Sourdough Babka with Any Jam

You’re going to love this sourdough babka recipe! It’s twisted with soft and tender brioche dough and filled with any fruit jam or spread you choose.

Traditional babkas are filled with chocolate or cinnamon for a decadent cake-like bread. However, using fruit jam here brightens the experience and tastes like the best toast and jam you’ve ever had. The plus is that the recipe is versatile enough to fill with your favorite jam or preserves.

The brioche dough is buttery and fluffy, making it the perfect vessel for spreading your favorite jam in. After baking, the brushed simple syrup locks in the buttery moistness of the bread to last for days.

It’s a little sticky, a little gooey, buttery, and great for breakfast or as a sweet treat.

👉 Be sure to check out some of my other favorite brioche dough recipes, including Sourdough Brioche Bread, Sourdough Dinner Rolls with Rosemary, and Sourdough Maritozzi.

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What is Babka?

Babka is a cake-like braided bread originating in Eastern Europe and is a popular treat at many Jewish bakeries, especially in New York City.

While both are braided, unlike challah, babka is made with enriched brioche bread and often made with chocolate or cinnamon fillings. There’s even a popular Seinfeld episode about chocolate and cinnamon babkas in which Elaine declares cinnamon babka as the “lesser babka” (hard disagree!).

However, other babka deviations exist, including using laminated dough instead of brioche, various fillings, streusel toppings, etc. Here, I use fruit jam for the filling instead of chocolate or cinnamon.

Making a babka is similar to making cinnamon rolls, except for twisting and braiding the dough together and baking it as a single loaf instead of individual rolls.

This sourdough babka is naturally leavened, using no instant yeast, and you can fill it with any jam or fruit spread of your choosing.

For a shiny crust, brush the babka with simple syrup after baking, keeping the bread moist. Top with Swedish pearl sugar for a slight crunch on top.

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Baker’s Percentage Table

I include a baker’s percentage chart to quickly scale a recipe up or down.

With baker’s percentages, the total weight of all flour in the recipe is 100%. The other ingredients are noted in relation to the total weight of flour. This is why the percentages below will add up to over 100%.

If you want to learn more, the King Arthur website has a more detailed reference page on why and how baker’s percentages are calculated.

Dough Ingredients	Weight	Percentage
Bread Flour	370 grams	100%
Sourdough Starter*	40 grams	10.8%
Water	40 grams	10.8%
Sea Salt	7 grams	1.9%
Granulated Sugar	35 grams	9.5%
Whole Milk, room temperature	100 grams	27.0%
Two Large Eggs**	114 grams	30.8%
Unsalted Butter, room temperature	85 grams	23.0%
Any Fruit Jam or Spread	255 grams	68.9%

*Note: 40g of flour, 40g of water, and the 40g starter are for the levain.
If you do not want to build a levain, use about 120g of sourdough starter instead.
**Another egg is used for the egg wash

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🛠 Tools Needed for Sourdough Babka:

Click the links below for my tool recommendations.

• Baking Scale
• Bread Loaf Pan
  • A 9×5 inch bread loaf pan works well for this babka, but I prefer this 9×4″ Pullman Pan for straight sides and a taller babka.
• Rolling Pin
  • Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. My preference is tapered wooden dowels for the best control.
• Offset Spatula
  • I like using an offset spatula to spread the jam filling smoothly. However, you can also use a butter knife or a small silicone spatula.
• Pastry Brush
  • A pastry brush will help you brush the egg wash and simple syrup onto the babka.
• Stand Mixer (optional but recommended)
  • A stand mixer fitted with the bread hook attachment makes mixing the brioche dough much more effortless. However, you can mix the dough by hand instead.
• Brød and Taylor Folding Bread Proofer (optional but helpful)
  • My home tends to stay cool, so I proof all of my breads in this convenient proofing box that can also act as a slow cooker.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed for Sourdough Babka:

Click on the links below for my ingredient recommendations.

• Bread Flour
  • Bread flour works best in brioche dough because it has a high protein content that helps the dough rise tall and gives it a soft and chewy texture.
  • If you don’t have bread flour, use high-quality all-purpose flour.
• Granulated Sugar
• Kosher Salt
• Whole Milk
• Eggs
• Sourdough Starter
  • Use an active sourdough starter in this recipe. Sourdough discard will not have the leavening power needed for the babka.
  • If you don’t have a sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week with my day-by-day guide.
• Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• Any fruit jam or preserves of your choosing
  • I particularly enjoy berry jam, fig spread, or even marmalade in this babka.
• Simple syrup: equal parts water and sugar.
• Optional: Swedish pearl sugar, for topping

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🧑‍🍳 How to Make Sourdough Babka with Any Jam

Follow this visual and detailed recipe guide as you bake this sourdough babka.

1. Build the Levain

Mix 40g of sourdough starter, 40g of bread flour, and 40g of water in an empty jar.

Cover and set it in a warm location (75-80ºF) for about five hours until it is doubled and bubbly.

If you’d prefer to skip making a levain, use about 120g of ripe sourdough starter instead.

2. Mix the Brioche Dough

Once the levain is ripe, add the following ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer:

• 330g of bread flour
• 35g of granulated sugar
• 7g of salt
• 100g of whole milk, room temperature
• All of the ripe levain (or about 120g of sourdough starter)
• Two large eggs

Set aside 85g unsalted butter (6 TBS) to come to room temperature while you begin mixing.

Mix the dough with the bread hook attachment on low speed.

At first, the dough will be dry until the flour starts to hydrate.

Increase to medium speed and mix for about five minutes.

Then, add one pat of butter at a time with the mixer on medium speed until fully incorporated into the dough. It should take 30 seconds to a minute in between each addition.

Once you’ve added all the butter, continue mixing for about five minutes or until the dough is smooth, does not stick to your finger, easily slides off the dough hook, and passes the windowpane test.

The windowpane test will tell you if your dough has developed enough gluten. To test, pull a piece of dough between your fingers and stretch it into a thin membrane. If the dough tears immediately, then it needs more mixing. A properly mixed dough pulls without tearing and allows light through like a windowpane.

3. Bulk Fermentation

Put the dough in a mixing bowl, cover it, and place it in a warm location (75-80ºF) to proof for about five hours.

At the end of bulk fermentation, the dough will double in size and feel full of air. This dough can be a little sluggish because of the enriched ingredients, so it’s normal if it needs longer to proof.

4. Overnight Proof

At this point, refrigerate the dough overnight and for up to 48 hours.

The cold-proof allows you to bake later, improves flavor, and makes shaping easier.

As it proofs overnight, it may not rise much, which is completely normal. The butter will harden up some in the refrigerator.

5. Fill with Jam, Shape, and Braid

The next day, punch down the dough to degas it.

Then, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 12×13″ (30x33cm) rectangle about ¼” thick. The exact dimensions aren’t too important, but you want to roll it out long enough so that it will create many swirls.

Evenly spread 255g of fruit jam onto the dough using an offset spatula or a spoon, leaving a half-inch border on all sides.

Use floured hands to roll the dough on the shorter side into a tight log, like making cinnamon rolls. As you roll the log, try not to let the jam push forward or it will be more likely to leak.

Seal the ends of the logs to prevent jam from leaking out.

Set the log on a baking sheet seam-side down and freeze for 15 minutes to make braiding easier.

How to Shape Babka

If you don’t have a non-stick pan, butter and line your bread loaf pan with parchment paper. I prefer the USA pullman pan because the babka doesn’t stick to the pan at all!

Set the chilled babka dough onto a floured surface. Then, use a sharp knife to slice the babka in half lengthwise so you have two halves of the dough with lines of jam revealed.

It’s okay if some of the jam comes out, but the chilled dough should prevent most of it!

Rotate the logs cut-side up. Place one halfway on top of the other to create an X shape.

Next, wrap the logs around each other a few times to twist and braid them together.

Pinch and tuck the ends in slightly and place the babka cut-side up into the bread loaf pan to proof.

It’s okay if the babka looks a little misshapen or is sticky and messy. Unlike croissants, the dough is forgiving and will fill in gaps during proofing.

6. Final Proof

Cover the bread loaf pan and proof the babka in a warm location (75-80ºF) for at least five hours.

At the end of proofing, the dough will double in size, feels poofy, and rises just below the height of the pan.

7. Bake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC).

While the oven is preheating, brush the exposed dough areas with a light egg wash (one egg whisked).

Sprinkle optional pearl sugar on top for a little crunch.

Bake the bread for 40-45 minutes.

Cover the babka with aluminum foil if the bread starts to brown too quickly to prevent burning.

The best way to know if your babka is done is to check it with an instant-read thermometer. At the end of baking, the dough should read 195-200ºF (90-93ºC) with an instant-read thermometer.

Make the simple syrup below as the babka bakes.

8. Brush with Simple Syrup

As the babka is baking, make a simple syrup.

Combine 50g of granulated sugar and 50g of water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

Once the sugar dissolves, set the simple syrup aside to let it cool while the babka bakes.

At the end of baking, use a pastry brush to brush the simple syrup on top of the babka. Use most of it! It might seem like a lot, but the simple syrup will soak into the bread and lock in the moisture.

Let the babka cool for 10-15 minutes before removing it from the pan. This way, the babka won’t stick in the pan.

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How to Store:

Store sourdough babka covered at room temperature for 3-4 days. Wrap the babka in foil to keep it moist and soft.

If the babka starts to dry out, reheat the slices in a toaster oven.

Furthermore, you can easily freeze slices of the babka to serve later. Slice the babka and store them in freezer-safe bags for up to a few months. Reheat before serving.

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How to Serve:

Babka can be served both warm and at room temperature. I prefer to toast the babka some before eating if it’s not warm.

Since this babka already has jam marbled in, I think it’s great alone and doesn’t need any additional spread on top!

Lastly, babka is often served at breakfast or as a dessert bread.

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Sourdough Babka FAQs:

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