“Love doesn’t sit there, like a stone; it needs to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” -Ursula K. Le Guin
I guess it says a lot when you are thinking about baking so much that you can’t help and label a bake when looking at your pet. Tipper is a dog who I would describe in terms of baking both sweet and salty. She will cuddle with you but is also very bold. She demands to have attention when she wants it but also looks to please anyone that walks through my door.
Tipper the Dog loves bread. Now when I say loves bread I mean that in the most serious sense. This dog will paw at your hand to get you to drop your morsels of a crust so that she can enjoy the savory crunchy delight of bread. She also loves salty chips and will bark a demand to give her a chip if you are eating them in front of her. She will drool at the smell of orange slices and stare at each segment of orange as I put it into my mouth.
With all the food that Tipper craves in mind, I created a bread that I associate with Tipper the Dog. It is a Babka Bread, which is an enriched dough (which means it uses multiple eggs and milk) that is twisted together to reveal beautiful swirls of filling when cut. This Babka bread has orange zest in it and has two fillings of a caramel sauce and a pistachio spread, topped with a dark chocolate drizzle.
Because it is an enriched dough this bread takes time to make. There is no waking up early so that the smell of fresh bread in the house will wake everybody up. It takes hours to prove because of the heaviness of the eggs and the milk slows the process of the yeast. But trust me Tipper bread is worth the project, and besides, you can get so many other things done while you're waiting on your dough to rise.
I used a bread machine to make my Tipper bread because I am lazy, but I have included here some instructions on the order of mixing the dough in a stand mixer. It is important to follow the order of how the ingredients are put in. I don’t know enough about the science of it all but in order for the yeast to do its thing, (gets kneaded enough and is allowed to react with all the other ingredients) the timing of when things are added to your dough mix is critical.
Some other tricky things I found when making Tipper Bread is to be cautious when loading the fillings onto the flattened dough. Over filling the fillings will make it very difficult to roll, and not to mention create quite the mess (especially with the liquidness of the caramel). So remember to leave a border of dough with the fillings spread out evenly in the middle, ensuring there are not big globs.
I would also suggest using the first proving time to create the fillings and have them at the ready when the dough is ready to be rolled out. There are a lot of separate parts to this bake, that come together in the end to create the magic that is Tipper Bread, but with some planning and time management, it is not too difficult to do.
Anyway, please enjoy this bread that is inspired by a dog, but please remember that it is meant to be enjoyed by humans.
A Babka bread that is sweet and salty, Inspired by Tipper the Dog.
Ingredients for Salted Caramel Filling
1 cups of sugar
6 Tablespoons of salted butter, cut into six pieces and room temp
½ cups of heavy cream
1 teaspoon of salt
Ingredients for Pisastico filling
Makes enough to fill one loaf
½ cup of unsalted butter
½ sugar
2 large eggs
⅛ cup and 1 Tablespoon of flour
⅛ cup of almond flour
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ cup of pistachio paste
¼ cup of chopped pistachios
Ingredients for Pisastico paste
Makes 1 cup
⅓ cup of sugar
¼ cup of water
1 cup of toasted pistachios
¼ almond flour
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Ingredients for Babka Bread
Makes one 9in loaf
396 grams of all-purpose flour (3 cups of half of the ⅓ cups)
75 grams of sugar (¼ and ⅛ cups)
4.5 grams of active dry yeast (½ Tablespoon)
½ tablespoon of orange zest
2 large eggs
¾ cup of warm milk
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
113.5 grams of unsalted butter, melted (½ a cup or one stick)
½ tablespoon of salt
For Egg Wash:
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon of water
Steps for Bread Dough
If using a bread machine:
Put all liquid ingredients (including melted butter) into the machine first followed by the yeast, flour, sugar, and salt. (Note: do NOT add orange zest)
Set machine for dough and let the machine do all the hard kneading for you.
After the dough has been formed take out of the machine and kneed in your orange zest. Form dough into a ball.
Put a little bit of oil and place your dough inside the bowl. Cover with a towel and let the dough prove for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. (until the dough has doubled in size)
After the dough has doubled put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
On a heavily floured surface roll out the dough into a 16x12 inch rectangle.
Brush the egg wash over the edges of the dough.
Put down caramel filling first, followed by pistachio filling. (Note: leave 1-inch border where there is no filling. Be aware to not overfill the dough, as it will be difficult to roll up.
Roll dough with fillings jelly-roll style and press edges to seal,
Using a sharp knife cut the roll in half lengthwise, but leaving the top connected.
Twist the two sides so that filling is facing up and twist the two together.
Place dough on a pan and let rise for 1 to 1 ½ hour (until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake bread for 30 minutes.
Cover the bread with foil and bake for another 35 minutes.
If you don’t have a bread machine:
In a bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook, combine flour, sugar, yeast, and zest.
Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat the mixture until it comes together. (Note: if the mixture is too crumbly add more milk 1 Tablespoon at a time)
Add butter a little at a time, then add salt until well combined, beating for about 3 minutes.
Increase speed and mix until the dough is pulling away from the bowl, and has a smooth elastic texture. (Note: if the dough isn’t pulling away from the bowl add more flour 1 Tablespoon at a time)
Put a little bit of oil and place your dough inside the bowl. Cover with a towel and let the dough prove for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. (until the dough has doubled in size)
After the dough has doubled put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
On a heavily floured surface roll out the dough into a 16x12 inch rectangle.
Brush the egg wash over the edges of the dough.
Put down caramel filling first, followed by pistachio filling. (Note: leave 1-inch border where there is no filling. Be aware to not overfill the dough, as it will be difficult to roll up.
Roll dough with fillings jelly-roll style and press edges to seal,
Using a sharp knife cut the roll in half lengthwise, but leaving the top connected.
Twist the two sides so that filling is facing up and twist the two together.
Place dough on a pan and let rise for 1 to 1 ½ hour (until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake bread for 30 minutes.
Cover the bread with foil and bake for another 35 minutes.
Steps for the Fillings
(Make fillings while the dough is going through its first proving stage)
Caramel Filling
Heat sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Once the sugar has melted into an amber liquid, immediately add butter
Stir butter into the caramel until it has completely melted, about 2 minutes. (tip: if the butter separates remove from heat and vigorously whisk to combine again)
Very slowly drizzle ½ cup of heavy cream while stirring. Allow to boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt, and allow to cool.
Pistachio filling
Begin by making pistachio paste (you can also buy this if you don’t have time to make it from scratch)
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the toasted pistachios. Set aside.
Heat sugar and water, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved to create a sugar syrup.
Pour syrup over the toasted pistachios, making sure all are coated. Let cool for 10 minutes.
In a food processor or in a bowl with an immersion blender combine coated pistachios and almond flour until finely ground. Add vegetable oil until the mixture becomes a smooth thick paste.
For the pistachio filling: In a large bowl of a stand mixer beat butter and sugar until creamy
Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition
Gradually add both flours and salt until well combined.
Then add the pistachio paste and the chopped pistachios.