Your refrigerator is not a waiting room.

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It's a fermentation chamber. And once you understand what's actually happening inside that bowl of dough overnight, you'll never skip this step again.

I just dropped a new lesson this week that breaks down the cold retard from the ground up. Not just what it is. The actual science behind why it makes your bread better in three ways at once: deeper flavor, relaxed gluten that shapes without fighting you, and firm butter that creates clean layers in enriched doughs like the babka we're baking this Saturday.

This lesson is directly tied to what we're doing this weekend. If you're mixing your babka dough Friday night and shaping Saturday morning, you're going to feel exactly what this lesson is talking about the moment you touch that cold dough.

Watch the video, then come back here and tell me what you noticed when you rolled it out Saturday morning.

The recipe links are in the Recipe Pantry. Drop a comment below and let me know which path you're taking this weekend.

Path A: Sourdough Chocolate Babka

Path B: Holiday Chocolate Babka

Path C: Savory

Henry ⭐🔥

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