I halved the nyt babka recipe (minus streusel) and shaped them into 4 strand knots. I had a difficult time keeping them neat and defined during shaping. The filling kind of spilled out after baking. Was the filling too soft? I fridged the dough before shaping but maybe I should’ve left it longer.
by buttsarehilarious
6 Comments
One thing I’ve learned about tying knots with dough is you need to create enough tension when you’re crossing your strands. I learned this with challah.
Have you ever braided hair? I ask because I never have which was why I struggled with shaping challah. I learned that I needed to pull and cross. Otherwise my knots were always pretty loose and then would tend to open up when baking.
I’m guessing there might be something similar with making the babka knots. I’ve never done that shape though. I’ve only twisted and put them into loaf pans.
Awesome!
While it gives a different look, if you roll out the dough rectangles and spread the filling (leaving an edge clear), then roll up each of the doughs into cylinders. Cut these length wise, so you end up with thinner alternating layers of filling and dough rather than a thick filling space (which works better in loaves).
If I were making 1 big one, I would make 2 cylinders as described and cut each lengthwise to get 4 strands. The cut side would go on top when starting my # for the braids and keep them on top as much as possible. For smaller knots, adjust accordingly.
How this makes sense. I am sure I learned this online. If you need pics, I can search.
Looks neat to me, absolutely banging, well done
The talent in this group absolutely blows me away
I had the same issue with that nyt filling. I would use a different filling, because your actual technique looks great.
Chilling the dough kinda helps, and chilling the filling, but I found that when I chilled it enough to shape well, it would crack. And then it still melted and got messy in the oven.
I use a filling made from butter, sugar, melted dark chocolate, Dutch cocoa powder, and espresso powder. It’s soft enough to smear around but stiff enough to not ooze out.