Sprinkle butter babka loaf

It’s traditional in Holland to have a slice of white bread buttered and sprinkled – and when I say sprinkled, I mean doused in chocolate sprinkles. Take me to Holland! They had me at bread and butter, let alone sprinkles. So, this is my all-in- one version: a rolled bread dough with butter and coloured sprinkles swirled through, then plaited and baked. It’s the kind of bake that pleases not only the baker in me, but also the eight-year-old in me!

Credit: Penguin Books / Nadiya's Everyday Baking

• serves

  8

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

For the dough

• 275 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 5 g fast-action yeast
• 20 g caster sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 50 ml full cream (whole) milk
• 80 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

For the filling

• 100 g unsalted butter, softened
• 100 g caster sugar
• 140 g rainbow sprinkles, plus 20 g extra for the top 

For the syrup

• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (45 ml) golden syrup
• 3 tsp (15 ml) hot water

Rising time: 45-60 minutes (until doubled).

Cooling time: about 25 minutes in total.

Instructions

1. Start by lightly greasing and lining the inside of a 900 g loaf tin.
2. Now, let’s make the dough by placing the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl if you are making it by hand. Add the yeast and sugar to one side of the flour and the salt to the other.
3. Give it a quick mix and make a well in the centre. Add the beaten eggs and the milk and mix till the dough starts to come together. If you’re using a stand mixer, attach a dough hook and start to bring the dough together.
4. Slowly start adding the butter in clumps till fully incorporated. Knead on a high speed for 6 minutes. If you are kneading by hand, use as little flour as possible and knead for about 10 minutes till the dough is smooth and shiny and stretchy. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough to a rectangle of 20 x 30cm.
5. Make the sprinkle butter by mixing the soft butter with the sugar and half the sprinkles.
6. Have the dough rectangle with one of the long edges closest to you. Spread the sprinkle butter all over the rectangle, leaving an edge of 1cm all the way around. Take the rest of the sprinkles and spread all over evenly and push into the dough.
7. Now, roll up the dough like a Swiss roll, starting at the long edge. Make sure to roll tight. Lift the roll and place it in front of you vertically, seam-side down. Using a sharp knife, start at the top of the roll and cut it in half vertically all the way down, all the way through. So now you should have two long pieces of dough. Turn them out so you can see stripes of dough and sprinkle butter.
8. Make a large cross using the two dough strips. Crisscross the whole thing like a two-strand plait till you reach the end. Gently lift and pop into the prepared tin, making sure to tuck the ends into the base. Cover with a piece of greased clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm place till doubled in size.
9. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Bake the loaf in the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 170°C/fan 150°C/gas mark 3 and continue to bake for another 25 minutes. Take out and leave for 15 minutes before removing from the tin.
10. Make the syrup glaze by mixing the golden syrup and water. Brush the loaf all over with the sticky glaze and scatter over the extra sprinkles.
11. Once the loaf has cooled down, slice and it’s ready to eat. Nobody is stopping you from adding more butter and sprinkles, if you so wish, in fact I highly recommend it!

 

Recipe and image from Nadiya’s Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain, published by Michael Joseph / Penguin Books (RRP HB$55.00). 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.