SAVORY SOURDOUGH BABKA

Savory Sourdough Babka image

This Savory Sourdough Babka is made with the tangy dough of naan bread, and filled with cilantro, garlic, and cheese. The twisted and layered design of a babka maximizes delicious filling distribution and makes for a beautiful presentation that is actually quite easy to achieve.

Provided by Melissa Johnson

Categories Recipes

Time 1h30m

Number Of Ingredients 34

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Ingredients

Dough
275g flour, see notes for flour options (2 cups)
200g sourdough starter (3/4 cup stirred down)
125g milk (1/2 cup)
75g plain yogurt (1/4 cup)
5g salt (1 tsp)
splash of milk to brush on loaf before baking
Filling 1
4 cloves of garlic
42g softened butter (3 Tbsp)
1 cup of chopped cilantro (or basil)
65g shredded pecorino romano or parmesan (1 cup)
(For a loaf with more separated layers, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to this filling.)
Filling 2 (More Cheese and Garlic)
6 cloves of garlic
1 cup chopped cilantro
28g olive oil (2 Tbsp)
170g shredded mozzarella (1 3/4 cup or 6 oz)
50g grated parmesan (1/2 cup)
1-2 Tbsp additional parmesan to sprinkle on top of the loaf before baking
Filling 3 (Gouda and Scallion)
2 large stalks of scallions chopped
120g smoked gouda chopped (4 slices)
Filling 4 (Chocolate and Cinnamon)
71g softened unsalted butter (5 Tbsp)
56g sugar (1/4 cup)
20g cocoa powder (1/6 cup)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
85g bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped (heaping 1/2 cup or 3 ounces)
Dough Notes
I like for some portion of the flour and/or starter to be whole grain flour. One version I made was with whole grain rye starter, and this dough was a little softer and less elastic to handle.
Your starter does not have to be at peak activity. Somewhat dormant starter will simply cause the dough to rise slower. That said, I never tried the recipe with extremely unfed starter.
Kefir milk instead of yogurt and milk works well, but requires a little more flour (1-2 Tbsp). Likewise, you might add a little more milk (1-2 Tbsp) if you are using a thick Greek-style yogurt.
I used low fat and/or full fat yogurt and milk, but I believe non-fat would perform fine.

Steps:

Mix all of the dough ingredients together. The dough will be slightly tacky.
Either let rise slowly in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or set out at room temperature for 4-6 hours. Any combination of room temperature and cold retarding is fine. For the longer cold fermentation, you might flip the dough after a day or so to prevent a dryer top layer. The dough should grow to be about 150% the original size.
When your dough is finished with the bulk fermentation, prepare your filling. The savory fillings can be done in a food processor, blender or by hand. The chocolate-cinnamon filling is best done in a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or by hand.
Scrape the dough onto a floured counter. Flour the top of the dough and press it into a rectangle, roughly 10x13 inches.
Flour the top of the dough again, and flip it over. Then lightly flour the new top of the dough, gently brushing the flour onto the surface of the dough just so it isn't tacky. This flipping and flouring is to make rolling and cutting the dough easier.
Spread the filling on the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch empty on one of the short sides. You can dampen this stripe with a wet fingertip to help adhesion.
Roll from the dry short side, and let the rolled dough rest on the seam for a few minutes.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Using kitchen scissors (or a knife), cut down the middle of the roll.
Make an X with the two strands of dough (see gallery below), then twist the top strand under the bottom strand. Do this both above and below the X. Pinch the ends together.
Using a bench scraper and/or spatula, scoop up the twisted dough and place it into the parchment-lined loaf pan. Your long twist will scrunch up during this process, allowing it to fit into the loaf pan.
Cover and let proof for about an hour at room temperature, or 8-10 hours in the coldest part of your refrigerator.
Preheat your oven to 325F.
Brush the loaf with milk (or egg) and sprinkle with more cheese if you want.
Bake uncovered for 60 minutes or until the inside of the loaf is above 190F. Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and peel off the parchment paper.
Instructions for Making Naan
At the end of the bulk ferment in the instructions above, scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured counter.
Roll the dough into a tube and cut it in 8-10 pieces (~680g total dough weight).
Start warming up a cast iron frying pan 10" or bigger on your stove at medium heat.
Roll out a dough piece into a circle (ish) shape about 1/4 inch thick. Flour your rolling pin and counter as needed.
Brush the top of the rolled-out dough with water.
Place in the hot frying pan, water side down.
When the naan has bubbles all over the top and is starting to curl under at the edges, then flip it over.
Optional: You can brush the naan with butter before flipping, but if you find your brush is popping bubbles, wait until the naan is already cooked for this step or skip it altogether if you want.
Cook until both sides have dark golden brown areas. You can roll out each naan while cooking the previous naan and be done in about 20 minutes. Keeping the process moving also prevents the pan from overheating. You can also lower the heat if you fall behind. Your first naan might be a little unattractive as you gauge how hot you want your pan to be and when to flip.
Cool on a rack. You can serve immediately, store loosely wrapped in paper or plastic on the counter, or freeze in a plastic bag with small pieces of parchment paper between each flatbread.