Cinnamon babka made from flaky dough are an authentic Easter dessert.
Cinnamon babka is an American-inspired dish that originated in Polish Jewish cuisine and has conquered the world. The word ‘babka’ means grandmother, and you only have to taste this delicacy once to understand why: you’re lucky if your grandmother surprised you with it as a child. Since babka dough requires a rather long resting time, it’s a good idea to start a day earlier than you plan to eat them.
Cinnamon babka
Ingredients for 1 babka
FOR THE DOUGH
- 130 g all-purpose flour
- 120 g fine flour
- 40 g soft butter
- 40 g sugar + 1 teaspoon for the yeast
- 10 g fresh yeast
- 1 egg
- 10 ml milk
- 0.5 tsp salt
FOR THE FILLING
- 100 g sugar
- 75 g butter
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
FOR THE SYRUP
- 75 g sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 50 ml water
Preparation
Heat the milk to lukewarm, mix with a teaspoon of sugar, crumble in the yeast and set aside to rise. In the meantime, sift together the two kinds of flour, sprinkle with salt and sugar, then make a well in the middle with your hand, beat the egg into it and pour in the yeast and milk. Mix with a spoon and set aside to rest for ten minutes.
Then add the soft butter, cut into small cubes, and knead by hand or with a machine until the dough separates easily from the sides of the bowl. When the dough is nice and smooth, cover with plastic foil and refrigerate for 12 hours.
The next day, prepare the filling. Melt the butter with the sugar and set aside to cool. In the meantime, roll out the dough on a floured board to a thickness of half an inch. Brush with the butter and sugar and sprinkle with the cinnamon.
Roll up the dough by the longer side as you would a pancake, then cut in half lengthwise, turn the dough pieces filling side up and twist them together. Place in a loaf tin, cover and rise until it doubles in size. Since the dough is cold, this will take about three hours. Once risen, bake in a 180°C oven for half an hour and then leave it to cool in the tin.
When the loaf is cool, brush the top with sugar syrup. To prepare the syrup, pour the sugar, water and cinnamon into a small saucepan and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes until you obtain a thick syrup. Use a brush to spread over the surface of the babka.