hot cross babka

hot cross babka

• 14 Apr 2025

When I started thinking about Easter, I knew I wanted to make something yeasted. Originally I was going to make some hot cross cinnamon rolls but with a long drive looming and with little time to bake and photograph before my midday departure, I pivoted and decided to make a babka instead.

Now just a warning - a babka is a labour of love. You do need to make the dough the day before because it benefits from an overnight rest in the fridge. Once rolled it's much easier to slice and roll the babka if the filling has firmed up a little, so you'll need another 30 minute or so sleep in the fridge. Once the babka has beeen rolled and is in the tin, you need time for it to rise. In some good news, the orange syrup that you pour over the babka can be made ahead of time.

I have made a hot cross babka before but not since I started using Nadine Ingram's hot cross bun recipe. The buns are so good, I just knew they would make an excellent babka base and it took all my will power to wait an hour for the babka to firm before I was able to remove it from the tin, slice it then photograph it for you.

Here's the recipe for you, which makes a large loaf cake, which I adapted from a Nadine Ingram recipe with babka instructions from Honey & Co. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20-ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Hot Cross Babka
Fruit Mix
45g each sultanas, raisins and currants
150 mls boiling water
1 Earl Grey tea bag
35g dried apricots, chopped or candied rind
finely grated rind of 1 orange

Dough
300g bread flour
3/4 tsp fine salt
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp each mixed spice and ground allspice
a pinch of cloves
7g dried yeast
45g softened unsalted butter
1 tbs soft brown sugar
1 egg
150 mls milk

Filling
50g very soft unsalted butter
100g light brown sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch sea salt flakes
1 tbs almond meal
1 tsp syrup (golden or maple)

Topping
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with a pinch of table salt) or 1-2 tbs cream
1 batch orange syrup (recipe follows)

Orange syrup
50g caster sugar
1 tbs water
60mls strained orange juice

To serve
Butter

Fruit soak
Place the sultanas, raisins and currants, tea bag and boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until the fruit is plump. Remove the tea bag and drain the fruit well, discarding the liquid. Pat the fruit dry with a paper towel. Just before using, add the dried apricots or candied rind and the orange zest .

Dough
Sift the flour, salt and spices into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the dried yeast, butter, sugar and egg. Mix together on a low speed adding enough milk to form a sticky dough. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and mix for 7 minutes. The dough will have pulled away from the side of the bowl forming a ball. Add the fruit mixture and continue to mix until incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky at this point. Place the dough into a large lightly greased bowl. Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours. You can leave it there for up to 12 hours, but not much longer or it will start to double in size.

Babka
The following day, bring the dough to room temperature. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper, allowing some overhang. In a small bowl mix the filling ingredients until they're well combined and form a smooth paste.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a very lightly floured workbench to a rectangle about 15 inches x 11 inches. You may need to flip the dough over once or twice to get an even, smooth sheet, but try to work with as little flour as you can so as not to dry the dough out.

Lay the rectangle lengthways in front of you and spread the filling in a thin layer all over. Brush the edges of the dough with some water. Lift the long edge of the dough closest to you and start rolling it up away from you, keeping it nice and tight without stretching the dough, until you end up with a sausage about 15 inches long. If it comes out a little longer, push it in from both ends to condense it a little; if it comes out shorter, then use your hands to roll it out a little until it reaches 15 inches. Press to seal the dampened end onto the roulade and then use both hands to even out the roll into a perfect thick cigar. Rest the cigar on its seam.

Trim about ¾ in/2 cm off both ends of the roulade with a serrated knife. At this stage you can chill the dough for ½ hour to firm the filling. Now use the knife to gently cut the roll into half lengthwise, starting at the top and finishing at the seam. You are essentially dividing the log into two long even halves, with the layers of dough and filling visible along the length of both halves. With the cut sides facing up, gently press together one end of each half, and then lift the right half over the left half. Repeat this process, but this time lift the left half over the right, to create a simple, two-pronged plait. Gently squeeze together the other ends so that you are left with the two halves, intertwined, showing the filling on top. Carefully lift the cake into the loaf pan. Cover the pan with a wet tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 to 1½ hours. My babka was close to the rim of the loaf tin.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC (conventional), making sure you allow plenty of time for it to heat fully before the babka has finished rising. Remove the tea towel then brush the babka with the egg wash or cream. Reduce the temperature to 180ºC, conventional, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until dark golden brown. Place the cake on the middle rack of the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. If not ready, return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Make the orange syrup while the babka is baking. It can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge.

Orange syrup
While the babka in the oven, make the glaze. Combine the sugar, water and the juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until syrupy. As soon as the babka comes out of the oven, place it on a cooling rack and douse with the syrup. Leave to cool before removing the babka from the tin or it might disintegrate. The babka will keep for 3 days, wrapped and stored in an airtight container.

I can't tell you just how delicious this still warm from the oven babka tasted. It was divine. Toasted and topped with ice cream it made for a killer dessert.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian