Ohhh where do I begin? This past week was so hectic/chaotic, my babka almost didn’t come to pass. But Lo and behold, here we are. I was anxious, excited, and absolutely determined. We all need a break from the day to day nonsense. And sometimes we find that break in bread (I mean bread and break are even almost spelled the same way). Making this was my break and I enjoyed myself BUT.. Can I just say I was SO SAD with the presentation?! My tight twist came out beautifully in the oven and I brushed my top with syrup and left for a while & returned to THAT. A giant hole. I had been running through every step in my brain of what I could’ve done wrong when I realized my mistake. I took my fist and punched it. Yes… yes I did. With all the frustration of the week I took it out on my babka. Never again. Maybe it’s because I’m young and haven’t figured out a good way to handle things yet. But moral of the story… Don’t punch your babka dough people. I kinda felt like that punch was going to come back to bite me but I went through with rolling it out and up anyways. I should’ve been patient and just let it proof again. I also subbed AP Flour for Bread Flour because at the last minute I noticed I didn’t have Bread Flour. Typically that’s something I have on hand but it wasn’t a huge deal. Just got a good arm workout trying to knead and make sure my gluten was doing its thang. Dunno if that helped aid in my presentation failure or not. Thank you to everyone who gave me tips, I had a lot of fun in the process. And it tasted SO GOOD. I just wish it was as cute as I wanted it to be. Welp! Sending this baby off to the nieces and nephews! They don’t care about presentation! 😂 Ps: I was stingy with the cinnamon filling and shouldn’t have been. Note to self; add more filling than you think you need. Sorry for the late update. If you all don’t mind I’ll be heading back to bed!

We all get more email than we know what to do with. Most of it is noise. Sales pitches. Pop-ups. Three paragraphs of fluff before you get to anything useful. You know the drill. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 🍞 It goes out once a week. Short. Clean. Useful. You get actionable recipes right up front. No digging. No scrolling. The idea is simple: 👉 Give you something worth baking this week 👉 Deliver it straight to your inbox No spam. No pop-ups. No catches. 🚫 And if I’m being honest… it looks good too. If you’re not on the list, or not sure if you are, take a look at the latest issue and jump in here: 🔗 https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/newsletter/4a09ef72-a3a6-401a-974d-fa1d86857cd8 We’ll make sure you get the next one. Henry ⭐🔥

What a weekend. Babka Saturday brought the HEAT. over 1,000 comments in the working thread, first-timers nailing chocolate swirls, and @Laine Hegness showing up one week in with a Coffee & Cocoa Sourdough Babka that stopped me in my tracks. That's the power of this community. You show up, you try, you share, and everybody gets better. This week I want to hear from you: 🍞 What's on your bake list this week? 📚 What topic do you wish we had a course on? 💬 Drop it below. your answer might shape what I build next. Let's have a great week. . ~ Henry⭐🔥

Babka isn't complicated. But enriched dough follows different rules than the lean loaves most of us start with, and if you don't know those rules going in, the filling slides, the layers blur, and the interior comes out gummy instead of distinct. This video covers all of it. How the dough behaves. How to handle different fillings so they stay put. Why inclusion size and moisture content matter more than most recipes tell you. And why the refrigerator is doing real work on your dough overnight, not just buying you time. That last part ties directly into something I covered in depth on YouTube already. If you want the full science on what cold fermentation is actually doing, that video is here: https://youtu.be/WLtlnqGIYi0 Please, like and subscribe while you're there. The babka recipes are in the pantry: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/?search=Babka Watch it. Then go mix your dough.

We’ve got so many new faces in here and honestly, I feel like we talk in the comments all the time but I don’t really know who you are. And that’s on me for not doing this sooner. So let’s fix that today. New members, longtime members, everyone. Drop a reply below and tell us: 🏡 Where you’re from 🍞 What kind of bread you’re baking right now (or trying to learn) 🎯 One thing you’re working on getting better at I’ll go first: I’m Henry, based in Columbia, South Carolina. I’m in the middle of an Easter bread series right now and I’m constantly chasing better oven spring on enriched doughs. It never gets old. There are members in here from all over the country, some internationally too, and you’ve been talking to each other in threads without really knowing the person on the other side of the comment. Let’s change that. This isn’t just for the new folks. If you’ve been here since day one, I want to hear from you too. We grow as a community when we actually know each other, not just each other’s loaves. Drop your intro below. I’m reading every single one.