling rack and peel away the parchment paper. Can be garnished with fresh or freeze dried strawberries.
Video
Notes
This dough is quite easy to mix and knead by hand.