Pistachio Babka

All things Babka, and all things green remind my eyes and my belly that it’s Spring! 

Chocolate, cinnamon, even a jammy babka keep me in a drooling hold each year. I wanted to see just how far I could push the spring feeling in the kitchen and after stock piling my pantry full of pistachio butter, I couldn’t help but wonder…WHY NOT?!

Truly, one of the brightest bites of my year, this swirled and twisted babe is yours to take for a turn or two or three. I can’t wait to see how you make it yours!

Wake up, Yeast!

Active dry yeast must be “woken up” in order to do its work in any recipe. We do this with a foolproof approach, by whisking it together in warm water, milk or both to foam and dissolve completely. A bit like Goldilocks, if the water isn’t tepid enough it won’t wake up the yeast and if it’s too hot, it will kill it.  Because I don’t have a thermometer for my home kitchen, I’m not betting you do either, I liken the ideal temperature to what you’d use to bathe a newborn baby, warm enough to the touch to sense, but not so much that it’s unbearable. 

Once yeast is awake, it needs to be fed. Which is why we mix it with flour and other ingredients, pretty shortly thereafter. 

Once yeast is fed, it needs to be worked or kneaded for a total of 7 minutes to fully achieve it’s worth, GLUTEN- the bouncy, stringy, chewy best parts of bread.

Troubleshooting: Every kitchen has a different humidity level. As such, if your dough is too wet and sticky, add 2 tablespoons of flour and continue kneading. Repeat as needed. If your dough is too dry and dense, add 2 tablespoons of water. Repeat as needed.

Once fully woken up, fed and kneaded, it needs an hour to relax, grow and develop it’s structure and flavor. This happens in a dark, warm place. Once formed into the mold or shape intended, we let the dough relax, grow and develop one last time before baking.

Deep golden brown is always the ideal visual cue for baking bread, but when baking loaves, you should be able to knock on the toasty exterior and hear a hollow center. If you’re ever uncertain, much like cake, you should insert a toothpick or skewer and remove it clean to cue she’s baked all the way through. 

And after all of that, make sure to cool your baked bread goodie all the way through before enjoying it. Slicing and eating a loaf before fully cooled will lead to sad and gummy experience that you can’t recover from. 

Essentially patience and care is key when going to bread town. 

Filling & Glaze

Anything that’s tasty and spreadable, without being too runny has a place as a babka filling. Any nut butter, for sure, jammy blueberries, banana caramel, take your tastebuds and imagination for a spin.

Some believe in glazing Babka right out of the oven, others leave babka as is. Much like the reason we soak our cakes at milk bar, I love it as an opportunity to add moisture and a wink of brightness or sweetness. It’s always better with it, IMHO, but it’s a choice and/or an opportunity to make your loaf yours.

Size & Shape

This dough can hold it’s on in little stand alone twisted indivisual buns (lower baking time significantly), tucked next to each other in an 8x8-inch pan, even side by-side in a Bundt pan as a ring (lower baking time slightly). 

Pistachio- Lemon Babka 

Makes one 1-lb loaf (8.5 x 4.5-inch pan)

For the Dough

1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast

½ cup milk, warm to the touch 

3 ¼ cups flour

⅓ cup sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 ea eggs

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 

For the Glaze

1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

1. Prep the Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the yeast and warm milk until dissolved and foamy, about 1 minute. 

2. Engage the dough hook and on low speed mix in flour, sugar and salt. As the dough becomes a shaggy mass, add in the eggs and mix until fully incorporated, about 2 minutes. 

3. Begin adding the butter a few pieces at a time, being sure the pieces are incorporated before adding more. This takes 5-10 minutes. If the dough crawls up the hook and/or sticks to the sides of the bowl, turn off the mixer and scrape down before continuing on. Once all of the butter is fully incorporated, the dough will be consistently rich in a yellow/orange color, glossy from the eggs and butter. Very lightly grease a bowl and knock the dough out into it. Cover and place in a dark place for an hour (I love my microwave turned off!) until the dough has doubled in size and has a lightness to it when you poke it with a finger.

4. Grease (maybe even parchment sling-line) a loaf pan and put to the side. Lightly flour your kitchen counter if the dough is sticky, otherwise, simply knock the dough out and start rolling into a 16x16-inch square.

5. Spread the pistachio paste evenly over the surface and roll the dough up into a cinnamon bun-like tube. Grab a chef’s knife and slice that tube right down the center length, then twist the two halves together, giving a braided effect

6. Tuck the tails (about .5-inch on each side) of the tall, twisted log and place the dough in the prepped pan. Cover and back in that dark, secret spot (microwave!) to rise for one hour. 

7. Heat the oven to 350F and make sure you have a single rack ready that’s not too close to the bottom or top heat source of your oven. Bake the babka for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and without a gummy bread dough on it.

8. Prep the Glaze: in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners sugar and lemon juice until smooth. As you pull the hot loaf from the oven, brush or gently spoon the glaze over top, watching the bread absorb the glaze and ensuring every nook and cranny of the babka’s top gets some love. As the glaze sets it will give the babka a brilliant luster. 

9. Let the loaf cool in the pan with the glazed goodness for 10-20 minutes, then remove it and let it cool the rest of the way on a rack or plate.