Babka à la Française
Once, I asked two-star Michelin chef Thierry Marx of Cordeillan-Bages in Pauillac, the greatest wine-producing area of France, why he uses beets in so many of his dishes—beets for color, beets for sweetness, beets for texture, and beet borscht purée. He replied that he likes to play with the flavors and shapes of his childhood, reminding him of his Jewish grandmother from Poland, who raised him in Paris. “Cooking is a transmission of love,” he told me. One wouldn’t necessarily think of the food Thierry serves in his stunning restaurant as particularly Jewish—it is so molecular, so Japanese (because of where he studied), and so French (because of where he grew up). The dining room of the château, decked out in sleek blackand-white furniture with hints of red, looks out on a vineyard laden with ripe dark grapes ready for picking. But when the bread basket arrived, it contained what looked like a miniature chocolate or poppy-seed babka. My first bite, though, told me that I had still been fooled. This trompe l’oeil was in fact a savory babka, filled with olives, anchovies, and fennel—a delicious French take on a sweet Polish and Jewish classic.
Recipe information
Yield
24 babka rolls
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
To make the dough, put 2 1/2 cups of the flour, salt, and all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment.
Step 2
Put the yeast and 1 tablespoon warm water and the reserved tablespoon of sugar in a small bowl, and stir just until the sugar and yeast have dissolved. With the mixer, using the dough hook on low speed, pour into the bowl the yeast mixture, the milk, and the egg and egg yolks. Knead the dough until it is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed.
Step 3
Add the pieces of butter a little at a time, until it is incorporated, then knead the dough on low speed for about 5 minutes, until it is silken and rich. Transfer it to a large, greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow it to rise for 2 hours. When the dough has risen, press it down, and put it in a plastic bag or wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or overnight.
Step 4
To make the tapenade filling, put the olives, half the anchovies, the fennel seeds, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Purée the mixture until it is smooth. Taste, and if you want, add more anchovies or salt, and another tablespoon of olive oil if the filling is not smooth enough.
Step 5
When ready to assemble the babkas, grease two 9-inch round pans. Take the dough from the refrigerator and divide it in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece into a 16-by-12-inch rectangle.
Step 6
Using a knife or an offset spatula, spread half of the olive-anchovy filling very thinly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Beginning with the long side, tuck in the ends and roll the dough up tightly. Cut the rolled-up dough into twelve equal pieces, and place them, with one of the cut sides of each facing up, in one of the pans in one layer. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling in the other pan.
Step 7
Allow the babkas to rise, covered with a towel, for 2 hours before brushing with the reserved 2 tablespoons melted butter.
Step 8
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Once the rolls are cool enough to handle, pull them apart gently into individual babkas.
