This Speculoos Babka is made with a filling of speculoos cream, chopped speculoos cookies, butter and cinnamon. A swirled loaf with a creamy but crispy filling, then soaked in syrup.
Tools & Equipment
- 23cm/9-inch loaf pan
- Stand mixer fitted with dough hook
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Sharp knife
- Small saucepan
Recipe Tips
Room Temperature: the butter and eggs should be taken out of the fridge 1 hour before the start to bring them to room temperature. To warm the milk slightly, place it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
Butter: the butter is added at low speed, therefore it won’t be incorporated perfectly and the dough still looks a bit lumpy. That’ s fine at this point.
Texture of the Dough: if the dough appears too soft after kneading and sticks to the sides of the bowl, add an additional tablespoon of flour until it pulls away from the sides.
Allow the Dough to Rest: cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, place in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight. Nevertheless, if you don’t want to wait, you can continue directly with the next step of the recipe.
Roll Out the Dough: start by forming the dough into a rectangle, this makes it much easier to roll out to the final size.
How to Make Speculoos Babka
Make the Dough
Butter a 23 cm/9-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Weigh your ingredients. Mix the yeast with milk, sugar and 40g flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow the yeast to rest until small bubbles appear, for about 10-15 minutes.
Mix in butter, then the egg and salt at low speed. Slowly add the flour until fully incorporated.
Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and knead the dough until smooth, for about 5 minutes.
Roll out the dough to a rectangle of 30x40cm / 12×16-inch on a lightly floured surface. If the dough contracts and resists while rolling out, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then continue to roll out to the final size.
Make the Filling
Melt butter in a medium saucepan, add sugar and stir until almost dissolved. Turn off the heat and add the speculoos cream. Wait for one minute, then stir until the speculoos cream is incorporated. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and stir to combine.
Make the Syrup
Heat water, sugar and honey in a small saucepan. Let it boil for 4 minutes and skim the rising foam with a spoon. Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool to room temperature.
Finish & Bake the Babka
Spread the speculoos cream on the surface up to the edges. Sprinkle the chopped speculoos cookies all over the cream. Starting at one of the long ends of the rectangle, roll up the dough tightly to form a log.
Slice the dough lengthwise in two halves. With the cut sides facing up, make a rope-like formation by overlapping the two halves of the dough and twisting them together until the dough turns into a large twist.
Lift the twisted loaf and transfer it into the loaf pan, then put it in a warm place. Let it rise for about 2 hours until it has double its size. Bake at 190ºC/375ºF for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick, inserted in the center of the babka, comes out clean. Brush the syrup over the babka and let it cool completely.
Storage: you can store this babka for up to 4 days at room temperature. Tightly wrapped, you can freeze it for up to 2 months.
My Summary for Speculoos Babka
Difficulty: medium.
Taste: Christmassy, as the filling contains flavors of speculoos, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
Texture: Speculoos Babka is both creamy and crispy.
PROS: this babka tastes so good and looks amazing.
CONS: making babka for the first time might be a bit difficult, because cutting and twisting the dough can be a little more complex and it is a little time-consuming.
