Blueberry Babka-Two Ways
Blueberry is one of my favorite things to bake with. Anytime there is an opportunity to incorporate this awesome fruit into something delicious, I’m all over it. My new attempt is with this Blueberry Babka bread.
Discovery-Syracuse,NY
Babka is a bread I first fell in love with living up in Syracuse. There was a local Wegman’s close by and they had the best Babka’s ever. This particular one, was a cinnamon version sprinkled with an awesome crumb topping.
I’m a bread lover to begin with, but this was just so soft and delicious, with streams of cinnamon through a buttery, rich, bread. It was literally love at first sight.
I would make special trips to Wegman’s just to purchase these Babka’s. I might add, they went perfectly with a cup of hot coffee on a cold, snowy day. Probably didn’t hurt that the Wegman’s was less than a mile from our home.
Inspiration
My inspiration comes from that time living up in Syracuse, eating tons of Babka and shoveling snow! Just so happens, the year we lived there we came within 2 inches of breaking their all time snow record!!! I’ve never seen so much snow in my life, being a Georgia girl.
First attempt, that is, at making this wonderful bread went super easy. The art of bread is something I just love refining and experimenting with. Finding the right recipes and using good techniques resulting in perfectly baked creations.
Components
This recipe uses bread flour and blueberry jam. Also, I did sneak some leftover mascarpone cheese in as part of the filling. Mixed with a little cream cheese. Resembling a danish like filling. Oh and there is orange too. My fav of Cinnamon Swirl Babka is now being replaced by a new fav, Blueberry Babka.
Blueberry Babka Dough
I start with a simple rich, sweet dough filled with butter and I incorporate orange zest which goes super well with blueberry.
The dough rises beautifully and you can see the specks of orange zest throughout.
Not to mention, how easy it is to roll out. I love finding a recipe that is so user friendly.
Filling
Next, I combine the two cheeses (mascarpone/cream cheese) and place in the microwave a few seconds to get to room temperature. This makes for easy spreading.
Once that is placed on the dough, I put a layer of blueberry jam on top and spread it evenly. This blueberry jam was a gift from an Amish food store. It’s super delicious and not too sweet.
The dough gets rolled up like a cinnamon roll, then cut right down the middle vertically till you have two separate pieces. Afterward, you can see the delicious lines of filling exposed.
Little twisting and braiding takes place now and I make it just long enough to be a little bigger than a standard bread loaf pan. I trim the ends so the main part of the loaf fits perfectly in the pan. Tucking under each end.
The loaf pan gets a generous dowsing of cooking spray before the loaf finds its home.
Blueberry Babka Muffins
Leftover dough scraps, of course those are definitely going to be used. The trimmings from the ends, I place those in a silpat deep muffin pan also sprayed with cooking spray.
These will make the pefect babka muffins! Really a perfect way to use any leftover scrapes.
Second Time Around
Both get placed on the top of the stove and covered for a second rise.
Once risen, they get sent off to the oven for the final countdown. But first, I had some leftover streusel mixture in the freezer, and I sprinkle both the loaf and the muffins with the topping for that extra hint of sweetness and crunchiness.
This collection of Blueberry Babka breads are super soft and fruity with the filling and just a little crunch on top makes this truly a keeper for the bread box.
Check out some of my other favorite bread recipes:
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