If you can commit the time, Blueberry Babka is a very nice change from the standard chocolate offerings and takes advantage of the luscious blueberries coming into season.
This adventure was the whole Megillah! It had to be made with a yeast dough given lots of time to rise. It had to be carefully rolled and shaped. It had an egg wash, topped by a crumb topping, and then a sugar glaze as the final touch. Also, I used a combination of preserves and homemade blueberry syrup.
This was to be a thickened Blueberry Syrup.
I put 2 cups blueberries, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a pot over low heat. I let it simmer and bubble for 20 minutes, stirring often, to keep it from sticking.
Well, my experience, even with adding more fresh blueberries, was not a thickened puree. It did not thicken sufficiently. It is a yummy blueberry syrup, but it still was far too much liquid for the first Blueberry Babka I attempted. (Perhaps, with 1/4 cup of water or less, but again, an experiment for another day. And another pint or more of blueberries.)
I thought that I could lavish lots of blueberry inside my babka, roll up, and find my thrill on that sweet Blueberry hill of dough. It was not to be. The liquid did not absorb into the dough…it oozed, ran throughout the dough and around the loaf pan, and weighed down the dough. Suffice it to say, I destroyed the photos of the first babka I tried to make with the above syrup, but take my word for it. It was tossed and an experiment of what did not work.
However, I did not toss the juicy syrup with whole berries floating in it. It will be sauce on any number of things like yogurt or pancakes (if I ate them…) or for some other cake or fruit crisp.
I did not give up. The next night was the second go-round on the babka. Use your favorite babka dough recipe and mix. You know the drill: The first rise is 1 1/2 hours at minimum. Clear your schedule as the dough is the boss.
This time, I purchased Bonne Maman Wild Blueberry Preserves. These preserves are strictly Kosher. Hooray! Definitely prepare all of your fillings and syrups in advance.
I found that in rolling out my dough, I began with 1/4 cup of the blueberry preserves. Spreading with a flat spatula (I used a Wilton cake spatula, the type you would use to frost a cake), I covered as much of the dough surface as I could while leaving a generous 1-inch border. I discovered just how much blueberry expanded past the dough the first time. Depending on how large you roll out your dough rectangle, if your dough does not have enough coverage, add jam by one tablespoon at a time. Don’t over do it and be sure to spread thinly over the surface. Because I wanted to layer the added whole blueberries and some of the blueberry sauce over the preserves, some space was needed when filling the dough.
As you can see from the photos, rolling carefully and tugging gently at the dough is necessary in order to tuck in the blueberry enough to let you close and “seal” the dough after rolling jelly roll style. If you don’t leave enough space, it will ooze all over your silpat and your hands!
Two options were tried for creating babkas. The first option, was to slice the snake of rolled dough down the middle to expose the layers of blueberry. In my opinion, it began to look like a scene from Grey’s Anatomy or any television medical drama pretending to do open heart surgery. Blueberry went everywhere, again, on a cutting board, on a silicone mat, on the knife used to split it in half, and my hands — which I needed to keep washing to keep from smearing blueberry all over the outside of the dough loaf. As you can see, despite my efforts, it was unavoidable.
Then, trying to twist it into submission to get it into a loaf pan was similar to trying to nail jello to a tree….
In my second attempt, I decide to carefully turn my dough into a figure eight shape, tuck the end underneath and down at the center, as you can see, and lay the babka in a loaf pan. Much easier! But to enjoy the blueberry “stripe”, I light brushed some of the blueberry preserves over the dough as shown. A whole lot less mess and, as you can see between the first and second rise, still very attractive.
Now comes the next step – Crumb Topping. Again, using an egg wash alone would be sufficient and you could sprinkle the babka with large crystal sugar if desired. But, if you choose to add a crumb topping, you will need to mix it up in a separate bowl for sprinkling over the dough – after the egg wash – but before placing in the oven to bake.
From a terrific book called “Modern Jewish Baker” by Shannon Sarna, I borrowed her crumb topping recipe. By the way, if you want to have lovely and easy to follow suggestions for Challah, babka, bagels and rugelach, it is definitely worthwhile and resonably priced. You can purchase here https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Jewish-Baker-Challah-Bagels/dp/1682680215/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519774387&sr=8-3&keywords=modern+jewish+baker (I have absolutely no relationship to the author whatsoever. I just think it is a helpful book to have in your collection and the recipes and results can be achieved by home bakers with no special equipment.)
Her original recipe called for:
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt.Her instructions are to place all the ingredients in a bowl and, using a wooden spoon, mix until crumbs form.
As I wanted to keep the babka dairy-free (pareve) to serve after a meat meal, I substituted 1/2 cup canola oil. With the change to the use of canola oil, I found that I as I tried to break up the clumps, they were holding together and seemed too moist to me. Your results might be different. By cutting the mixture with confectioners’ (powdered) sugar, it helped to create a more powdery crumb that I was quite pleased with. I added 1 tablespoon and carefully blended with my wooden spoon. Depending on the moisture, your flour, etc. or if you want a finer powdered crumb, you can cut in one more tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar if desired.
Prior to baking the babka, I beat a whole egg and lightly brushed it over the surface of the babka. Then, I sprinkled the crumb topping over the surface. I baked my babka at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes and I wanted to be sure that the wet blueberry filling baked properly. So, I baked for 30 minutes, put in a tester, and finding it still a little wet, returned the loaf pan to the oven for another 5 minutes. Don’t overbake, so it is a good idea to check five minutes earlier than you think that you need.
While the babka is in the oven, prepare a sugar glaze to be brushed on after the babka is removed from the oven fully baked.
While I have seen numerous recipes that say to boil Sugar Glaze in a pot, I found simplicity was necessary and effective. Boiling sugar in a pot is not only a sticky mess to clean but can turn into a candy boil if left too long.
Simple Sugar Glaze – Place 1/4 cup of water in a heatproof cup (I used a Pyrex measuring cup) and boil in the microwave for 1 minute. Remove and add 4 tablespoons of Turbinado sugar. Stir to dissolve and let cool. Turbinado sugar is a natural brown sugar (like Sugar in the Raw) that is less processed than white sugar but still retains some of the molasses.
When the babka is removed from the oven, carefully place it on a heatproof counter saver or cutting board. With a pastry brush (I found that my silicone brush worked with the reserved sugar glaze like a champ and would recommend), gently brush all of the exposed surfaces of the babka with the sugar glaze. Do not create a puddle, but definitely brush the surface several times over. Let rest for 30 – 60 minutes to let the syrup soak into the babka.
It takes a tremendous amount of love to prepare and present a beautiful blueberry babka and the many steps. But, if baking is your passion, and you can devote several hours, the finished product is indeed delicious. The babka can be eaten plain or sliced and topped with butter, or margarine, if desired.
Take a moment to inhale all the pride you deserve. Smile, pat yourself on the back, and have a second slice.
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All you need is love, but a cookie now and then doesn’t hurt.
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Bubby Bakes 