Description

A delicate, rich swirled pastry filled with raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon

Ingredients

Scale

for the dough:

1 cup whole milk, warmed (110 F)
1 packet dry active yeast
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp

for the filling:

3/4 cups walnuts
3 cups golden raisins, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup dark raisins, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained

for glaze (omit crumb topping below if using glaze):

1 stick unsalted butter
6 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

for crumb topping (skip the glaze above if making the crumb topping):

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

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Instructions

for dough:

Add warm milk to a mixing bowl with yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar, stir and let sit for 5 minutes, it should become foamy
Add remaining sugar, egg, egg yolk, flour and salt, mix until well combined using mixer dough hook for 5 minutes, add butter and mix until fully incorporated about 3 minutes, the dough will be tacky
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temp for an hour, divide dough in half, wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight

for filling:

Preheat oven to 375, bake the walnuts for 7 minutes, cool and chop coarsely
Line 2 9-inch loaf pans with parchment, allowing 2 inches of parchment paper to hang over the long sides, spray with Pam or other oil spray
Combine the golden raisins, sugar, butter, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor, process with the steel blade until smooth, reserve 1/2 cup of the filling
Roll each piece of dough out to a 16 inch square, spread with 1/2 of the remaining filling, avoiding 1/2 inch around the edge of the dough, sprinkle with toasted walnuts and dark raisins, roll up as snugly as possible
Cut the rolled dough in half lengthwise, brush remaining filling over the outside and cutside of the two halves, place one piece of dough over the middle of the other piece, crosswise, wrap the pieces around each other to form a twisted spiral of dough, place in prepared pans
If you’re using the crumb topping rather than the glaze, beat the egg with the cream, brush the loaves with the egg wash, mix powdered sugar, flour, and butter until well combined and crumb-like, sprinkle over loaves
Cover and let rise at room temp for 2 hours
Bake 45-50 minutes, cool 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pans, especially the end without the paper overhang, use parchment paper as handles to lift the babka out of the pans

for glaze:

If you didn’t use the crumb topping, prepare the glaze by heating the butter, milk, cinnamon, salt, and powdered sugar, stirring until combined, spoon and brush the glaze over the warm loaves, cool before slicing

Notes

My babka make look more darker or more red than yours, that’s because I substituted dried cranberries for both the golden and the dark raisins; it’s a substituion that I often make, I just like the taste better