Cheese Babka is a Polish bread traditionally made for Easter. This loaf is filled with cream cheese and brightened with lemon zest.
As many of you know, one of my goals is to learn more about baking and cooking. Bread is one of those things that I wanted to learn more about. I love baking bread, but there are some very technical aspects to baking bread that I have yet to master. I was pretty excited to try this Cheese Babka.
With Easter, I wanted to find a bread that would work on my table. I went online and started investigating “holiday breads”. The recipe that I decided to make was called Cheese Babka and it said that it was a Polish bread traditionally made for Easter.
This recipe exceeded my expectations. It has a sweetened cream cheese filling flavored with lemon zest. The crumb was moist as was the crust. It’s baked in a bundt pan and is so pretty and stands tall when it’s popped from the pan.
I learned a few things when I made this bread. After you spread the filling over the dough, the recipe has you roll the bread into a log and then twist it into a rope. I was a bit nervous doing this because I didn’t want all of my filling to squish out. I ended up twisting the bottom a bit tighter than the top. The result was that I didn’t lose the filling but there was a gap where the filling met the dough in the end that was rolled loosely.
I made a few changes to the ingredients. The recipe calls for farmers cheese and I substituted cream cheese. It also called for dried lemon peel. I used fresh, and can’t imagine doing it any other way. I will definitely use this technique again. This bread is delicious!
- 1 .25 ounce package active dry yeast
- 1 pinch white sugar
- 1/4 cup warm water 110 degrees F
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
- 3 eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1 1/2 cups farmers cheese or cream cheese
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon dried lemon peel I used fresh
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
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In a small bowl sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of sugar over the warm water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
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Combine the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk,eggs and 1 cup of flour and mix well. Add the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Gradually add remaining flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed until smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a round and place it in a large greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a plastic dough and allow to rise at room temperature until doubled, approximately 1-1/2 hours.
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In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the farmers' cheese, sugar, sour cream, egg, vanilla extract and lemon peel. Beat together until smooth. Set aside. Lightly oil a bundt pan.
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Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 10-inch by 12-inch rectangle. Spread the 2 tablespoons over the surface of the dough and then the cheese over the butter. Roll the dough up like a jelly roll, starting from the long end; twist the dough 6 to 8 times to form a rope. Pinch the seams and ends closed and arrange the rope of dough in the greased pan. Cover loosely and let rise, 1 hour.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until deep golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes; invert onto a wire rack and remove the pan. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com
Prep time includes inactive time.
#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess and runs smoothly with the help of Heather of girlichef, and the rest of our fabulous bakers.
Our host this month is Robin from A Shaggy Dough Story, and our theme is CHEESE. For more bread recipes, visit the #TwelveLoaves Pinterest board, or check out last month’s mouthwatering selection of #TwelveLoaves enter last month’s Italian Breads!
- Buttermilk Goat Cheese Biscuits from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Casatiello from Cake Duchess
- Cheddar Chive Bread from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Cheddar Dill Twists from blackberry eating in late september
- Cheese Babka from Hostess At Heart
- Cheese Soda bread from Ma che ti sei mangiato
- Cream Cheese and Cherry Buns from girlichef
- Feta & Olive Swirls from The Bread She Bakes
- Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread) from A Shaggy Dough Story
- Pimento Cheese Straws from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
If you’d like to bake along with us this month, share your CHEESE bread using hashtag #TwelveLoaves!
This recipe is also making it’s way to Fiesta Friday now with its own website! We have Angie of The Novice Gardener and her co-hosts Julianna @Foodie On Board and Hilda @Along The Grapevine running the show this week!
Let’s keep in touch! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google +, and Bloglovin
That looks great and I’m sure it was very tasty. Besides, it was perfect for Easter. 🙂
Thank you Ana! Hope you had a wonderful Easter.
Julie, your babka looks marvelous! I’d love this for Easter next year—but I may not be able to wait that long!
Thank you! It was pretty simple and yummy.
Oh YUM! This is a must make for me now — thanks for sharing!
Gorgeous in the bundt pan! Sounds delicious!
Thank you Karen! Appreciate your stopping by!
This looks very tempting. I would like to try it!
It was a lot easier than it looks, and it was yummy!
This is just gorgeous Julie! I wish to join this party at sometime too. Sounds like so much fun. I can’t imagine the textures and flavors of it..:must have been awesome! Bookmarking it!
Thank you Sonal! The recipes that I have seen so far are great. Not what you see every week and a wide variety of methods.
I can see that
This looks fantastic! I always had in my head that babka was a pastry. This looks amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I saw a couple variations on Babka but they were always a slightly sweet bread. There is one stuffed with chocolate that probably made you think it was pastry?
This is awesome Julie! I love Babka of any kind and I need to try it with cheese now 🙂
Thank you Dini!
Oh yum, this sounds delicious, and an interesting filling! It must make a wonderful breakfast 🙂
12 loaves sounds like an interesting event; I’m interested in forcing myself to bake bread more often so I may take a look!! 🙂
Thank you! It is a great group. Very easy going and you can choose whether you participate each month. #BreadBakers is another one that I am involved in.
Thanks for letting me know! I’ll check out both of them 🙂
How interesting! Will definitely give this a try! Thank you!
That looks amazing!!! And that was your first attempt???
Yes thank you! It was so much fun too.
It looks really tasty, Julie 🙂
Thank you!
Julie, this looks amazing – and I absolutely love the combination of cream cheese and lemon zest! Gorgeous – would never think that it was your first go!!
Thank you Selma! It was fun to make, and I learned a few things for the next time.
Ooo lala! Isn’t this gorgeous. it turned out so even without any cracks. looks super delicious 🙂
Lol! Thanks skd!
That is beautiful! And the filling sounds amazing!
Thank you Mimi!
This looks and sounds interesting. … can’t wait to give it a try. . 🙂 🙂
Thank you Chitra!
It sounds like this bread belongs at the Easter table! I’d only ever heard of a chocolate babka before seeing yours, and now I’ll be obsessed with trying it until I do. I love that you made it in a bundt pan – so pretty. 🙂
Thanks Heather! I had a lot of fun making this and loved that it was in a bundt pan too. My 90 yr old mother in-law just gave me hers.
Absolutely gorgeous Julie, love the cheese filling. The loaf looks delicious.
Thank you Suzanne! It was so tender and delicious.
What a beautiful bread!! Baking is something I’m trying to master as well, and I must say, bread is one that always makes me nervous. There’s just something about it that can be intimidating. You did GREAT! I love that #TwelveLoaves idea as well 😀
Thanks Amanda! It’s a fun group. I had a lot of fun making this. I do have my kitchen fears too ad these groups are good at pushing me out of the box.
This look so delicious! I have yet to master bread making, as well. =)
Panera Bread has a babka from time to time. It is wonderful! Glad yours turned out for you!
They have some darned good bakery too. I used to get their cinnamon crunch bagels until I saw one was almost a full days calories. Yikes!
Mmm, that looks so good. A babka with cream cheese and lemon? I’m so there. I’d say your first effort was a major win!
Thank you Robin! I had a great time and couldn’t believe all of the delicious submissions this month! I would like to try every single one of them.
I started some years ago my own breadmaking adventure. And now I cannot imagine buying any bread anymore – except it’s an emergency. Babka is one of my favorites, the chocolate of course. Now I have your recipe that I want to try, it sounds so great! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Cecilia! I agree with you on making your own. It just takes abit of planning. Chocolate anything is my favorite! Thanks for stopping!
I’ve never make a Babka before, but I think I will now. This looks absolutely delicious!
Thank you Sarah! It was my first time with this recipe too and it was a lot of fun to put together.
Wow, I take my hat off to you, Julie! This looks amazing! I am also trying to learn a bit more about baking and breads, but then I have to find time to do that too! Congrats on your Babka and thanks so much for sharing this with us today at FF! 😀
Thank you Julianna! I really liked this bread. Thank you so much for helping host FF!
This looks amazing! I love the idea of a bread filled with cheese, so I’ll definitely bookmark this. Yummy!
Thank you! It makes for a nice soft texture.
Bread with cheese in it! I’ll take it thank you very much for sharing! Looks yummy
Thank you! It is a match made in heaven for me too!
That looks great, Julie! I’ve never had cheese babka before but I have plans to make at some point because I LOVE cheese and will try any and every cheese related thing lol.
Thank you! It is yummy and this filling made the bread creamy. I saw a chocolate babka that may have my name on it next. Cheese and chocolate…life is good.
sheer perfection! I heart cheese and I heart babkas – this is calling me 😉
Thank you so much for stopping by! I am a weakling when it comes to cheese too! 🙂
Wow Julie, you’ve become quite daring in the bread-making department. This Cheese Babka looks just gorgeous, and I’m sure with all those yummy ingredients, it went down a treat. How beautiful it looks! This was your first attempt? Bravo to you. Taking those challenges has got to make it pretty motivating for you and definitely more confident in bread baking eh? I still use your English Muffin Bread recipe all the time, it’s so quick and easy to whip up. I hope you are fairing well and that PT is doing it’s thing. I’ve missed this post of yours again, not sure how??
Thank you Loretta! This is my first attempt at this recipe and it was fun and I learned a few things. I do enjoy baking bread and there is still a lot to learn which is fun. I’m down to one crutch and moving quicker! I do love that English muffin bread recipe too. I’ts great for breakfast with a great texture.
Oooh, that looks so good! Given this was your first attempt at making it, I can’t wait to see what you’ll be making by the end of the year!!
First for this recipe…I’ve been baking bread for a long time. I had fun doing this braid.
This recipe looks beyond fabulous, Julie! Need to try it as soon as possible 😀
Thank you! If you do let me know what you think.
Looks delicious Julie! The texture looks like a cake to me:)
Thanks Lily. It has a soft moist crumb but more bread than cake.
If I could just grab a slice. I am taking my tea right now and a slice of this would be perfect. This looks really simple and delicious, Julie. Have a great week. xx
Thank you Jhuls. It was simple and a joy to make.
It’s great to finally see your cheese babka!! Looks delicious Julie!!! Look forward to making it with cheese and ham one day! 🙂
Thank you Lili!
Julie, this looks like one delicious bread! The cheese and the lemon peel would make it so flavorful too!
Thank you! It makes for a great soft texture.
First time hearing about this, looks delish
Thank you!
Beautiful Moist and delicious!
Thank you Veronica! What a great timed theme.
Julie bang up job on this and I just KNOW how amazing it was, I can smell it from here. We both share the love of breads and cakes, yummy lol
Thank you! It was fun and did turn out well.
It looks so awesome and fab
Thank you Stephy!
Bravo to you, Julie, for your successful Babka! It looks picture perfect and I imagine it tasted fabulous. Love your substitution of cream cheese for the farmer’s cheese!
Thank you Nancy! I saw where someone else had done that and I also liked that idea. So happy to hear from you!
Your babka looks delicious and I love that you chose cream cheese and fresh lemon zest. I love the way you write too. Lovely post, lovely recipe.
I apologize for not responding earlier! Your message went to spam for some reason. I appreciate your commenting on the babka! It was delicious and so fun to put together.
I thought your last bread looked great, but this one! My mouth is watering!
Thank you! It was a show stopper. Sometimes the oven god shines on Julie’s kitchen. 🙂
lol! And modest, too! 🙂