This bread looked so pretty in the recipe! I’ve been wanting to make a babka and this reminded me of it, so I thought it would be a fun seasonal bake even though it takes a minimum of 4 hours!

I was going to make this a few days earlier, but then realized it called for potato flour and I didn’t have that. Thankfully it said you you could use instant potato flakes as a substitute so I grabbed a thing of those to use. Note: If you use instant potato flakes, be sure to see the notes that adjust the mount used and the milk.

Things started off strong as you’re just mixing the ingredients together and then the recipe says to let the ingredients meld together for 30 minutes (if time allows). I let mine sit for about 15 minutes and then kept going to ensure I was able to make the dough in a reasonable amount of time.

I put it in the stand mixer to knead and let it go a few minutes. It wasn’t very sticky though, so I ended up having to add a good bit more milk (I think I ended up putting in what the recipe originally calls for if you use potato flour) so I was already a little nervous about how that might affect things. I weighed all of my ingredients so I’m not sure why my dough didn’t come out like the recipe called for so if you have any ideas let me know.

While my dough was rising I went ahead and made the apple filling so it could cool. I don’t have Instant ClearJel (though I really should get some as this is one of many recipes I’ve made that call for it) so I used cornstarch. I was about 3/4 of the way through grating my apple when I dropped it on the flour, so I had to throw it away and just use what I had already grated which was close to a cup. I didn’t have a ton to spread out onto the dough thanks to the dropped apple, but even then it wouldn’t have been a lot so I might do a little more just to have the next time I make this.

I checked on the dough around 1 1/2 hours and was very discouraged to find it hadn’t risen a lot. I let it go another 30 minutes and let it sit in a slightly warm oven hoping it would help since it was a bit cool in the house and I know that can affect the rise. It wasn’t much better and I ALMOST threw it out. I decided I had already gotten this far though and might has well finish it so I persevered.

I cut the dough in half and then rolled it out as directed. I opted to do one loaf with nuts and one without and I used pecans. The braiding wasn’t very hard and I’m always thankful for the bakealong version of the recipe so I can see what they’re doing! Once this is done you let it rise another 1-2 hours. Mine went for about 1 1/2 hours and then I started preheating the oven and popped it in. I made these the night before so I mixed up the glaze the morning of and put it on so it was fresh before eating.

You can tell from the picture mine didn’t rise as much as those in the recipe, but they still looked quite pretty. I’m glad I didn’t throw the dough away because it tasted really good. The apple filling is sweet, but the bread helps even it out and it just had a really nice flavor. I honestly don’t know whether I liked the nut or nut-free version better but I liked having the option! The only downside is this recipe takes a LONG time and when it was all said and done it took about 4 1/2 hours. However, the end result was very good so I would definitely make these again and hopefully my bread will rise a little better!

Baking Ease	10
Time Spent	6
Taste	10
Visual	10

Recipe Used: King Arthur