Black Sesame Hot Cross Babkas
Aside from the “Great Pollening” (i.e. hayfever season), hot cross buns are another, much yummier sign of spring having finally sprung. It’s funny how Lent, traditionally a season of abstinence, is connected to so many highly indulgent desserts (sticky hot cross buns, mountains of pancakes and more) - you always want what you can’t have, right?
The one complaint I have with hot cross buns though, is that they’ve only really got flavour in the top halves of the buns - which, you’ll be glad to know, isn’t a problem with these buns. The babka braids (possibly the most difficult bit of this recipe) ensures that every bite is filled with sesame spread - and as a bonus, these aren’t too sweet! Perfect for the next time your Asian aunties come round.
Ingredients:
For the babkas
270ml milk
7g active dry yeast
100g granulated sugar
113g unsalted, softened butter
2 large eggs
531g strong flour
170g of Chinese black sesame spread*
For the cross
75g all purpose flour
Heat up a cup of the milk until warm (30 seconds at 800w in a microwave should do it). Pour this into the bowl that you plan to knead the dough in, and whisk in the yeast and 3 teaspoons of the sugar. Let this sit for 5 minutes, until it is frothy and foamy.
Add in the rest of the sugar and the softened butter in chunks, and mix until the butter is mostly broken up.
Beat in 1 whole egg, and an egg yolk (with the egg white set aside), until just about combined. Slowly add in the flour, and knead the mixture together until it forms a soft, smooth dough. Stop when this passes the “windowpane" test” (see more details in my XO Milk Bread recipe), which should take about 10 minutes of kneading in a stand mixer at high speed.
Remove from the bowl, and lightly grease the same bowl with a little nonstick spray or butter. Place the dough back into the bowl, and let it rise in a warm environment until doubled - this will depend on the humidity and temperature of the room, but typically takes about 2 hours for me.
Once doubled, gently punch the dough to release air bubbles. Remove from the bowl, and roll the dough into a large rectangle. Generously spread the sesame spread over the entire piece of dough, leaving a half-inch border.
Tightly roll the dough into a log (making sure none of the sesame spread leaks out), and placing the log on its seam, cut the log lengthwise into two long strips. Twist the strips around each other to form the classic babka twist.
Slice the twisted dough into equally sized chunks, about 2/3 the size of a muffin. Seal each chunk by pressing the ends of the strips together, and gently place each chunk into the lined holes of a muffin tin. Brush each babka with the reserved egg whites
Mix together the all purpose flour with a few tablespoons of water, until this forms a thick paste. Pipe thin lines of the flour paste on top of each mini babka to form a cross.
Bake the babkas at 180°C for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. The babkas should sound hollow when gently tapped. Cool for 10 minutes before serving - these will also keep for a couple days at room temperature, or a week in the fridge!
*Note - Chinese black sesame spread isn’t the same as tahini, so if this isn’t available, you can make your own spread by grinding roasted black sesame seed with softened butter and granulated sugar.