Sourdough pistachio babka

Sourdough pistachio babka, no need to describe how tasty it is, so let's get just right to the recipe!

This variant is for sourdough starter + yeast, in order to make the final variant not sour, but sweet, fluffy, full of aromas and taste.

The DOUGH:

- 250 g of a strong bread flour, I took Bob's Red Mill bread flour

- 2 eggs

- 4,5 g of salt

- 2 g of instant dry yeast

- 38 g of sugar

- 8 g of honey

- 1/2 tea spoon of vanilla bean paste

- 40 g of butter

- 40 g of lievito madre

(or 55 g of a regular wheat sourdough starter and take away 15 g of the milk mentioned in this recipe, if you use not lievito madre)

- 75 g of milk

( start from a less amount, 65 g and then add step by step during the mixing process, the consistency should not be liquid and not too stiff, a soft and not sticky dough. Your dough may even take more milk, it depends on flours we use)

MIXING:

The day before baking, in the evening, take cold milk, flour, eggs, starter (the starter should be young, strong, at peak, at least doubled in size), yeast, salt, sugar, honey and mix everything in a stand mixer at a 2-3 speed for 10 min. When the dough looks not sticky, start adding step by step butter which is not too stiff, but still not warm. The total mixing is 25 min.

Make sure that the dough is not overheated during mixing, the temperature is not higher than 24°C (75° F). If it appears to be higher, stop for a while and cool down the dough in the fridge for 5 min, then continue mixing.

PROOFING:

Cover the dough and leave it for 1 hour at a room temperature, if the temperature is lower than 24° C (75° F), leave for 1,5 h. The dough should almost double in size, then degas it and send to the fridge for the whole night ( at least 12 h) at 3-4° C (38° F).

FINAL RETARD:

In the morning take out the dough, roll it in a form of a rectangle (the thickness is 5 mm), spread on top of it an already made pistachio spread or a mixture of chopped pistachios, then roll it tight. Cut the roll along in two halves and then twist these halves together as a simple braid. Put it carefully into the baking pan with a parchment paper in it.

The whole video process you can find here

After being shaped, our dough should double in size in the pan (covered with plastic or a towel) at a room temperature. It took me 2 hours at 24° C (75° F).

When the dough is ready to be baked, put on top of it chopped nuts, if you use a bought pistachio paste inside.

- 1 egg white

- 55 g of chopped pistachios

-20 g of sugar

Mix together, put on top of babka.

If you use chopped pistachios inside of babka, you don't need to add them to the top before baking.