Triple citrus babka with cream cheese, poppy seeds, and cranberries is truly melt-in-your-mouth, delicious, festive holiday babka that you will want to have at any time of the year. Honestly, it is fantastic. It is excellent for breakfast with a steaming coffee or tea, a sweet afternoon snack, or dessert after the meal. It is also my husband’s favorite, and he is not too keen on doughy sweets, but he is ready to put out a fight for this.
A long time ago, back in 2004, I was reading the Martha Stewart Living Magazine where there was this triple citrus coffee cake, which was terrific. So, I thought it would probably be great if I transformed this coffee cake into a babka and, while I am at it, might as well make it sourdough. So here it is.
The Flavors
There is something special about this babka, starting with the dough itself. The liquid base for this dough is eggs, clementine, and orange juice, which is further enhanced with the clementine, lime, and lemon zest. It is a pure citrus delight that does not lend any acidity to the final product, but quite contrary; it produces the softest and aromatic babka dough.
I am very tempted to use this dough in many other baked goodies, or perhaps just baked as a braided loaf would be wonderful as well. There is just something very special about this dough.
Clementine zest and the juice give a more fruity, light, and elegant citrusy flavor than the orange, which I generally prefer in more delicate sweets like this babka.
The dough is further infused with some good-quality rum. To make the rum even more flavorful, I soaked golden raisins in the rum overnight. Then drained the raisins to use in some other dessert and kept the rum in the bottle. The raisins transform the rum into a full aroma boost. I love adding this to my doughnuts for extra flavor to the dough.
The filling is a mixture of cream cheese, poppy seeds, and cranberries. Cream cheese disappears into the dough while baking, resulting in a soft, almost creamy, but not wet dough. The poppy seeds properly marinated stand out just enough to be noticed but never a burden on the bite. Cranberries provide both sweetness and a touch of acidity, creating a nice contrast to the soft dough.
How to Make the Triple Citrus Babka with Cream Cheese, Poppy Seeds, and Cranberries
This recipe spans over two days to provide enough time for proper fermentation. However, you can make the babka the same day and bake for dinner, given that you start in the morning. In this case, please adjust the timings for the bulk fermentation.
Also, place the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour before rolling it out. As the dough cools, it is much easier to work with.
The main steps of the method are:
- Making the dough by slow and overnight fermentation
- Shaping the babkas
- Proofing and baking
The easiest method to make the dough is to use the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment since the dough is very sticky at the beginning, and also, incorporating the butter is less messy. But by all means, you can also knead it by hand. However, it will take some more time. In this case, I find that the slap and fold method is the easiest.
Making the Dough
To make the dough, first, you mix the wet ingredients so that everything is very well incorporated. Then you add the flour and salt and mix until there are no dry bits visible. Don’t overmix at this stage and start to develop the gluten.
Don’t worry if there are some small lumps of dough, as these will be incorporated in the second stage of the mixing process.
After the initial rest period and the flour has had time to hydrate, you knead the dough until the sides of the bowl are clean, and the dough clings onto the hook. At this point, you start adding the butter incrementally.
It is essential to form the gluten bonds before adding the butter as this will ensure we don’t end up with a cake-like dough structure when baked, but instead with an airy and light crumb. Note that adding the butter before the gluten is formed blocks the proper formation of the gluten. The butter coats the gluten-forming proteins (gliadin and glutenin) and prevents them from forming a nice bond.
After the mix, the dough will be very shiny, smooth and should pass the window-pane test with flying colors. If this is not the case, you should knead the dough a bit more.
You will further develop the dough during the bulk fermentation by doing the coil fold every hour for the first 2 hours. At first, the dough will be very elastic, but you should notice a significant change after the second coil fold, where the dough is fully developed and does not spread so much but rather hold its shape.
Then the dough is ready for cold overnight fermentation in the fridge.
Shaping and Baking the Babka
The following day you roll out the dough, spread the filling, and shape the babkas.
Then it is time for the final proof and bake. The babkas should prove for 2.5 hours at 26ºC/79ºF. Pictures below shows how they should look when fully proofed and ready for baking.
I like to preheat the oven to 250ºC/480ºF and then immediately lower the temperature to 170ºC/340ºF when I put the babkas in. This ensures that they are hit with a higher heat initially, which enables better rise.
About Your Sourdough Starter
The essential ingredient for the tripe citrus babka with cream cheese, poppy seeds, and cranberries is the sourdough starter. It has to be vibrant enough to reach the mature state at standard ambient temperature in the shortest time possible.
The recipe calls for a mature sourdough starter, which means that you should use it right before it reaches the peak and starts to collapse. The best time to use it is while still concave on top. It should have a creamy note and not be acidic at all when you smell it.
In this recipe, a 100% hydration starter is used, which means that you should feed the starter with equal amounts of water and flour.
Storing the Triple Citrus Babka
You can store the babka in an airtight container for several days.
Other Babka Recipes
If you are a sourdough aficionado, check out the sourdough page for more inspiration and recipes.
Other Sourdough Recipes
If you are a sourdough aficionado, check out the sourdough page for more inspiration and recipes.
Triple Citrus Babka With Cream Cheese, Poppy Seeds, and Cranberries
Equipment & Tools
- Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
- Large mixing bowl
- 3x loaf pans plus parchment paper
- Kitchen scale
- Pizza Cutter
- Kitchen ruler (optional)
INGREDIENTS
SOURODUGH LEVAIN
- 15 g sourdough starter
- 100 g water (non chlorinated, room temperature)
- 100 g T00 (bread) flour (Mulino Marino)
WET INGREDIENTS
- 200 g sourdough levain (100% hydration)
- 85 g clementine juice (freshly squeezed)
- 190 g orange juice (freshly squeezed)
- 92 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp dark rum (good quality)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (pure)
- 2 eggs (~105g, room temperature)
- 1 lemon, zest (unwaxed, organic)
- 1 lime, zest (unwaxed, organic)
- 3 clementine, zest (unwaxed, organic)
- 150 g butter (unsalted, room temperature, plus more for the bowl and pans)
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 550 g T00 flour (Marino Mulino)
- 1 tsp salt (Himalayan)
FILLING
- 350 g cream cheese
- ⅔ c poppy seeds
- 130 g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanila extract (pure)
- 1 egg yolk
- 130 g dried cranberries (coarsley chopped)
EGG WASH
- 1 egg
- ¼ date syrup (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
MAKE THE SOURDOUGH LEVAIN
- Mix all the ingredients well, cover, and let it rise at least double to triple in size – Note 1.
MIX THE DOUGH
- Add all the wet ingredients, except the butter, into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment and mix until everything is evenly incorporated.
- Add the flour and mix on the low speed until no dry bits of flour are visible about 1.5 minutes – Note 2.
- Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- Mix the dough on medium speed for about 10 minutes. The sides of the bowl should be clean, and the dough should cling onto the hook.
- While mixing, start adding butter, one tablespoon at a time. It should take about 5 minutes. The dough should be shiny, very extensible, and passing the window-pane test.
- Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly buttered bowl. Fold the dough couple of times using the coil method to form a ball.
BULK FERMENTATION
- Cover and rest for 1 hour.Fold the dough twice using the coil method. Cover and rest for 1 hour.Fold the dough twice using the coil method. Cover and rest for 2 hours.
- Place the dough into the refrigerator for overnight cold fermentation.
PREPARE THE FILLING
- Add all the ingredients except the cranberries to a food processor. Pulse until everything is uniformly mixed.
PREPARE THE BAKING PANS
- Using a small brush, add a light butter coating to the baking tins. Place and tuck the parchment paper inside and let the extra flaps on the side of the pans. Set aside.
SHAPE THE BABKA
- Dust the clean working surface with some flour. Take the dough from the fridge, scrape it from the bowl, and place it top-down on the working surface.
- Roll out the dough to measure approximately 48cm/19in by 75cm/30in.
- Spread the filling evenly onto the dough, leaving about 1cm/0.5in of dough along the long edge. Sprinkle dried cranberries over the filling.
- Lightly brush the clean long edge of the dough with some water. This will help to seal the rolled dough. Starting from the long edge that contains the filling, roll the dough tightly into a log.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut the rolled dough into three equal pieces.
- Take one piece of dough, cut it in half using the pizza cutter. Flip each of the cut sides to face up, exposing the filling and the layers. Gently relax and stretch the dough.
- Twist the halves together, interchangeably, as if braiding them. Hold the babka along the long edge and carefully place it in the buttered pan. The edges should naturally fold under slightly. Repeat with the other two pieces of dough.
PROOFING AND BAKING
- Cover each babka and place in a warm area (26ºC/79ºF) to prove for about 3 hours or until doubled in size – Note 3.
- Halfway through the proofing stage, preheat the oven to 220ºC/430ºF.
- Make the egg wash by mixing the egg and date syrup. Gently brush the dough only parts of the babka avoiding the filling.
- Place in the oven to bake and immediately lower the temperature to 180ºC/356ºF. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- After about 10 minutes, gently lift the babkas from the baking tin and place them on the cooling rack to cool to room temperature – Note 4.
NOTES
- The sourdough levain, when mature and ready to use, should be concave (curving downwards), and the levain should be airy and light.
- Don’t overmix at this stage and start to develop the gluten. Don’t worry if there are some small lumps of dough, as these will be incorporated in the second stage of the mixing process.
- When fully proofed the dough should be very light to touch. See pictures in the post.
- The babkas are very soft, especially while still warm, and you should cool them before cutting in. Else you risk squeezing the dough. Of course, you can always try it by pulling pieces 😉
