Babka with poppy seeds, sesame seeds and cinnamon and served with Valençay goat's cheese and honey
Pascal Aussignac serves up a cake inspired by by his travels to Israel, a spin on babka. This version is much more simple than the traditional method using yeasted dough – instead he infused the half of the batter with black sesame paste and creates a marble effect by swirling the batters together before baking. The chef stays true to his French roots by serving the cake with Valençay cheese and a sweet fig leaf and honey dressing.
Ingredients
Babaka
- 60g of plain flour
- 300g of marzipan, (white)
- 30g of honey
- 100g of butter
- 5 eggs
- 80g of black sesame paste , (this can be made by roasting black sesame seeds and blending with a little vegetable oil)
Fig leaf dressing
- 100g of fig leaves , washed and ripped up
- 400g of grapeseed oil, or other neutral vegetable oil
- 300g of runny honey
To serve
- Valençay cheese
- poppy seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick , layers of bark separated
Equipment
- Blender
- Cooking thermometer
- Small loaf tin
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3
3
Once well-mixed, add the eggs slowly until fully combined
- 5 eggs
4
Remove about half the batter and add the black sesame paste to the blender. Blitz the batter and sesame paste until well-combined
- 80g of black sesame paste , (this can be made by roasting black sesame seeds and blending with a little vegetable oil)
5
Pour the white and black batters into a single jug at the same time (from opposite sides) so that each coloured batter occupies each half of the jug from top to bottom
6
Pour the batter into a greased loaf tin, swirling the batter as it comes out, to create a marbled effect
7
Bake for about 35–40 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Leave to cool before cutting
8
While the cakes are cooking, make the fig leaf dressing. Blend the oil and fig leaves at high speed in a blender for a minute or so until very well-chopped
- 400g of grapeseed oil, or other neutral vegetable oil
- 100g of fig leaves , washed and ripped up
9
Transfer to a pan. Stir and heat the mixture to about 80–90°C for a few minutes then leave it to cool to room temperature
10
Strain through a fine sieve, squeezing any excess oil out of the pulp, and discard the pulp. Whisk the honey and oil together until fully combined
- 300g of runny honey
11
Serve with the sweet fig leaf dressing, a scattering of poppy seeds and some Valençay cheese (or another high quality goat's cheese). Decorate with cinnamon bark
- 1 cinnamon stick , layers of bark separated
- Valençay cheese
- poppy seeds
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Babka with poppy seeds, sesame seeds and cinnamon and served with Valençay goat's cheese and honey
