Sourdough Pumpkin Babka

Name: Sourdough Pumpkin Babka
Prep time: 490 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 775 min
Ingredients: 50 g starter (all-purpose flour starter); 50 g Unbleached all-purpose flour; 50 g water; 28 g bread flour; 140 g whole milk; All Tangzhong; 357 g Unbleached all-purpose flour; 49 g Leavain; 29 g Sugar; 6 g Salt; 13 g Water; 1 large egg; 95 g Pumpkin Puree; 100 g Unsalted butter; ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice; 75 g Unsalted butter softened at room temperature; 110 g sugar; 70 g Bitter Chocolate; 25 g Cocoa powder; ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; ½ teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds; 1 egg; 1 tablespoon water; ¼ cup sugar; ¼ cup water

Published: Oct 12, 2021 ·by Swathi.This post may contain affiliate links ·

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Delicious sourdough pumpkin babka made with sourdough starter, pumpkin puree spiced up with pumpkin pie spice and filled with chocolate filling.

What is babka ?

A babka is a sweet, braided bread or cake and originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. It is usually prepared with a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as chocolate, cinnamon, fruit, or cheese. Then it is rolled up and braided and baked.

As pumpkin babka is made with sourdough it will be nice to add Tangzhong into the dough, as it keeps the breads soft. I like to add Tangzhong to cinnamon buns and other sweet bread. That way bread remains soft and moist.

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Ingredients to make Pumpkin Babka
Instructions
Tips to remember while making Sourdough Pumpkin babka
Equipment
Storage
Sourdough Pumpkin Babka

Ingredients to make Pumpkin Babka

This is basically a brioche type dough with sweet chocolate filling. I have used 100% sourdough starter , you can use stiff starter also.

Flour : All-purpose flour is used for both dough and Tangzhong ( 100%).
Starter : You need an active sourdough starter to make this bread. I have used white flour starter ( 13.7%).

Unsalted butter : if you are using salted butter make sure to cut back on salt. You need butter to use butter both in the dough and filling (28%).
Sugar – I used granulated sugar. Granulated sugar is used in dough as well as in in the filling (8%).
Egg – Eggs act as a binder, add moisture and richness (15%).
Salt: I used sea salt; you can use your favorite salt (1.6%).
Milk : used in Tangzhong (roux) ( 39.21 %)
Water : you need only less amount, as Tangzhong, starter and pumpkin puree has water (3.6%).
Pumpkin puree: I used canned pumpkin; you can use homemade pumpkin puree too (26.6%).
Spices: I used cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in the dough.

For filling

Sugar: Granulated sugar ( 30.8%).
Bitter chocolate : I used 100% cacao bittersweet chocolate you can use lesser cacao around 70% cacao chocolate too(21%).

. Coca powder: I used cocoa powderto extra chocolatey flavor. (7%)

For simple syrup

You need to make a simple syrup with equal quantity of sugar and water.

Egg wash

1 egg + 1 tablespoon of water to make egg wash.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

First you need to make leavain.

Then make the dough with all ingredients except butter then finally incorporate the butter into the dough.

Set aside for 2-3 hours then refrigerate overnight.

Next morning make the filling and fill the dough.

Make a braid and set aside for second proof. This will be a slow rise. You need to proof until the dough reaches almost less than 1 ½ inch than top rim of the loaf pan.

Do an egg wash and bake the dough at 350°F for 45 minutes.

Once it comes out of the oven brush with simple syrup. This adds extra moistness to the bread. Earlier I have tried a mini babka buns in muffin tin here is the recipe

Tips to remember while making Sourdough Pumpkin babka

1) You can make Tangzhong with water instead of milk if you want.

2) Make sure to remove maximum water from the pumpkin puree as much possible by wiping with a kitchen tissue or towel .

3) Instead of chocolate filling you can use cinnamon filling .

4) I have used bitter chocolate so this pumpkin babka is not overly sweet. If you want to make it sweeter use semi sweet chocolate.

5) Make sure to line the baking pan with parchment paper, this will help easy removal of babka as well as prevents chocolate filling leaking on the pan.

5) Brushing with simple syrup adds extra moistness and sheen to the babka so, don’t skip this step.

Equipment

I used Pullman pan 13X5 inch which give tall babka loaf.

Storage

This sourdough pumpkin babka will remain fresh in airtight container for 4 days.

You can freeze by individually wrapping. After thawing them, when you are ready to serve reheat them at 300°F for 10 minutes or until heated through.

If you try this recipe, please tag me @nidhinikhil on Instagram or zestysouthindianktichen on Facebook.

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5 from 168 votes