This Cinnamon Babka is an incredibly indulgent enriched sweet bread made with swirls of cinnamon. This cinnamon twist bread is soft, fluffy, buttery and completely irresistible! Toast it for breakfast or enjoy with your afternoon tea.
Place the lukewarm Milk in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix it with one tablespoon of the Caster Sugar. Add the Yeast, stir then let it bloom for about 10 minutes - or until the mixture looks bubbly / frothy.
75 ml (5 tablespoons) Full Cream / Whole Milk, 9 gr (2 teaspoons) Instant Yeast
Add the Eggs then the Plain/AP Flour, rest of the Caster Sugar, Ground Cinnamon and finish with the salt (see note 1). Knead on medium speed with the dough hook until a sticky dough comes together.
60 gr (1/4 cup) Caster Sugar, 3 Eggs, 350 gr (2 1/3 cups) Plain/AP Flour, 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon, 1/3 teaspoon Fine Salt
Add the soft Butter a little bit at the time, kneading until incorporated before adding more (see 2). Keep kneading on medium high to high speed for about 10 minutes, or until the dough passes the "windowpane test". The babka dough will be very soft and still slightly sticky - that's normal!
90 gr (6 tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it to proof in a warm spot for about 1,5 hours, or until it has doubled in size (see note 3).
Cinnamon Filling
In a small bowl, mix together the soft butter, cinnamon and brown sugar (see note 4).
120 gr (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter, 100 gr (1/2 cup) Brown Sugar, 2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Punch the babka dough to remove the air and transfer it over a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle with a rolling pin, about 30 x 40 cm (12 x 15 inch).
Spread the Cinnamon Filling over the dough then roll the dough on its longest side to get a log shape. Cut the cinnamon babka dough in half on its length and twist the two pieces of dough around each other.
Transfer into a loaf pan (11,5x30cm / 4,5x12 inch pan) that has been greased and lined with baking paper. Brush the top of the cinnamon babka with a egg wash then cover with a tea towel and leave to proof in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes.
1 Egg
Preheat the oven on 180'C/350'F and bake the babka for 25 to 30 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
Sugar Syrup
Place the Water and Sugar in a small saucepan and heat up on the stove on medium heat. When the sugar has completely dissolved, remove from the heat.
80 gr (1/3 cup) Caster Sugar, 80 ml (1/3 cup) Water
Take the babka out of the oven and brush it straight away with the hot sugar syrup. Let it cool down completely before removing from the pan.
Video
Notes
Ingredients Notes:
Plain/AP Flour: can be substituted with bread flour if preferred.
Yeast: I used Instant Yeast but you can also use Active Dry Yeast - just make sure to properly follow the first step to "bloom" or rehydrate the yeast.
Instruction Notes:
Make sure to add the salt last as you don't want it to be in direct contact with the yeast, which might kill it. I personally like to mix all the ingredients with a spatula first until just combined before using the stand mixer hook attachment.
The dough will be quite greasy at the start so you might need to scrap the edges of the bowl to help the machine.
Alternatively, you could also proof the bread overnight in the fridge. To do so, prepare the dough in the evening, properly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to proof overnight. In the morning, take it out of the fridge and let it come back to room temperature before rolling it and adding the filling.
If the filling seems quite soft or too liquid (happens if the butter was too warm), place it in the fridge for a few minutes until it hardens.