Babka is a braided yeast bread typically made from challah or brioche dough. It’s filled then rolled, twisted, and baked which is why it’s not a uniform loaf. Despite how intricate it looks, babka is fairly simple to make and, in my experience, is always a hit. This recipe is light yet sweet and is made of a soft and flaky brioche-like bread filled with lemon curd and topped with lemon simple syrup. It’s perfect with some tea, made into French toast, or on its own. Without a doubt, it’s worth the prep time!
Babkas can be filled with numerous things, with chocolate or cinnamon being the most common fillings. But to put a more spring-appropriate spin on babka, this recipe uses a quick lemon curd as a filling instead. Also, the dough has oil, like challah, but has milk too which is more on par with brioche. Ultimately, you get a super fluffy and satisfying bread no matter how you classify it! Although to balance out the tartness from the lemon, I’ve leaned a bit harder into the “sweetness” of this bread than a traditional babka. Overall, it’s a perfectly soft, almost melt-in-your-mouth, sweet bread.
For this Lemon Babka recipe you'll need:
- Unsweetened soy milk – This is my preferred milk to use when baking, others may work but soy milk has a higher protein content that is perfect for breads especially.
- Granulated Sugar
- Active dry yeast – You can sub for instant yeast, just skip the activation part and go straight to combining the wet ingredients.
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Avocado oil – you can sub for another neutral oil or melted non-dairy butter. If you opt for the non-dairy butter, omit the salt unless you’re using unsalted butter.
- Lemon juice – Fresh is definitely best for this recipe!
- Lemon zest
- Cornstarch – Helps thicken the vegan lemon curd.
Notes:
How long should you knead the dough?
The kneading process takes about 15 minutes in a stand mixer, it’s a slow and steady process to make sure your dough doesn’t end up like a rock and to make sure everything is incorporated evenly. If you’re finding the oil isn’t getting taken up by the dough, let it rest for about 5 minutes and then knead again.
Can you make babka in one day?
You can bake this same day by doing two room temperature rises or you can do an overnight rise. Both result in great bread, but dealing with cold dough is easier and also gives a more developed flavor to the dough. If you have time to plan ahead, I’d recommend sticking with the overnight rise!
Want the filling to stand out more?
Because the lemon filling is pretty light in color and doesn’t fully show the intricate braiding done to the dough, I recommend adding a pinch of turmeric powder. This makes it easier to see the difference between the dough and filling.
Should you measure the size of the rolled-out dough?
Not necessarily. The dough doesn’t need to be an exact size, so I never bother with actually measuring. Instead, a little hack is to roll out the dough a few inches longer than your loaf pan. This helps account for dough shrinkage and allows you to achieve the correct size without needing to pull out a ruler to measure exact lengths.
How can you shape the babka without the filling spilling out?
The twisting process can get pretty messy and honestly just requires some practice, but using a sharp knife and not overly fussing with the shape once you’ve twisted the bread are two handy hacks that prevent spillage and keep your babka looking good.
Can you prevent the top of the bread from burning?
To help prevent over-browning, around the 40-minute bake mark, I like to brush a little of the lemon simple syrup on the parts that are browning fastest. This helps stop those tall spots from burning without needing to tent it with foil.
Vegan Lemon Babka
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1¼ c unsweetened soy milk lukewarm
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2¼ tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 c all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ c avocado oil
Lemon curd:
- ⅓ c lemon juice
- ¼ c unsweetened soy milk
- 1½ tsp lemon zest
- ½ c granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Lemon simple syrup:
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
First, make the dough.
- In a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine the warm milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and the yeast. Let sit until frothy, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the remaining sugar and the vanilla to the yeast mixture, then stir to combine.
- Adding 1 cup of flour at a time, mix on low using a dough hook (if using a stand mixer) or a rubber spatula (if mixing by hand), making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the salt with the final cup of flour and continue mixing until you have a smooth dough.
- Incrementally add in the oil, and knead until all of the oil is incorporated.
- Form a smooth ball with the dough and place in a lightly oiled bowl then cover with a damp tea towel or a lid to let rise overnight in the fridge or until doubled at room temperature.
Next, make the lemon curd.
- In a small saucepan, whisk together all of the ingredients until no lumps are present.
- While whisking continuously, cook on medium heat until it starts to bubble and thicken.
- Once thickened, transfer to a container with a lid and let the lemon curd cool down in the fridge. Once it's chilled, it's ready to be used.
Time to fill the babka.
- After the first rise, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle that's about 11 inches long and ¼ an inch thick.
- Gently spread the chilled lemon curd over the dough, leaving a bit of a border so the curd doesn't spill out of the ends.
- Roll the dough up tightly, but gently so the filling doesn't get squeezed out, then cut the dough in half lengthwise with a sharp knife.
- Twist the two halves together, like a braid, and pinch the ends together to help keep it together.
- Place the braided dough in a lightly oiled 9x5-inch loaf pan and cover with a damp tea towel to let rise again for an hour or until it has puffed up and springs back slowly if pressed.
While waiting, prep the lemon simple syrup.
- In a small saucepan heat the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside for later.
Bake the babka.
- After the second rise, bake the babka at 350℉ (180℃) for 45-55 minutes, or until it's a deep golden brown. To help prevent burning, you can brush some of the simple syrup on the top around the 40-minute mark.
- Remove from the oven and generously brush the simple syrup over the top.
- Let cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from the baking pan and let it cool completely before slicing. Then, enjoy!
The babka has turned out amazing! The recipe was easy to follow and the ingredients were all to be found in my local store. I’m so pleased to have used this recipe as my family loves sweet stuff with a hint of lemon in them. Glad to have found this recipe; it’s a keeper for sure!