- Makes 1 (900g / 9"x5" tin) loaf – Ready in 5 hours (as long as you have a mature sourdough starter available to use) –
Inspired by the babka making 'technical challenge' on The Great British Bake Off? I was. I love the GBBO and I love using my sourdough starter - "Mary" - in recipes, so I am doubly pleased with the recipe I've developed here (and tweaked for Christmas) and recently tweaked to make speedier by adding in fast-action dried yeast too...
Gather together…
42g melted butter (sliced and heated in the microwave for 10-20 seconds on HIGH).
55ml lukewarm milk (heated in the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds on HIGH).
25g brown sugar.
1 medium egg (lightly beaten).
80g of sourdough starter (fed and warm and showing signs of life - i.e. some bubbles).
1 tsp (4g) fast-acting yeast (optional - as a booster / 'cheat' if your sourdough starter is a bit sluggish or of you are in a rush - you still need to add the sourdough starter too, to get the lovely depth of flavour!).
175g strong white bread flour.
1/2 tsp salt (fine 'table' salt, not salt flakes/coarse grains).
plus...
5 tbsp plain flour to dust the work surface / dough.
and finally...
150g Festive mincemeat (click here for a yummy homemade cranberry mincemeat recipe).
Optional glaze....
2 - 3 tbsp of golden syrup (warmed for a few seconds in the microwave to make it pour more easily).
Get making…
1. In a medium-large bowl (IDEALLY use the bowl of a stand-mixer-with-dough-hook-attachment if you don't want to knead by hand) mix the 42g of melted butter with the 55ml of lukewarm milk and the 25g of brown sugar.
2. If necessary, let the buttery-milky-sugary mixture cool for a minute or two until it is lukewarm and not hot (so you don't scramble the egg or frazzle the yeasts!), then add the beaten medium egg, the 80g of reasonably active sourdough starter and the 1 tsp (4g) of fast-action dried yeast. Stir well to combine.
3. In a SEPARATE medium bowl, combine the 175g of white bread flour, and the 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix well.
4. Tip the flour/salt mixture into the wet ingredients and mix very well with a metal spoon and then knead for 10 minutes (I hope you have a stand mixer and dough hook attachment!)
5. Clear a large space on your (clean) worksurface and dust an A3-paper-sized area with 3 tbsp (i.e. a lot) of plain flour. Tip out the dough and sprinkle 1 more tbsp of flour on top of the dough (you may need even more if the dough seems to be sticking). Shape the dough into a large rectangle using your hands to press/ease it gently into shape. Dust the dough with another 1 tbsp of flour and then (to finish off shaping) use a rolling pin, to achieve an in between A4-paper-size and A3-paper-size rectangle (approximately 45cm x 20cm) of dough.
6. Dot the 150g of festive mincemeat evenly over the dough rectangle, keeping a 1cm gap away from each edge (see image below).
7. Roll up the dough by lifting a SHORT edge up and rolling it tightly (you may need to use a fish slice to help unstick it from the surface if you have rolled the dough onto a less-well-floured part of the worksurface). You will end up with an oversized cigar-looking thing. Transfer it to a cutting board if you are concerned about your worktop.
8. Use large scissors to cut the 'cigar' completely in half lengthways, so you have two long thin pieces.
9. Turn the cut sides to face upwards (as you want the beautiful layers to be on show when the loaf bakes).
10. Line a 900g (9"x5" tin) loaf with greaseproof paper (usually I'd use a reusable silicone liner, like this Toastabag reusable liner, but your loaf will come out rather oddly shaped as the excess material folds in on itself and this bake doesn't want its beautiful layers disrupting), or use a 20cm circular reusable liner, just draped over the bottom of the tin and going part-way up the sides of the tin.
11. Pinch the two strands of just-cut dough firmly together at one end and do a very simple 2-strand plait down their length. Cross the left strand over the right (so it then becomes the left), then cross the new left strand over the new right strand, and continue until there is no more length of dough to braid. Be mindful of how long the loaf tin is - stretch out or squash up your plaiting accordingly (it's a very forgiving dough!)
12. Use a fish slice to lift the dough plait into the lined loaf tin.
13. Cover the loaf tin generously with foil, so there are no gaps. 'Tent' the foil across the top of the tin (not touching the dough and high enough not to mark the dough when it rises) to keep moisture in, to ensure the plait stays soft during proving. Neither a reusable beeswax wrap, nor a baking tray placed over the top should be used, as they do not seal in the moisture sufficiently.
14. Put the generously-foil-covered tin in the oven-with-just-the-oven-light-on (to keep a constantly warm temperature) for 4 HOURS so the plait puffs up - set a 4 hour timer to remind you and put a note on the oven door so that no one unwittingly turns the heat on and frazzles your starter - eek! . If it is a COLD DAY then pre-warm your EMPTY oven for 1 minute at 180 C ish - set a timer for 60 seconds or it will get too warm, before turning the heat OFF and just leaving the oven light ON.
15. After the 4 hours of rising, REMOVE the foil (you will need it shortly to protect the almost-baked babka in the oven and after that you can wash, save and re-use the same piece of foil to store the loaf in and then re-use again and again...) and place the loaf tin in a COLD OVEN (i.e. no need to pre-heat). This cold oven baking method seems unusual, but it works and it saves time and energy as there is no need for wasteful oven-preheating.
16. Set the oven to 200 C (180 C fan) or Gas 6 and bake the plaited loaf for 30 minutes. (Part of this time will be taken up with the oven heating up, this is fine as it gives the dough time to warm through before baking). COVER the loaf after 20 minutes with the foil to stop the top of the loaf browning too much.
17. After the 30 minutes, remove the baked loaf from the oven. If you like a shiny, glazed-look on your baked goods, then brush the 2 tbsp of warmed golden syrup over the still-warm babka.
18. Cool the loaf in the bread tin for at least 10 minutes and then tip it out onto a wire rack to cool further.
19. To store, keep the (cooled) babka loaf in an airtight tin at room temperature and eat it up within 3 days. On day 3 (if it hasn't been devoured!) the babka can be refreshed by heating individual slices in the microwave on HIGH for 10 seconds or so.
Adapted from the Sourdough Babka recipe on mydailysourdoughbread.com, I combined traditional babka ideas with the super-easy method I use for making my Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Buns. I was inspired to add festive mincemeat for a Christmas twist by sourdough-guru Elaine Boddy on foodbodsourdough.com. I added the 1 tsp of fast-action yeast to cut the recipe time down to just a few hours (adding yeast to sourdough feels a bit like cheating, but Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall suggests it in his sourdough hot cross bun recipe - so that made me feel okay about it!)