Savory Babka with Gruyère, Mozzarella, and Black Sesame Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Green Onion/Scallion

by: Posie (Harwood) Brien

February15,2018

6 Ratings

Savory Babka with Gruyère, Mozzarella, and Black Sesame Recipe on Food52 (1)

Makes 1 loaf

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Author Notes

This cheesy bread is easy to pull apart and share, and beautiful to serve at a brunch. It's great for toasting too: two types of cheese make gooey ribbons through each slice and crispy, crunchy edges. I add scallions, Dijon mustard, and black sesame seeds for extra flavor which makes the bread much more interesting. If you want to up the savory factor, add some crumbled bacon to the filling. —Posie (Harwood) Brien

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in the article Babka Takes a Savory, Scallion-y Turn —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

7 ouncesmilk (2% or whole)
2 ¹/₂ teaspoonsinstant or active dry yeast
3 cups(360 grams) all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons(1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoonsugar
¹/₂ teaspoonsalt
2 tablespoonsVermont cheddar cheese powder (optional, for more flavor)
¹/₂ teaspoongarlic powder (optional, for more flavor)
2 tablespoonsmelted butter, for brushing the dough
¹/₄ cupsliced scallions
1 tablespoonwhole-grain mustard
³/₄ cupgrated Gruyere cheese
³/₄ cupgrated mozzarella cheese
¹/₄ cuptoasted black or white sesame seeds

Directions

To make the dough, heat the milk until just lukewarm. Stir in the yeast and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, or by hand in a large bowl, mix together the milk/yeast mixture, flour, butter, sugar, egg yolk, salt, and cheese and garlic powders (if using). Mix until the dough comes together, and then knead until the dough is very smooth and elastic—don't skimp on this step. It should take about 10 minutes in a stand mixer. If the dough is still pretty sticky, carry on kneading until it feels quite smooth.
Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until puffy and almost doubled.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Gently press down the dough to deflate it, and turn it out onto a counter. The dough is buttery enough that you shouldn't need extra flour—it shouldn't stick.
Press/roll/stretch the dough out into a large rectangle, about 12" x 18" in size.
Brush a thin layer of melted butter evenly over the dough, leaving a little space around all the edges (about 1/2"). Spread the mustard thinly over the butter.
Sprinkle the cheeses, scallions, and sesame seeds in an even layer over the dough.
Starting with the long side closest to you, roll the dough into a long log and pinch the seam firmly closed.
Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log in half lengthwise. You’ll end up with two strips of dough. Take those two pieces and pinch two ends together. Twist the logs around each other two or three times; pinch together the other two ends. Place the braid, cut side up, in a greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes.
Bake for 30 minutes, then tent the top with foil if the cheese is browning too quickly, and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

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12 Reviews

home_cook_mark October 16, 2023

Made this several times and it's definitely a keeper!

sfilmeyer November 21, 2021

This turned out super well! I made some slight modifications to the filling quantities but mostly followed the recipe. The dough itself was lovely and it finished right about on time for me.

RocketScience April 24, 2020

I made this using a slightly different recipe for an enriched dough using my sourdough starter, so my review really only applies to the concept and the filling. I thought the flavors were good, well-balanced, and the black sesame seeds added a little unexpected crunchy edge that was most welcome.
My kitchen was very warm and as a result some of the cheese started to melt and shed oil into the dough during the final rise, a problem compounded by the butter spread over the dough before adding the cheese. So I ended up with big air holes around the filling in the loaf. If your kitchen is very warm like mine, I would advise reducing the butter and/or doing the final rise more slowly in the fridge. Because of the big air holes, I can't speak to how this bread would be toasted, but I can definitely say it would be great for brunch.