Blueberry Lemon Sourdough Babka

April 23, 2021 /

This Blueberry And Lemon Sourdough Babka is next-level delicious. It is filled with a generous amount of blueberry lemon filling and glazed with a simple lemon syrup. Best enjoyed alongside a cup of freshly brewed black coffee.

How To Make Blueberry Lemon Sourdough Babka

This recipe has five parts: the levain, tangzhong, main dough, blueberry and lemon filling, and the simple lemon syrup. Make sure to scroll down for the complete recipe and check out the Baker’s Timeline to help plan out your bake.

Levain

The levain is a stiff, sweet levain. Because of its low hydration, it will take a little longer to peak (double/triple in size). You want the levain to be mild and milky and not too sour.

Sugar – Regular granulated sugar
Sourdough Starter – Active sourdough starter at 100% hydration, fed 12 hours prior with only white/all-purpose flour.
Milk – Whole milk, cold from the fridge
Flour – All-purpose flour.

Tangzhong

Tangzhong is a Japanese baking technique that I often use in my recipes. It involves pre-cooking a portion of the recipe’s flour and liquid, causing the mixture to thicken and gelatinize. In my experience, the Tangzhong causes the bread to remain softer with an extended shelf life.

Milk – whole milk
Flour – all-purpose flour

Main Dough

The main dough is a brioche-style, sweet, and mild bread dough. It’s lovely to work with as long as you get the hydration right. All flours have different levels of thirstiness. Start low on the hydration and add more liquid if needed.

Flour – I’ve used both a weaker all-purpose flour and a stronger bread flour for this recipe. Both babkas turned out good with slight variation in crumb texture. You might want to adjust the hydration accordingly: lower for all-purpose flour and higher for bread flour.
Sugar – Regular granulated sugar.
Eggs – Two medium-sized eggs.
Milk – Whole milk, cold from the fridge.
Salt – Regular sea salt.
Butter – Unsalted or salted, I’ve tried with both and typically use whatever’s in my fridge (as long as it’s real butter!)

Blueberry And Lemon Filling

Frozen Blueberries
Sugar
Lemon Juice and Zest – I recommend using an organic lemon for this recipe since we’re using the zest.

Lemon Syrup

Sugar
Water
Lemon Juice

How To Shape The Babka

Shaping this babka can be a bit messy. Remember to work on a surface that will not get stained by the blueberries, sharpen your knife, be confident, and always have flour on hand.

Place the dough onto a floured work surface and roll it out into a square that measures approx. 13×13 inches/35×35 cm.
Evenly spread out the filling using an offset spatula.
Use both hands to roll up the square like a roulade.
Tuck in the sides to even out the roll. Check to see if the length matches the length of your bread tin.
Transfer to the fridge, seam side down, and rest for at least 20 minutes before continuing with the next step.

Blueberry And Lemon Sourdough Babka Shaping

With a heavily floured and sharp knife, cut the roll in half lengthwise.
With the cut sides facing up, starting from the middle, lift the left half over the right half, followed by the right half over the left half. Repeat all the way down to create a two-stranded plait.
Gently tuck in the ends and transfer to a 10 inches/25 cm lined or buttered bread tin.

tools I recommend babka — *This section of the post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.* Thank you.

Here are some tools I recommend you have on hand to make this recipe a success:

Digital Kitchen Scale is essential for exact measurements.
Stand mixer fitted with a dough hook to easily knead your dough.
Brød & Taylor Proofer Box manages the temperature during proof.
Rolling Pin to roll out the dough when shaping.
Offset Spatula to spread out the filling.
Bread Tin to proof and bake the bread in.

Blueberry Lemon Sourdough Babka

Elise

This Blueberry And Lemon Sourdough Babka is next level delicious. It is filled with a generous amount of blueberry and lemon filling and glazed with a simple lemon syrup. YUM! Best enjoyed alongside a cup of freshly brewed black coffee.

4.5 from 168 votes

Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 40

Proofing Time 1 2 30

Total Time 1 4 10

Course Dessert

Yield 1 loaf

Calories 248 kcal

Equipment

Digital kitchen scale
Stand mixer
Brød & Taylor proofer box (optional, but recommended)
Rolling Pin
Offset spatula
Bread tin