Recipe Review: Babkallah

Introduction

The babkallah combines the best of challah and babka into a single recipe. It’s also a surprisingly accessible recipe in that it requires almost no special equipment (although an instant read thermometer will help). The assembly looks complicated, but in practice it was fairly straightforward. Claire also provides many instructive pictures. Note that the recipe linked above varies slightly from the one in the book (in particular the yeast step). A more detailed version of the recipe is also available here – note that it too is slightly different from the book version.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Babkallah	Special Equipment: None
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 5 hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 2.5/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★★☆

Making The Dough

Tip 1: We had better luck warming the milk to 110° for proofing the yeast. It also took us more than 10 minutes to notice much frothiness (the smell was far more noticeable than the frothiness).

Tip 2: If you know you have fresh yeast (i.e. you used a brand new packet of active dry yeast) and the yeast doesn’t appear to proof very well – then don’t fret. As noted above, the process can take longer than 10 minutes depending on a variety of conditions. In fact, if you have fresh active dry yeast then you don’t need to proof or dissolve the yeast at all. Claire has confirmed this herself in several of her videos on her YouTube channel. The King Arthur blog concurs.

Tip 3: This recipe rises particularly slowly due to all of the enriching ingredients (confirmed by the King Arthur blog – see their replies in the comment section here). Make sure to wait until the dough has approximately doubled in size instead of just the recommended time. Always go by the indicators – not the time. The time is just an approximation of how to achieve the indicators in an average environment – chances are your environment varies slightly.

Assembling the Babkallah

Tip: The dough may not get to quite 1.5 times its size during the second proofing. This is fine and it will likely still turn out fine in our experience.

Baking The Babkallah

Tip: If you can’t find Demerara sugar to top with, then Turbinado is a good substitute.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Be patient with proofing and always follow the indicators.
• Be very precise with this recipe. Use exact measurements and make sure you refrigerate the dough for long enough. Do not attempt without a food scale and regular-sized food processor.
• Final Score: 4/5 – The recipe was well-written and the photos make the assembly easy. The babkallah was much better than any challah or bobka that we’ve had before – the sum is indeed greater than its parts in this case.