Ube Babka

Once again, my obsession with the purple tuber returns. This time it’s in the form of a babka. If Cece was Filipino instead of Indian, this is the pastry version of her love child with Schmidt. Only those who have watched New Girl would understand that reference. Anyway… let’s bake, shall we?

Ingredients for dough:

• 0.5 cup (120 ml) whole milk
• 1 package (0.25 ounce or 7 grams) active dry yeast
• 0.33 cup (70 grams) granulated sugar, plus a pinch
• 4.25 cups (530 grams) all-purpose flour, and a little more as needed
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten (into submission, bad eggs!)
• 10 tablespoons (1.25 standard stick or 140 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing bowls and pans

Ingredients for ube filling:

• 1 lb. (450 grams) ube or purle yam, cooked and mashed
• One scant cup (which is a fancy way of saying a little less than one cup, or roughly 225 ml) coconut milk (please use the canned version because it is richer in taste and flavor)
• 5 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ube extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I tried using pandan or coconut extract but it seems to me that vanilla extract is like salt, it makes the other flavors more pronounced so I do suggest adding this)

Ingredients for streusel topping:

• 0.75 cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour
• 4.5 tablespoons (70 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons (95 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1.5 cups (100 grams) sliced almonds, roughly chopped

Ingredients for glaze:

• 0.75 cup (175 ml) sweetened condensed milk
• 0.25 cup (0.5 standard stick or 57 grams) unsalted butter
• pinch of salt

Phew…, that’s a long list of ingredients, isn’t it? Probably the longest one that I’ve ever published (giggity!). And don’t you worry, the directions are just as long. Hahahahah… I’m clearly tired.

Directions:

• Prepare the dough: heat up the milk either on stovetop or microwave until lukewarm, about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a clean finger in the milk. You should be able to keep your finger in there for more ten seconds or so. If you can hold your finger in there longer, then it’s not warm enough. If you can hold your finger in there shorter, then it’s too cold. (Yes, I know how that sounds like!) Add yeast and a pinch of sugar into the milk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes, until slightly foamy.
• In an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla. (If you don’t have a mixer, use a large bowl and a wooden spoon.) Beat in the yeast mixture and the eggs until the dough comes together. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl, add some flour one tablespoon at a time, until it does.
• Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, making sure that the butter is incorporated well into the dough before adding the next tablespoon. (If you’ve made liege waffles before, this process should be familiar to you.) Make sure to also scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Once again, if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add flour one tablespoon at a time.
• Butter (or lightly oil) a clean bowl. Form the dough into a ball and roll it around in the bowl so all sides are buttered. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm place until it puffs and rises, about 1-2 hours. It may not double, but it should rise.
• Press the dough down with your hands, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.

• While the dough is chilling in the fridge, prepare the filling. In a medium mixing bowl, mash the ube with a wooden spoon or a potato masher. This process is a lot easier if the ube is warm. You can also use a potato ricer for a smoother consistency, but I found that it doesn’t matter in this case because you won’t be able to discern the lumps in the finished product. Unless you are a princess, of course. But then again, we’re not making peas here, so maybe it still won’t matter?
• Pour in the coconut milk and sugar in 2-3 additions, mixing each time to ensure that they are all combined well. The consistency should be like a loose mashed potatoes. (I want to insert a joke here but I’ve already made two innuendos already, so I won’t.) Add the ube extract, salt, vanilla extract, and mix to combine. You should get a beautiful deep purple color, kind of like the skin of an eggplant. Which by the way is one of my favorite colors. I’d love to one day own a car in that color. But I digress.
• Set aside the filling until you are ready to roll out the dough. You can put this in a container and refrigerate it for a few days.
• After the dough has chilled for 4 hours or up to overnight, take it out of the fridge and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll one piece into a 9×17 inch (23×43 cm) rectangle. Spread with half the filling (no need to leave a border), and starting with the long side, roll into a tight coil. Transfer onto a parchment-lined (or well-floured) baking sheet and stick it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Repeat with the other piece of dough.

• While the dough is chilling in the freezer, butter two 9-inch (23 cm) loaf pans. After ten minutes or so, take the dough coils out and slice in half lengthwise to expose the filling. Twist the halves together as if you are braiding them, then fold the braid in half so it’s about 9 inches (23 cm) long and place it into the prepared loaf pan. You will see in my pictures below that I did not get 9 inches (yet another chance for innuendo that I am not taking!) but it worked out okay. Just coil them in the pan as best you can. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1-1.5 hours or until puffy (it won’t quite double).

• While the dough is rising again, prepare the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt, and sliced almonds (you can also use shredded, dried coconuts if you’re allergic to nuts). Put in the softened butter and using a spoon or your hand, mash them all together until it is evenly distributed and forms large, moist crumbs. Set aside.
• When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a clean hand, clump the streusel together and scatter all over the tops of the babkas. Transfer to oven and bake until a tester goes in without any rubbery resistance and comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes. An instant read thermometer will read between 185-210 degrees Fahrenheit.

• When you have about 5 minutes left in baking time, make the glaze: combine the sweetened condensed milk, butter, and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low until it comes to a boil. Set aside where it can stay warm. When the babkas come out of the oven, use a skewer or a paring knife to pierce them all over, going all the way to the bottom of the babkas. Then, pour the glaze on top, making sure to use half for each babka.

• Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving. This will make you think of cinnamon rolls but with a whole new flavor. It is also sturdier than cinnamon rolls in general so if you have leftover babkas, you can also make them into french toast. Lastly, babkas can also be wrapped well and frozen for a few months. That’s important because you do end up with two babkas here. Enjoy!