Apple & Cinnamon Brown Butter Babka

Ingredients:

Cinnamon filling

• 200g dark brown sugar

• 15g flour

• 10g cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Babka:

• 100g salted butter (softened or whipped brown butter)

• 310g strong flour

• 110ml semi-skimmed milk

• 2 medium eggs

• 30g caster sugar

• 8g salt

• 140g sourdough starter (or use 7g fast acting yeast mixed with the milk luke warm)

Apple butter:

• 5 apples

Method:

Cinnamon Filling:

1. Mix all ingredients and put to the side for later

Apple Butter:

1. Peel and core apples, then chop into 1inch cubes

2. Cook in a pan with about 50mL water on a medium heat for 30-45 minutes (until all the water has evaporated and mixture becomes very thick)

3. Spoon into a bowl and leave to cool

Brown Butter:

You can ignore this step if you want a slightly easier recipe, it's not essential.

1. Put 100g butter into a pan and leave on a low heat to melt, once it is foaming up take off the heat

2. Pour in a bowl and leave to cool in the fridge

3. Whisk the cooled brown butter until it has a softened butter consistency

Babka:

Method below uses a stand mixer with a dough hook, but it is possible to knead by hand if you have the patience.

1. Mix flour, milk, starter (or mix yeast with milk) eggs, salt and half the sugar (15g) until everything is well mixed in then leave to rest for 10 minutes

2. Turn mixer to medium and mix for 5 minutes. Then pour the remaining sugar while mixing a further 2 minutes

3. Carry on mixing and adding the butter one teaspoon at a time. Wait until combined before adding another

4. Put dough in a bowl and leave to prove for 2 hours. If using starter: do 2 sets of stretch and fold every 30 minutes

5. Place the dough in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up

6. Once chilled, roll out the dough on a floored surface to make a rectangle about 24 cm wide by 30cm long (10 inch by 12 inch)

7. Spread the apple butter and cinnamon mix on top

8. Roll the dough tightly, then cut lengthways down the middle leaving one part at the top to hold the 2 lengths together.

9. Twist the 2 pieces together

10. Place the babka into a loaf tin

11. If using sourdough, cover and leave in the fridge overnight (12 hours) to prove. Otherwise prove in a warm space for 1 hour

12. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 180 degrees C, or until golden brown

This is one of my absolute favourite bakes: Apple & Cinnamon Babka. Nothing says Autumn to me like apples and cinnamon. This is a recipe I love to make if I have the time on a Saturday for a lazy Sunday brunch. It doesn’t need to use brown butter, but I can’t think of anything that isn’t improved by it. A warming pillowy dream!

Hope you enjoy the recipe, let me know if you try it!