Dairy-Free Cinnamon Babka

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Dairy-Free Cinnamon Babka is a delicious Jewish/Eastern European cinnamon sweet yeast cake or bread, without milk and without butter.

Dairy-Free Cinnamon Babka is a delicious sweet bread that is more like a cake (in Israel it is called a yeast cake) that originated in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe sometime in the early 1800s.

Babka is prepared with a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as chocolate, cinnamon, or other spread, rolled up and twisted. Then in is placed in a loaf pan to bake.

In a lot of descriptions and recipes, the design is called braiding, but it is not normally braided, but rather twisted – one half of the dough around the other.

While the instructions are long and may seem daunting, the recipe itself is rather easy. Mix the ingredients for the dough, let rise, roll out, spread the cinnamon, slice lengthwise down the middle, twist, place in the pan, and bake.

That’s all there is to it! The longest part of the recipe is waiting for the dough to rise, so go shopping!

Love yeast cakes? Try: Cinnamon Rolls, Chocolate Sweet Rolls, or Dairy-Free Chocolate Babka !

General FAQs and information about baking:

The following information may not particularly pertain to this recipe but rather answers general useful questions about baking.

Why do recipes have salt in the ingredients of baked goods?

Even though salt tends to make foods, well, salty, it actually plays other roles in baking as well. 

For example, the right amount of salt balances flavors in baked goods; it can bring out the sweetness of sugar and, at the same time, prevent them from tasting overly sweet. It also can help dull the bitterness of cocoa.

Salt prevents baked goods from tasting bland, while it balances the richness of the fats. It also helps develop flavor in yeast breads and works with proteins to strengthen gluten and make it more elastic.

Salt also slows down yeast fermentation because it prevents the yeast from eating up the sugars too quickly, which otherwise would cause the dough to rise too fast and then ultimately collapse, causing bread to come out flat instead of fluffy.

Salt helps baked goods stay a little fresher for a little longer and helps delay mold from growing on them.

Some types of salt in baking:

Kosher salt—called “kosher” because it is used in the process of making meat kosher for observant Jewish consumption. The grains are large.

Table salt—this is what we use to flavor our food at the table. The grains are much smaller than those of kosher salt.*

Sea salt—like table salt, but processed differently*

Flaky salt—flakes of salt that are used for decoration and add a salty taste to the already-baked good.

*A lot of recipes call specifically for sea salt. There is no difference in the baking process or taste between sea salt and table salt, and both contain approximately 40% sodium. However, while table salt is usually mined from underground salt deposits, is heavily processed, and often contains the nutrient iodine, sea salt is made by evaporating water from the ocean, sea, or lakes with saltwater and may contain very small amounts of some minerals.

Can I substitute honey for granulated sugar in baking?

The short answer to this question is yes.

However, there are some things to consider, because the substitution is not 1:1.

Honey is denser and contains more fructose than white granulated sugar, so it is sweeter. Also, honey contains almost 20% liquid, so adjustments must be made for these differences.

First of all, the glucose and fructose in honey make it sweeter than granulated sugar, so you would use only ¾ of the amount of sugar in the recipe’s ingredients. Second, since honey already contains liquid, you should reduce the amount of liquid that the recipe calls for by 25% to maintain consistency.

Honey is also naturally acidic, whereas granulated sugar is not, so in order to neutralize the acidity you will be adding to your baking, you can add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda per cup of honey to the ingredients.

Lastly, since honey contains simple sugars that caramelize and burn at lower temperatures than granulated sugar does, you should lower the temperature by 25 degrees from that required in the recipe. This is to help prevent the outside from baking quicker than the inside of your baked goods.

Note:

There are a few additional things to note about substituting honey for sugar, though. First, if you use honey rather than granulated sugar for baked goods that are supposed to be crispy, they will come out softer. Second, you cannot “cream” if you replace granulated sugar with honey, so recipes that are meant to come out light because of creaming butter with sugar will come out denser. Lastly, honey is still a sugar, and it has approximately 30% more calories than granulated sugar does (but this will be somewhat compensated by the fact that you will be reducing the quantity of honey versus sugar in the recipe).

What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

Baking soda and baking powder are both synthetic leavens that help baked goods rise, but there is a difference between them.

Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, which needs another ingredient that is acidic in order to be activated. When the baking soda touches the acid, it creates a carbon dioxide gas, which helps the baked good rise. Baking soda is between 3 and 4 times stronger than baking powder, and if too much baking soda is used, your baked good will end up with a metallic flavor.

Baking powder is baking soda that is already mixed with an acid and a stabilizer and will be activated by moisture and heat. Nowadays, baking powder is called double-acting because it activates twice—once when it gets wet (when you mix the ingredients together) and again when it heats in the oven.

Replacing one with the other can be tricky and it’s not recommended. However, if you have no choice, then do solid research for substituting one for the other for the baked good you are preparing so you don’t ruin it.

Why do recipes with yeast say to make a mixture of the yeast, warm water, and sugar and set aside until it bubbles?

Most dough recipes that include yeast will give instructions to mix the yeast with warm water and sugar and set aside until it bubbles before using it. This is NOT part of the recipe but rather a short process called “proofing” to ensure that your yeast is alive because if it is not, your dough will not rise.

In order to proof your yeast, you need to let the yeast, warm water, and sugar mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to see if it develops foamy bubbles. If it does, your yeast is alive. Otherwise, it should not be used.

The water for proofing must be warm in order to activate the yeast because if it is too cold, nothing will happen, and if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Warm is between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (or 40 and 43 degrees Celsius). I usually just put my finger in the water, and if it is comfortably warm, I use it.

The sugar is used in proofing because yeast eats the sugar and releases gas (carbon dioxide), which is what causes the bubbles. If there are no bubbles, either the water was too hot or too cold, or the yeast is simply dead.

Note: If you are CERTAIN that your yeast is alive, then this process is unnecessary.

What do eggs do in baking?

Eggs are made up of two parts: the whites and the yolks (the yellow). 

Egg whites are made up of protein that sets when heated and helps baked goods hold their structure. The yolks are made up of fats and vitamins and help ingredients bond.

Eggs also help baked goods rise as well as keep them moist.

It is important to have the right amount of eggs when baking, because if there are too many eggs in a recipe, this can cause a rubbery, dense texture, and if there are too few eggs, this can cause a crumbly, dry texture.

The different parts of the egg will provide different textures to baked goods; using the entire egg in baking will provide moisture and help the baked good rise evenly, using extra yolks will create richer, denser textures, and extra whites will add fluffiness but may create a drier texture.

What if I don’t want to use eggs in my baking?

There is food science that one can research to replace eggs in baking, but the substitutions will change from item to item.

Should I sift flour before I use it?

Unless you are concerned about bugs or clumps from moisture, the need to sift depends on your recipe.

For example, you don’t need to sift for dense baking like muffins or quick breads, where lumps won’t ruin the texture. But you should sift for recipes that rely on air bubbles, such as sponge or angel cakes or soufflés. You also should sift your flour if you are making baked goods with a high fat content, such as brownies, because it is important that the fat be absorbed throughout all of the flour, and having flour clumps could prevent this.

Sifting the baking powder and/or baking soda together with the flour and salt before mixing in the other ingredients may be able to help prevent cakes from coming out lopsided, where one side may be somewhat higher than the other.

What is the difference between butter and margarine?

Butter is a dairy product that is made by churning heavy cream until the fats separate from the milk (i.e., buttermilk). Margarine, however, is made from vegetable oil. Butter generally has a lower melting point than margarine as well as a lower water content (and the soft tub margarines have a higher water content than bar margarines).

Using butter in baking cookies can create a crisper, more flaky cookie, while cookies will come out softer and more cakey when made with margarine. It is also generally believed to be better to “cream” using butter rather than margarine.

Using butter adds a kind of toasted nut flavor to baked goods, while margarine doesn’t add flavor (however, sometimes with margarine, one might have a waxy feel on the roof of one’s mouth after eating something with a high margarine content).

If one wants to make a dairy-free baked good that calls for butter, a dairy-free margarine is a good substitute.

What is the difference between dairy-free margarine and vegan butter?

Vegan butter and margarine have similarities. In fact, all vegan butter is a type of dairy-free margarine. The difference between them is in the content and the baking performance.

Vegan butter is made from fats such as coconut oil, shea butter, or cocoa butter, and behaves like butter in that it creates more flaky and crisp textures and has a toasted nutty flavor, while margarine is typically made with the less expensive vegetable oils.

What is the difference in using oil vs butter or margarine?

Both margarine and butter are solid fats at room temperature, and both contain more saturated fats than oil.

While margarine and butter will change from a solid to a liquid when heated, they will change back to solids when cooled again. Oil stays liquid at all temperatures. Oil also coats flour better in the preparation process before baking.

Butter “creams” better than margarine, but one cannot cream oil at all.

When converting a recipe from butter or margarine to oil, the general conversion rate is 1 to ¾ (although if you are doing more than one batch, you might need to reduce the oil because I have found that baked goods come out oily in this case).

And when converting from oil to margarine or butter, typically the ratio is 1 to 1¼.

What is the difference between real vanilla extract and imitation vanilla?

Real vanilla is made from soaking vanilla beans in alcohol, imitation vanilla is synthetic and real vanilla costs quite a bit more than imitation. Whether or not there will be a taste difference in your baking depends on the baked good, so do some research before you decide. I personally always use the imitation as long as I have a really good brand because it’s not worth it to me to spend the extra money.

Baking and Dessert Pantry Essentials

I never know when someone in my family is going to want a dessert at home, to bring to a friend’s house, or need for an event, so I like to make sure I can bake anything with very short notice. To that end, I keep a variety of supplies and ingredients in the house that will allow me to do just that. 

I can’t tell you how many times I was glad to have whatever I needed within reach for the last-minute visitor or for when one of my kids went to a friend or had a school event without much prior notice.

I have slowly collected things over the years as I needed them (or if I found a good sale) and like to keep more than one of the smaller items in case I don’t want to wash dishes in the middle of baking.

My basic “equipment” includes:

• a stand mixer, which I use mostly for dough and sometimes for whipping
• a hand mixer (for things that aren’t dough and I don’t want to mix manually)
• a kitchen scale
• different sizes and shapes of baking pans, including loaf pans
• mixing bowls (or just large bowls—I have plastic, glass, and metal)
• cookie sheets 
• pie dishes
• dry measuring cups
• liquid measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• whisks
• rubber spatulas (really good for when you don’t want to leave anything in the bowl)
• rolling pins
• a baking mat for rolling out dough
• baking strips
• a good supply of baking (or parchment) paper (also round for layer cakes)

I can certainly get by without a lot of the above, but it makes baking so much simpler when I just have whatever I need at my fingertips.

Note: The measuring cups and spoons should match as far as the measurements are concerned. Not all cups are properly marked, and this can throw your measurements off.

In addition to the equipment, there are the baking ingredients that I try to keep in the house at all times: 

• flour
• white granulated sugar
• brown sugar (light/dark—I usually keep dark)
• confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
• salt
• baking powder
• baking soda 
• cocoa powder
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• ground ginger
• ground cloves
• baking chocolate
• chocolate chips
• instant dry yeast
• vanilla and/or vanilla sugar
• cooking oil/cooking spray
• margarine or butter
• eggs
• honey
• instant coffee
• various extracts (real or imitation)

I also make sure that I have the following on hand to be able to make a variety of fillings, frostings, and toppings:

• whipping cream
• powdered pudding mix
• powdered sugar
• a good chocolate spread

Then, there is the following to make last-minute quick desserts:

• packaged pie dough or ready-made pie crusts
• puff pastry dough

Lastly, it’s not a bad idea to keep fun toppings, such as chopped walnuts, raisins, and the oh-so-important container of sprinkles.

A little about yeast

Ever hear of matzo, the large cracker that Jews eat on Passover?

The explanation for that flat “bread” is that the dough didn’t yet leaven and therefor is didn’t have time to rise (into bread) before the Israelites had to leave their homes and Egypt to go to the desert.

Back in those days, the flour mixture was left out and the microbes of yeast in the air would leaven it over time and it would rise. So, the mixture that the Israelites made had to be baked as it, before being leavened.

Here is some more interesting information about yeast: https://redstaryeast.com/science-of-yeast/

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Yield: 8 slices

Dairy-Free Cinnamon Babka

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Delicious cinnamon babka cake, dairy-free

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Additional Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 55 minutes

Ingredients

Dough

• 4 cups all-purpose flour *
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup water

Filling

• 1 cup brown sugar or granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Glaze

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Combine flour, sugar, oil, 2 of the eggs, yeast, vanilla, and salt from the Dough ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl.
2. Using your the bread hook of your mixer or your hands, knead slowly adding water, a little at a time, until the dough becomes like a slightly sticky Play-Doh.
3. If you add too much water and the dough is too stickly, slowly add more flour, only a little at a time, until it reaches the right consistency. *
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a towel, or something similar and let sit to rise until it approximately doubles in size. The amount of time this will take will depend on how warm the room is.
5. Next, on a clean and lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangular shape (doesn't have to be perfect) and a thickness of approximately 1/8 of an inch.
6. In a separate mixing bowl, combine cocoa, sugar, oil, and cinnamon from the Filling ingredients. Spread evenly over the dough. If you are going to add chopped walnuts or chocolate chips, spread those out evenly over the dough on top of the filling.
7. Starting at one of the shorter ends, roll the dough tightly into a log.
8. Cut the log in a straight line down the middle, but do not let them fall apart.
9. Carefully twist each end firmly around the other, making sure the open part showing the filling is visible (it should look somewhat like a chocolate candy cane without the hook).
10. Carefully place the dough in a well-greased or parchment-lined standard loaf pan, pushing the ends together toward the middle so it fits. (It doesn't matter if it is a bit messy).
11. Let sit to rise until it has approximately doubled in size (again, the time this takes depends on the warmth of the room.
12. Brush the beaten egg over the top of the babka (this may smear the filling, but that's ok).
13. Place in an oven that has been preheat the oven to 350°F.
14. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until the top has become a beautiful brown color.
15. Melt the 1/4 cup of sugar in the 1/4 cup of water from the Glaze ingredients in a pot on medium heat to create simple syrup. (You can leave the syrup off if you like).
16. Generously spoon the syrup over the babka.

Notes

* Have a little more flour at the ready in case the dough comes out too sticky.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 687Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 302mgCarbohydrates: 96gFiber: 3gSugar: 46gProtein: 10g

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