Ultimate bread project: Savory babka
Cheesy babka with ricotta and herbs
If you feel the desire for a multiday bread-baking project, but chocolate babkas are too sweet and crusty sourdoughs too needy, I’ve got a loaf for you. It’s a savory, ricotta-filled babka that’s absorbing and meditative, but not at all fussy. Simply tearing the warm, garlic-scented bread with your hands will make procuring the yeast and flour worth the search. And slices make for the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever.
The difference between this babka dough and other savory bread doughs, like focaccia or pizza dough, is that babka is softer, eggier and a whole lot more buttery. But that same richness means it takes its time to rise, especially if the room is cool.
Your oven with the light turned on is an ideal place to let the dough rise. Or, if that’s filled with yet another banana bread or a big lasagna, pick any warm, draft-free spot.
Think of your bowl of dough like a cat looking for a place to nap. This first rise could take two or three hours. The dough might not double in bulk, but it should puff noticeably.
Then, the second rise is best done in the fridge overnight. The long, slow fermentation develops the bread’s flavor. But if you’re in a rush, you can get away with four hours.
As for the filling, it’s a simple and adaptable mix of ricotta spiked with Parmesan, chopped herbs, alliums and optional ham or olives to make it saltier. If you don’t have ricotta, any creamy fresh cheese will work: soft goat cheese, cream cheese or cottage cheese. Just make sure the cheese is at room temperature or it will be too hard to spread.
Really, the only slightly tricky thing about this babka, if you’ve never made babka before, is shaping it.
There are lots of videos and how-to photos on the internet. But honestly, it doesn’t matter how you shape it. As long as the filling is rolled in the dough, and that dough baked in a pan, it will be fine.
With its buttery, Parmesanspeckled crust, it will look gorgeous no matter how it comes out. And it will taste even better.
Makes:
For the dough:
Total time: hours, plus rising cups bread flour, or use all-purpose
For the filling: 1. In a small 2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, a food processor or using a large bowl and a wooden spoon, mix the flour and salt. Beat or process in the yeast mixture and eggs until the dough comes together in a soft mass, about 2 minutes. It’s OK if a little flour remains on the bottom of the bowl.
3. Add half the butter and beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Beat in the rest of the butter and continue to beat until dough is stretchy, another 5 to 7 minutes. At this point, all the flour should be worked into the dough. If not, add a teaspoon or two of water, and beat for another minute.
4. Butter 6. Prepare the filling: In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients until smooth. Taste and add more salt and black pepper, if needed. (If you used ham or olives, you probably won’t need more salt.) Filling can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead and refrigerated.
7. Butter 8. Put the dough on a floured surface and roll it into a 9-by-17-inch rectangle. Spread the filling evenly onto the dough, going all the way to the edge. Starting with a long side, roll into a tightly coiled log. Bring one end of the log to meet the other, then twist the dough, pinching together the ends to seal.
9. Place