Savory Ricotta Herb Babka

May 31

May 31 Savory Ricotta Herb Babka

I have trouble scrolling past any cheese-filled bread recipe that pops up in my various feeds. Gruyere Mini Loaves? Bought gruyere immediately. Parmesan Shortbread Crackers? Ate them all. Cheesy Gougères? But of course! You too? Then you might want to check out the Savory Babka recipe by Melissa Clark for New York Times Cooking. Buttery brioche is swirled with a savory mixture of ricotta, parmesan, garlic, scallion, and finely chopped fresh basil. I opted for the olive option (kalamata) rather than the bacon. The smell wafting from the oven alone was enough to spark joy.

I followed the recipe as written and only modified the shaping technique to get the pretty swirls on top. Tips for achieving that look are below. Check it out and indulge in this pillowy, cheesy, herb-filled babka.

Savory Ricotta Herb Babka Recipe:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021118-savory-babka-with-ricotta-and-herbs

Yield:
1, 9-inch loaf

Difficulty:
Moderate

Just a couple of notes:

The recipe calls for a 9 inch loaf pan. If yours is 8 or 8.5 inches it should work just fine. (I don’t understand why pan sizes can’t be more standard.)
Measure the ingredients by weight. Especially the flour. I say this all the time but I point it out specifically here because there were a number of reviewers complaining that they had crumbly dough and I suspect this was from using too much flour. That being said, the dough does seems to dry out easily so make sure you butter it well on it’s first rise, then butter again and cover with plastic wrap for the refrigerated, overnight rise. My dough developed a very slight skin on top when proofing overnight but smoothed itself out when I rolled it out.
Get good quality ricotta and parmesan for the best flavor. Not into ricotta? Try goat cheese or cream cheese which Melissa suggests as alternatives. Really, anything spreadable would work.

To achieve that pretty top, follow the steps below. (Photo by Daniel Marks)

To shape it like I did:

When your dough has finished its overnight, refrigerated rise, roll it out to a roughly 10 x 14 inch rectangle.
Spread the filling evenly across the dough, leaving a half inch gap around the edges so you can seal it once it's rolled it up.
Roll into a log, starting with the short side so you end up with a 10-inch long log.
Seal it closed.
Slice the log completely in half lengthwise, and adjust pieces so the split sides are up and they are side by side touching each other.
Press the adjacent, top ends together leaving the bottom ends free.
Lift just the free part of left piece over the right and place it back down on the work surface, split side up, so now it is your new right piece. Adjust so the pieces are still touching. Repeat, always keeping the split side up, two or three more times so it looks like the photo below. Press the ends together and tuck under if necessary to fit in your loaf pan.