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Babka (Polish Cake...and in the Polish language, Babka is Grandmother)
From Dorothy McNett's recipes at www.dorothymcnett.com. This is baked in a fluted tube pan for the design, or the dough is twisted and braided and baked in a straght sided tube pan...so that it looks like an old-fashioned Grandmother's long pleated full skirt!
1 cup warm milk (110 -115 degrees)
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup raw sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
zest of small orange or lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
5 - 5 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried currants
1 tablespoon soft butter
2 tablespoons raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup slivered almonds
Warm the milk in a glass or ceramic batter bowl for 30 - 40 seconds in microwave, or until 110 - 115 degrees. Stir in the yeast, and then blend in the butter and sugar. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and then add them to the batter bowl along with the vanilla, zest, cinnamon and salt. Blend in 5 cups of flour and dump out onto work surface and hand knead for 6 - 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed and also blend in the raisins and currants, kneading to make a moderately stiff dough. Shape into a ball and place in a buttered or oiled bowl, cover with a towel and place in a warm draft free place. Let rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down. Spread the soft butter over the bottom and slightly up the sides of a fluted bundt pan. Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon and the slivered almonds over the bottom. Shape dough into an 8 inch sized ball. Make a hole in center of dough, stretching it to fit over pan center. Place in pan, fitting the tube through the hole. Cover with towel and let rise in a warm draft free place for 1 hour or more, or until double in size. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake about 40 - 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack. Invert onto serving platter.
Recipe created 2016-08-27.
