WE'VE MOVED

Hello!

Thank you for the amazing 8 years here at A Baked Creation, we can't thank you enough for the memories! But we've decided to move over to a new site - Sincerely, Syl. Please join us there for future posts on all the things you loved here!

Sincerely,
Syl

Friday, May 20, 2016

Matcha Black Sesame Babka

We picked up some matcha powder from a baking supply store when we were in Taiwan, so you might notice that the next few posts are matcha based as I wanted to use up this delicious flavour before the expiry date. I've been pretty fixated on the beautiful braided babkas that other bloggers are making, so I thought I would give it a try!
Ugh, once I mixed the dough, I knew I went too far. I had overworked it and it wasn't going to turn out like I wanted it to. It was going to be tough with minimal rise. But I forged ahead as I didn't want to throw away all those ingredients.
I was fighting against all the gluten as I rolled the dough out as much as I could. It was really elastic and as I predicted, tough and strong. Bah, I wasn't trying to build some crazy structure!
But that braid, it is quite beautiful. Okay, maybe "braid" is going a bit far as I only managed to give it a few twists. I love seeing the swirl and black sesame paste oozing out.
The recipe I followed allowed for two loafs!
It came out of the oven all bubbling, sticky, and shiny with the best aroma. I thought, it just might have turned out fine?
Ah, slicing into it proved me otherwise. It had a stubborn mind of its own, not staying together and isolating itself as little babka pieces. As you can see in the photo above, there aren't a lot of air pockets in the dough.
Well, at least I knew where I went wrong! Next time I'll have to remember to have a gentler touch when kneading the dough. If you want to give it a try, I followed Fix Feast Flair's recipe. Alana has the most gorgeous step-by-step photographs!

If you're in Canada like us, we're wishing you a happy Victoria Day! Hopefully there's no more snow and this long weekend marks the beginning of summer. Or at least consistent warm weather, I really want to wear more dresses and skirts without the bundling up of coats and boots.

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