Vanilla babka dough :
- Place the flour and vanilla paste in the bowl of your food processor fitted with a dough hook. Then add the sugar, salt and instant yeast, making sure they do not touch each other, and mix lightly.
- Add the mixture with the milk and eggs and knead for 5 minutes at medium speed.
- Then add the butter, one piece at a time, and knead on medium speed until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl (about 10 minutes). Scrape the hook several times if necessary.
- Place your dough in a clean bowl, cover with cling film and put in the fridge overnight. It will rise slowly in the fridge, taking 12 to 24 hours.
The filling and shaping:
- Roll out your well-chilled dough into a rectangle measuring approximately 60 x 40 cm, then spread the pistachio paste over it using a small spatula.
- Sprinkle with pistachio slivers.
- Roll the dough into a long sausage shape, starting from one of the longer sides. Cut it in half lengthwise with a large knife.
- Twist the two parts of the sausage, placing the cut side upwards so that the different layers are clearly visible.
5. Line an oiled cake tin (11.5 x 25.5 cm) with baking paper (to make it easier to remove the babka) and carefully place your dough inside. You can use a dough cutter or a wide spatula to help you. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise until the babka doubles in size, about 1 hour.
6. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Once the babka is ready, bake for 25 minutes at 180°C, then cover the babka with aluminium foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the tip of a knife comes out clean (it’s normal if you have pistachio paste on top).
7. Once the babka is cooked, coat it with syrup (to prepare the syrup, simply mix the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil), remove it from the tin and leave it to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Enjoy !
