Pumpkin Spice Latte Transformed Into Babka

Hello everyone,

Babka is something I bake at least once a month. The best thing about it is that it is absolutely versatile, you can not only use the classic chocolate and nuts filling, but basically anything you can think of, I also like that the dough can be prepared in the evening, then after a long rest in the fridge you can add the filling, finish the cake and bake it quickly next morning.

This version is inspired by pumpkin spice latte. The "latte" part is incorporated into the dough, I added powdered coffee for the coffee flavor. The filling is made of pumpkin puree, toasted nuts and chocolate chips all spiced up with ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Finally, there is a mascarpone and pumpkin spice syrup (recipe included) glaze on top of the cake.

It's rich, tasty, indulgent and not too difficult to make.

Supplies

Ingredients of the dough (makes 2 loaves):

• 550 g flour
• 14 g active-dry yeast
• 100 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 120 ml lukewarm milk
• 2 tablespoons powdered coffee
• 130 g softened butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

+ neutral oil (like sunflower) to grease the bowl

egg wash (1 yolk and 1 tablespoon milk)

Ingredients of the pumpkin spice latte syrup:

• 480 ml water
• 200 g white granulated sugar
• 100 g brown sugar
• 120 g honey
• 150 g pumpkin puree (or buy a pumpkin and check next step on how to make puree yourself)
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 6-8 whole cloves
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ingredients of the filling:

• 400 g pumpkin puree
• 200 g cream cheese (like Philadelphia)
• 100 g brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 200 g nuts (I used a mix of walnuts and pecans)
• 200 g dark chocolate chips

Ingredients of the glaze:

• 100 g mascarpone
• 10 tablespoons pumpkin spice latte syrup

Utensils:

• stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• cutting board
• knifes
• pots
• blender (for making pumpkin puree yourself)
• rolling pin
• baking tray
• parchment papers
• loaf molds
• cling film
• pan
• brush

Step 1: Pumpkin Puree

This step is for those of you who are planning on making the pumpkin puree from scratch. No big deal, really.

1. Preheat the oven to 190 °Celsius, fan.
2. Wash the pumpkin (I used Hokkaido).
3. Cut off stem.
4. Cut it in half, remove seeds and the soft part around the seeds with a spoon.
5. Lay the pumpkin halves facing down on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for roughly 45 minutes until it gets soft.
7. Remove from the oven and let it cool.
8. Scoop the flesh out then blend until smooth.

Step 2: Dough - Proofing the Yeast

Gather all the ingredients of the dough.

We'll start off by proofing the yeast, in the mixing bowl so as to cut down the number of dirty dishes by one.

Tip the flour into the mixing bowl, make a well in the middle and pour half of the milk, add 1 teaspoon of sugar and the dry yeast. Using a spoon, cover the top of the milk with some flour.

Cover the bowl with kitchen towel and let it sit until there will be cracks on the surface visible (about 5-10 minutes).

Step 3: Mixing the Dough

First things first, add granulated coffee into the rest of the milk and stir until combined. (I chose granulated coffee because I did not want to decrease the quantity of the milk as I should have - to retain total fluid quantity - had I used brewed coffee).

Set the butter and salt aside for the moment and add all other ingredients of the dough into the mixing bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix at low speed for about 2 minutes then switch to medium and mix until all the ingredients get combined. It does not look like in the beginning that this will ever happen, but eventually will.

At this point, add salt and start adding the butter cube by cube while mixing constantly at low - medium speed until all butter is fully incorporated and the dough is shiny. 

Step 4: Rest the Dough

Dump the dough onto the countertop and form it into a ball.

Put the dough back into the lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.

Step 5: Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup

Please note that the amount given here is a lot more than will actually be used for the cake. (Roughly 150 ml will be needed as opposed to the 600 ml syrup you'll end up with. You can either cut down the quantities proportionally or store the remaining PSL syrup in the fridge to spice up your morning coffee.)

Dump all ingredients into a small pot, bring it to boil and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Set it aside and let it stand for 30 minutes for the spices to infuse. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bottle.

Step 6: Prepping to Make the Log

Next morning gather the ingredients of the filling.

Thoroughly mix the pumpkin puree with the cream cheese.

In a dry non-stick pan toast the nuts until fragrant over medium heat. Chop roughly.

Line the molds with parchment paper. Clips may be used to help the paper stay in place, but remember to remove them before baking. Do not cut the overhanging part of the parchment as it can be used as handles when lifting the baked babka out of the mold.

Step 7: Rolling

By morning, the dough will have considerably risen in the fridge.

Dump the dough onto the lightly floured countertop, cut it in half (with the quantities given, you'll get two 550 g pieces), and place one half of the dough back into the bowl and into the fridge.

Roll out the dough into a roughly 30 x 40 cm rectangle. If it is not rectangle-y enough, trim the edges with a knife or pizza cutter.

(The closer you get to a rectangle the easier it is to work with.

Don't forget to lift the dough occasionally to make sure that it does not stick to the surface and dust underneath with flour whenever necessary.)

Step 8: Filling and Rolling Into a Log

Remember that we are making two babkas, so you're gonna have to halve everything that goes inside the first one.

Spread the cream cheese and pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle the sugar, spices, chocolate chips and toasted nuts on top as evenly as you can leaving 1.5 cm empty round the edge.

Starting from the long side closest to you, tightly roll up the dough using both hands. Place seam side down.

Step 9: Forming Babka

Cut the log lengthwise with a sharp knife starting at about 2-3 cms from the top. Twist the two strands around each other (repeat twisting until you get to the end) and place it into the mold. Let it rest and rise, covered with a kitchen towel for about 40 minutes when it will be ready to go into the oven.

Repeat the whole process with the second half of the dough.

Step 10: Baking

Preheat the oven in due time (depending on how fast your oven reaches working temperature) to 170 °Celsius, fan.

Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash and bake it in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Step 11: Glaze

Combine mascarpone and PSL syrup. Since I had no clue how much syrup I'll need, first I added 3 tablespoons of it and kept on adding the syrup until I reached the desired taste and consistency. Finally I added 10 tablespoons altogether, but feel free to adjust it to your taste.

Step 12: Finishing Touches

Wait until the babka cools to room temperature then drizzle as much glaze over the top as you wish. Enjoy the soft dough with coffee taste and the chocolatey spicy pumpkin filling with the toasted nuts.