Festive yeasted babka with dried fruit

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Today I want to share a recipe for a delicious cake that will delight your palate with festive flavour. This time we will prepare a yeasted babka filled with apricot jam and a large amount of dried fruit. A perfect recipe that is easy to adjust based on what your family likes best.


Fluffy, delicate yested dough lets the fruit filling shine, while its light vanilla notes provide the perfect background. Apricot jam brings a bit of moisture to the whole composition, while intermingling flavours of apricots, cranberries and sultanas make each bite a new experience. I think it will look beautiful on your festive table and it pays back in flavour for all the effort it requires.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (for a 30 cm loaf tin)

Dough

  • 375 g (~2.5 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 45 g (~3 tbsp) sugar
  • 7 g instant yeast
  • Pinch of salt
  • 180 g kefir
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 45 g butter
  • 1 tbsp milk

Filling

  • 200 g apricot jam
  • 50 g dry apricots
  • 30 g sultanas
  • 30 g cranberries
  • 30 g walnuts
  • 30 g candied orange peel

Glaze 

  • 20 g apricot jam

Method

  1. Put 375 g all-purpose flour into a large bowl and add 45 g fine white sugar, 7 g instant yeast and a small pinch of salt. Stir through the dry ingredients shortly with a whisk until everything gets evenly distributed. Add 180 g lukewarm kefir, 3 large egg yolks and 1 tsp vanilla paste to the dry ingredients. Stir through the contents of the bowl with a wooden spoon, only until flour absorbs moisture. Once it happens, add 45 g cool melted butter to dough. Mix everything together again until fat gets evenly distributed in dough.
  2. Start kneading dough by hand. Do it in the bowl at first, only until dough absorbs flour. Transfer it onto a lightly dusted worktop next and knead it until smooth and elastic. It can take up to 15 minutes, so be patient and work steadily. Of course, you can also prepare dough in a stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Once dough is ready shape it into a ball and make sure it's elastic. All you need to do is poke your finger intot the dough. If the hole you made springs back, the dough is ready. If not, continue kneading.
  3. Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn it a few times so that oil covers dough. It will prevent it from drying out while proofing. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and put it into a warm place for around 90 minutes until dough puffs up and at least doubles in volume.
  4. After around 90 minutes return to yeasted dough that should've risen beautifully by now. Place it onto a dry worktop and form it into a rectangle, 40 x 30 cm. I've lightly pressed and pulled at my dough, but you can also use a rolling pin.
  5. Once you've got the right shape brush dough with 200 g of apricot jam. Spread it almost across the whole surface, leaving a clean 3 cm strip along one longer side. We will use the clean part to seal our rolled dough.
  6. Arrange dried fruit on top of jam layer. I'm using 30 g each of sultanas, dry cranberries, roughly chopped walnuts and candied orange peel. I'm also adding 50 g roughly chopped dry apricots. You can also choose chopped hcocolate, almodns, hazelnuts or candied cherries.
  7. All we need to do now if roll the dough tightly. Don't rush it and do it as precisely as possible. The tighter the roll, the more layers you'll get inside of your ready festive babka. Once you've rolled the dough ensure that it's closed well along the seam.
  8. Place the roll seam down, rotate it so that the shorter side is facing you and make a cut almost along the whole length using a sharp knife, roughly in half. Don't cut the dough completely; leave about 2 cm intact. This will help you keep the babka in one piece as you braid it.
  9. Arrange teh two strips cut up and place them on top of one another, in turns, making a simple braid. Don't rush it and try to do it as tightly as possible. Once you've compleed the braid, stick the two strip ends together and gently realign the whole babka so its thickness is consistent.
  10. Move the cake carefully onto a piece of baking paper and transfer it into a 30 cm loaf tin. The tin should be clean and dry. Cover the cake with a piece ofplastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes to rest and rise lightly.
  11. Babka should be lightly risen after the 30 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and brush the top with a bit of milk. This will help babka become beautiful and golden as it bakes.
  12. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 180 deg C, no fan, for 35 minutes, until beautiful and golden. If the top browns too quickly, you can cover it with a piece of baking paper. Take the cake out of the oven and set it aside in the baking tin to cool slightly.
  13. Take the cake out onto a wire rack next, and brush the top with a bit of heated apricot jam. It will bring extra flavour as well as beautiful shine. Set the cake aside to cool completely.
  14. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value 

100 g 

  • 315 kcal
  • Carbs: 54 g 
  • Fat: 8 g
  • Protein: 8 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

1 slice (recipe makes 15 slices)

  • 217 kcal
  • Carbs: 37 g 
  • Fat: 5 g
  • Protein: 5 g
  • Fibre: 1 g

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