Pumpkin Cinnamon Babka
Babka is very good but besides the taste and texture, I want to mention the special color that the pumpkin puree gives to it. You can apply this little trick in any babka recipe to get a more intense yellow color and you won't go wrong.
This version with cinnamon is one of my mother's methods of making simple and quick Babka. You can put any other filling you like - nuts, chocolate etc. I also added some chopped walnuts. Just feel free to improvise. In addition, next time I will sprinkle the cakes with syrup, as in the Chocolate Babka Recipe, so they will stay fresh for much longer.
In a large bowl, combine the warm milk (not hot!) with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 10g of dry yeast. Leave for 5-10 minutes until the yeast dissolves and starts to foam.
Add 2 eggs, 150g of sugar, 50g of melted and cooled butter, 150g of pumpkin puree, vanilla essence and salt. Combine everything together with a whisk.
Add the flour and mix the dough with a spatula or whisk.
The dough will be a bit softer and stickier, but I wouldn't recommend adding more flour. This way the cakes will be fluffy and tender.
Turn the dough out onto the table and knead until smooth. Use a dough scraper or a knife if it's too sticky.
The best kneading method is called "Slap and Fold". You can find many videos on Youtube on how to work this type of dough.
Return the dough back to the bowl, greased with oil. Let rise for 1-2 hours (covered with foil or a towel), until it doubles its volume.
In a small bowl, combine 150g of sugar with 3 tablespoons of cinnamon.
Turn the dough out onto the floured table and cut into two equal parts.
Roll out each piece into a rectangle about 4-5mm thick.
Brush each rectangle with 50g of softened butter over the entire surface.
Sprinkle over evenly with half of the amount of sugar and cinnamon, and ground walnuts.
Roll up, then cut this roll in half, lengthwise.
Twist the two halves together.
Transfer the cakes to loaf pans, lined with parchment paper.
Here I used simple loaf pans and adapted the length of the cake to the length of the pan.
Let the cakes rise for one hour at room temperature.
After this time, beat one egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of milk and brush the cakes with it.
Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 50-60 minutes. If they brown too quickly on top, I recommend covering with foil, so they won't burn.
Remove from the oven and, while the cakes are still hot, you can sprinkle with syrup, made from 100g of sugar boiled with 100ml of water. Leave in the pan for one hour. Remove from pans on a wooden board and let cool completely.
Slice and taste. Babka is very colorful, fluffy and tasty.
Enjoy!
