White Chocolate Rhubarb Babka

One of life's simple joys is sharing my love of cooking (and eating!) with my family. 

Laura, with her kilos, grams and German ingredients, has had a particular challenge trying to reproduce Canadian food across the pond. Lucky us that she tries new Euro recipes and passes them on. Then it's up to us to convert her recipes.

This Easter she sent us a recipe which is a variation on babka - a Ukrainian sweet bread. I wasn't convinced that white chocolate and rhubarb would go together, but it turns out I was wrong.  I used white baker's chocolate and frozen rhubarb.It was amazing. 

Justin and Krista dropped by and before the loaf had even cooled, it was gone. And yes putting smetana (sour cream) on cake makes it just that much more delicious.  But make sure it's real smetana or fuggedaboutit.

Smetana is a dairy product very similar to sour cream, but with a higher fat content and a less sour taste. It is made by souring heavy cream and won't curdle when used in cooking. It is an excellent alternative to sour cream in borshch, or with perogies. The higher fat content (40% - 70%) means smetana is thick enough to spread. Lower fat versions are often very runny. When purchasing make sure that no gelatin has been added to thicken it. You should be able to find it  in Eastern European stores, or German stores where it goes by “schmand”.

White Chocolate Rhubarb Babka

2½ cups flour

1½ tsp yeast (or 45g fresh yeast)

1 Tbsp sugar

100mL lukewarm milk

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 Tbsp butter

Filling
150g chopped white chocolate

1½ cups chopped rhubarb

Topping
3 Tbsp softened butter
½ cup flour 
2 Tbsp sugar 

Put the yeast, 1 Tbsp of the sugar, and 4-5 tsp of lukewarm milk into a small bowl. Mix together with a fork and sprinkle with a 3 Tbsp flour.

Cover with a towel and leave in a warm place for 20 minutes, or until the mixture has increased in volume.

In a large bowl add the flour,
the yeast mixture,
the rest of the milk,
2 Tbsp sugar,
the egg and egg yolk,
vanilla,
and 5 Tbsp softened butter.

Mix first with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer, then use hands or dough hook to knead until the dough is smooth.

Cover and place in a warm spot until the volume has doubled, about 45 minutes.

Knead the dough again and roll out to make a large rectangle, about 12x18 inches.

Sprinkle the chopped white chocolate and rhubarb along the dough,
leaving 1” free around the sides.

Tightly roll the dough together along the long axis and then twist into an “8”. 

Place into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. 

Loosely cover with a dish cloth and allow to rise again for 30 minutes in a warm place.

Pre-heat oven to 350°F before making the topping.

Mix together ½ cup flour and 1 Tbsp sugar. Add 3 Tbsp butter and mix together into a crumble-like mixture. Spread the crumbs over the top of the bread.

Bake for 55 minutes until golden-brown. If the top is browning too quickly cover with parchment paper.

Serve with thick smetana and either strawberry jam or compote.