The Ultimate Cherry Babka with Instant Pot Cherry Filling
Dec 15, 2024 02:33 PM
There’s something magical about a babka’s intricate swirls – visually stunning and utterly delicious. This cherry babka takes the classic Eastern European bread to the next level with its rich, buttery brioche dough and tart-sweet cherry filling made from homemade cherry preserve.
Babke is one of my all-time favourite breads although I have seen it referred to it widely as a cake. It’s made from an enriched brioche-like dough that rests in the fridge overnight. Traditionally it would have a cinnamon or chocolate filling swirled through.
The homemade cherry preserve is the star here and is so easy to prepare using an Instant Pot. I altered the amount of preserve I added to each loaf, one with too much and the other with less. I found that the loaf that had less preserve rose more in the proving and oven bake vs. the loaf that was overfilled. Both were delicious, so I suggest using around ¾ of a cup.
This recipe takes a bit of effort to make and most of the time allows the dough to rest or rise. You make this bread over two days. A stand mixer makes mixing the dough so much easier. It is definitely worth making two loaves if you are going to all the effort to make this bread. If you want to halve it, simply halve the ingredients and use one egg.
Ingredients:
Cherry Preserve filling
- 700 grams fresh cherries whole weight, remove the stalks and de-pip, slice in half
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp Grand Marnier or Cointreau optional
Dough
- 530 grams 4 1/4 cups cake or all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 100 grams 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- Grated zest of half an orange optional
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 1/2 cup water cold is fine and 1 to 2 tablespoons extra, if needed
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 150 grams 5.3 ounces or 2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- Sunflower or other neutral oil for greasing
Syrup
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
Cherry icing drizzle (optional)
- 2 tablespoons reserved cherry compote
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 3 – 5 teaspoons of hot water
Prep Time:
45 minutes
Cook Time:
35 minutes
Total Time:
80 minutes
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