Let me start off by admitting that I had no idea this cake was called babka in English. I know it sounds kind of weird because I am Jewish and grew up eating this cake quite often. But what I have come to learn from spending almost 8 years living abroad is that being Jewish and being Israeli-Jewish are two completely different things.
In Israel, we call this cake “yeast cake” because it’s made with yeast (sounds way less appetizing in English for some reason). I had to ask my followers on my Instagram what this cake was called and thankfully I had one Jewish-American friend and one Jewish-British friend come to the rescue (thank you, Michelle, and Jake if you are reading this).
Do not let the proving time scare you off, this cake is actually really easy to make! And the final result is so yummy. You can go crazy with how you choose to fill it, but I tend to keep it simple with some vegan Nutella and crushed hazelnuts.
My next babka cake is going to be with chocolate and Halva, which is another popular dessert in Israel that is made out of sesame seeds!
Vegan Nutella Babka Crunch Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar/ brown sugar
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce / 2 tbsp flax eggs (flax mixed with water)
- 1/4 cup olive oil / vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup almond milk / plant milk slightly warmed up
- vegan Nutella- enough for spreading a thick layer (about 200g)
- about 1 handful of crushed hazelnuts / walnuts to spread over the Nutella
- 2 tbsp maple syrup / agave mixed with 1 tbsp of water
Directions
- In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and mix.
- Add the apple sauce, vanilla extract, olive oil, slightly warm milk, and mix. Make sure the milk isn’t too warm so that you don’t kill the yeast. If you are using a mixer you can let the dough mix with the dough attachment for 10 minutes, if not, sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead the dough with your hands for at least 10 minutes.
- Form the dough into a ball, add some oil to a clean bowl, and place the dough in the bowl making sure the bowl and the dough are covered in a thin layer of oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it rise for 1-2 hours. (I like to let my dough rise in the oven turned off – it’s slightly warmer than the rest of my apartment).
- Take the dough and punch the air out with your fists. Roll the dough into a rectangular shape and spread a thick layer of Nutella on top, sprinkle the nuts and roll everything into a snake-shaped roll.
- Leaving 2 inches attached, start cutting 2 inches down from the top of the roll all the way down (you want to make sure one end of the roll is still intact).
- Start looping the 2 strands you created around each other, making sure that the side you cut into which has all the chocolate showing, is the side that is facing up. You can leave it straight and bake it like this in an English cake tin or you can form a round shape and cook it in an 8-inch cake tin as I did. I have made it both ways and they both came out great!
- Let it rise covered again for 45 minutes. Halfway through rising, I like to take the cake out of the turned off oven and let my cake rise on the counter so I can preheat my oven. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown like in the pictures.
- Once ready, with a pastry brush, brush the maple syrup mixture over the cake. Wait at least 1 hour before cutting into it to make sure it doesn’t fall apart.
- Enjoy!
- You can cut the cake into “cinnamon rolls” (Cinnabon style) to make individual babka bites! You might have to adjust the baking time so just keep an eye on them.
- You can fill the cake with whatever your heart desires. I really like making my own Nutella, but store-bought it much easier.
Tips & Tricks:
