Easter Cheese Babka (Print Version)

# Ingredients:

→ Cheesecake Filling

01 - 12 oz softened cream cheese
02 - 1 teaspoon almond essence
03 - ¾ cup granulated sugar
04 - 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
05 - Food coloring in four colors of your choice

→ Sweet Dough

06 - 4 cups plain flour
07 - 1 cup warmed milk (about 100-110°F)
08 - 10 tablespoon mild, cubed butter
09 - ⅓ cup sugar and one 1 teaspoon sugar, separated
10 - 2 whole eggs
11 - 1 teaspoon sea salt
12 - A packet of active dry yeast (roughly 2 ¼ teaspoons)
13 - 1 teaspoon vanilla

→ Syrup Topping

14 - ¼ cup water
15 - ¼ cup sugar

# Instructions:

01 - Using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese, sugar, and extracts together in a bowl until it’s smooth. Put it aside for later use. Split the filling mixture into four bowls and tint each bowl with one shade of food coloring. I went with soft pastels for springtime.
02 - In a big bowl, stir together the flour, kosher salt, and ⅓ cup sugar. Warm the milk slightly—about 45 seconds in the microwave works until it’s 100-110°F. Combine the warm milk and a teaspoon of sugar in a stand mixer bowl (use the dough hook attachment). Sprinkle in yeast, stir gently, and leave it standing for roughly five minutes until it bubbles.
03 - Add the flour, eggs, remaining sugar, and vanilla into the frothy yeast mixture. Start mixing at a slow speed, and once combined, switch to low-medium speed for about five minutes till you have a nice, even consistency.
04 - Drop softened butter pieces (one at a time) into the dough, keeping the mixer on medium-low. Do this for about four minutes until the butter fully combines and the dough is soft but sticky. Be sure to scrape the bowl’s edges while mixing.
05 - Cover the mixing bowl with a plastic cover and leave it in a warm spot for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until it’s doubled in size. You can skip this step now and instead refrigerate overnight. Once risen, press the dough down gently, move it to a clean surface, and split into two equal portions. Gently turn each half into a rectangle shape. Wrap them securely in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour to chill before rolling.
06 - Sprinkle some flour over your work area and roll one dough half into a 16 x 12-inch rectangle. Imagine four rows. Gently mark equal sections in the dough for these rows, but don’t slice through it. Spread different colored fillings into each row without coloring touching the edges of other rows. Leave a quarter-inch gap at one end of the rectangle.
07 - Starting at the edge without the border, roll the dough tightly. Trim a bit off the ends if they seem uneven. Take a sharp knife and slice the length of the rolled dough to expose the layers. Place one strip over the other and twist them together down the length, pinching the ends lightly to seal it off. Repeat this braiding with the second dough half.
08 - Grease two 9 x 5 baking loaf pans and line them with parchment paper, leaving enough extra to act as handles on the long edges. Place each twisted dough carefully into the pans, tucking in any ends if needed. Cover the pans with plastic film and rise another hour in a cozy spot.
09 - Preheat your oven to 350°F. Pop the loaf pans in and bake for 30-40 minutes until the surface is golden and a skewer or tester comes out with no sticky dough. You can also check it’s ready by confirming with a thermometer (aim for 185-190°F). If it browns too fast, tent foil loosely over the bread. Once out of the oven, use a brush to coat the loaves with equal portions of your syrup mixture.
10 - Wait several minutes while the braided bread cools in their pans. Then carefully transfer to cooling racks by lifting them with the parchment paper. Allow the bread to fully cool before slicing!
11 - Pour the sugar and water into a small pot and gently heat until the sugar absolutely dissolves. Once done, cool it completely.

# Notes:

01 - Once it cools completely, wrap the loaf in foil or plastic and store it in the fridge. It stays fresh up to five days because of the cream cheese.
02 - Warm slices before eating by using a toaster or microwave.
03 - You can also freeze it. First, wrap the loaf in plastic, then foil, and pop it into a sealed bag. It’ll last up to a couple of months frozen. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight before use.
04 - Want to divide the steps across two days? Do your first rise overnight in the refrigerator. Pick up where you left off the next day!

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