Easter Babka Recipes

EASTER BABKA

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, scald milk. Add butter and stir until melted. Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool to lukewarm.
• In a small bowl, stir yeast into warm water; let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, or until foamy.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs, yolks, and sugar until thick. Add salt, zests, vanilla, and liqueur. Stir to combine. Stir in milk mixture, then yeast.
• Add flour, a cupful at a time, until dough is moist but not sticky, mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands. Stir in almonds and raisins.
• Knead dough on a floured board, adding more flour if dough is too sticky, until dough comes away from your hands, about 6 minutes. Place dough in a very large buttered bowl.
• Cover dough with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and let rise again until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9- or 10-inch kugelhopf or angel-food cake pans. Sprinkle pans with a tablespoon of confectioners' sugar, if desired. Divide dough into 3 portions; arrange in pans and cover loosely. Let dough rise to tops of pans, about 30 minutes.
• Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until cakes are golden brown and tops make a hollow sound when tapped with knuckles. Cool for 5 minutes in pans; turn out onto racks and cool for 20 minutes more.
• Spoon glaze onto babka, allowing it to drip over sides.

EASTER BREAD, OR UKRAINIAN BABKA

Steps:

• Place the butter, milk and 3/4 cup of white sugar in a pot and bring it to a near boil, you want to slightly scald the milk. You can also heat it in the microwave as well to the point of scalded (near boil).
• Add in the cup of cold water and let the mixture cool.
• Take the 1/2 cup of warm water and 1 tsp of white sugar, mix in your yeast thoroughly and let it start bubbling away.
• Beat your egg yolks and turmeric (or saffron if you want traditional). The turmeric gives the bread it's lovely color. (You can also use 3 whole eggs instead of the 6 egg yolks but the yolks make a richer bread. So 3 eggs OR 6 yolks)
• Add the egg mixture to the warm milk mixture. You need to let the saffon dissolve in the warm mixture before you move on, if you use saffron!
• Then add the yeast mixture to the bowl.
• I used the mixer for this now because it is one heck of a job. Mix the salt into your flour then add in the first four cups of flour, then your raisins. Then slowly add another 4-5 cups until the dough is slightly sticky. The dough should stick to your hand very slightly, but be a nice elastic dough.
• My dough always climbs the hook eventually so I used the mixer to get it combined and kneaded as much as possible then removed it and kneaded it on the counter for a while.
• Once that's done it needs to rise. Put it into a bowl(s) in a nice warm place and cover it with a damp tea towel.
• Once it's doubled in size, it's time to punch it down and put it in the tins to rise again. You want to fill the tins only half way with punched down dough, this dough rises like you wouldn't believe!
• Grease the ever lovin' heck out of those coffee tins. (I use the medium size, the 13-16 oz coffee tins, NOT the large ones!) This would make a perfect 7 tins. You can also make it in a loaf pan.
• Time to let it rise again, Let the dough rise until it is almost at the top of the can. They will rise in the oven as well when they start baking, which is why you want them only to rise barely to the top of the tin.
• Remove all the oven racks except the bottom one. Kick the tires and light the fires to 325 degrees.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes on the very bottom rack, the tops get very golden brown but don't fear, the inner part has to cook and the tops get brown and stay brown.
• Once they are nearly done, brush with the beaten egg and cook until the bread is finished.
• The bread will sound hollow on top when tapped & be a lovely brown.
• Cool very slightly in the tins then remove to make sure the bread doesn't sweat and the bottoms don't get soggy.
• If they stick slightly in the tins, twist and shake gently at the same time, they will pop right out.
• If they stick in the loaf pans, run a knife along the edge to free the bread then remove safely.
• Cool on racks for a couple of hours ... if you can wait!

EASTER BABKA WITH ICING

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in cream.
• Combine with half the sugar and flour and let double in size.
• Add all the remaining ingredients except the raisins and knead until smooth.
• Add raisins, while continuing to knead.
• Grease and flour babka pan (or tube pan). Place dough in pan, cover with a clean cloth, and leave in a very warm, draft-free place until doubled in size.
• Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes. When cool, remove from pan.
• Mix icing ingredients well and drizzle over babka.

EASTER BABKA

Steps:

• Scald 1 cup milk and slowly add 3/4 cup flour and beat thoroughly.
• Cool.
• Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm milk, mix in 1 tbsp sugar.
• Add to the cooled flour mixture and beat well.
• Let rise until double in bulk (30 minutes).
• Add salt to eggs yolks and beat until thick and lemon colored.
• Add sugar, vanilla and almond extract and continue to beat.
• Add to sponge (flour-yeast mixture), add remaining flower.
• Knead for ten minutes.
• Add butter and knead 10 minutes or until dough no longer sticks to your fingers.
• Add fruit and nuts mix into dough, cover and let rise until double in bulk (60 minutes).
• Punch down and let rise again (60 minutes).
• Punch down.
• Butter a fluted tube pan and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
• Fill with dough to cover 1/3 of the pan.
• Let rise 1 hour* and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes.
• Cool and decorate with lucre.
• Lucre: Mix ingredients and spread over top of cake, letting it drip down the sides.
• Note- rising times are approximate.
• Keep dough covered in a warm place free from drafts.