Vegan Hazelnut Babka
This delicious vegan hazelnut babka is a dream come true: layers of soft and fluffy bread filled with the most delicious roasted hazelnuts filling. This cake is moist, perfectly sweet and absolutely irresistible!
Servings: 8
Equipment
- Food processor or kneading machine
Ingredients
Dough
- 300 g white flour ((10½ oz))
- 40 g sugar ((1½ oz))
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 180 ml soy milk lukewarm ((6⅓ oz))
- 80 g vegan butter ((3 oz))
Filling
- 120 g hazelnuts ((4½ oz))
- 50 g almonds ((2 oz))
- 60 g sugar ((2¼ oz))
- 60 g water ((2¼ oz))
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 lemon zested
- ½ tsp salt
Syrup
- 60 g sugar ((2¼ oz))
- 60 ml water ((2¼ oz))
Instructions
Dough
- *The day before baking: place flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a food processor or kneading machine and mix briefly.
- Add milk and knead into a dough.
- Add the softened butter and knead until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Filling
- For the filling, place hazelnuts and almonds on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake at 200 °C (390 °F) for about 5 minutes. Mix the nuts briefly and roast for another 3 minutes. Then allow to cool briefly.
- Place nuts in a food processor and coarsely chop (set 2 tablespoons aside). Add cinnamon, sugar, lemon zest, salt and water and blend until a paste is formed.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Braiding
- The next day, line an 11 x 21 cm (4⅓ x 8¼ inches) cake pan with baking paper.
- Knead dough briefly and roll out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 30 x 40 cm.
- Spread the nut paste evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 cm border. Sprinkle the coarsely chopped nuts on top and press down lightly.
- Roll the dough tightly into a sausage starting from one of the long edges. Place the sausage on a sheet of baking paper and cut in half lengthwise with a sharp knife to reveal the filling.
- Intertwine the two halves so that the cut sides are facing up, place in the prepared form, and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
- Start preheating the oven to 180°C (360 °F).
- Bake the babka for about 35-45 minutes, in the middle of the oven until golden brown.
Syrup
- While the babka is in the oven, prepare the syrup. Place sugar and the water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and set aside.
- Brush the babka with the syrup and let cool in the form so it can soak up the syrup.
Notes
*The dough can also be kneaded by hand.