Salted Caramel Apple Babka
“NANANAH!” says my son as he reaches out for his morning banana full of excitement. We are getting ready for? You guessed right! Our weekly trip to the farmers’ market. It has become a tradition for our little family to visit every weekend. I don’t even know what to do with myself when the market is closed during winter time. Who am I kidding? We have Halloween, pumpkin patches and all sorts of fall activities coming up.
Dev already has our Halloween decor up. With fall on my mind, I was pretty dead set on making something with apples. I was on a mission to look for apples, which might be difficult due to the time of year. As we walk through the market with my son on my shoulders, I hear him say, “APPLES!”. To him, any product that is circular is an apple. But since I’m such a fantastic dad, I entertained him by looking at the direction he pointed to.
Low and behold, our favorite vendor had a table full of apples! So this week, thanks to Lile and my son, we are making a Paleo Salted Caramel Apple Babka!
Paleo Salted Caramel Apple Babka
Dough:
1¾ Cup – Otto’s Natural Cassava Flour
½ Cup – Organic Gemini Tigernut Flour
1 Tsp – Paleo Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
¼ Cup – Gold Nugget Ghee
¾ Cup – Desert Farms Raw Camel Milk
¼ Cup – Honey
2 Packs – Fast Rising Yeast
1 Whole and 1 Egg Yolk – Primal Pastures Eggs
Filling:
2 Cups – Black Twig Apples (Skinned and Diced)
1 Cup – Coconut Sugar
¼ Cup – Blonde Palm Sugar Blocks (Shaved)
½ Tsp – Ground Cinnamon
¼ Tsp – Ground Allspice
½ Tsp – Ground Black Pepper
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 Tsp – Pure Vanilla Extract
Gold Nugget Ghee
Topping:
¼ Cup – Lovebean Sea Salt Caramel Spread
2 Tbsp – Sea Salt Flakes (more or less to taste)
Alright, let’s talk ingredients. The main ingredient for a Salted Caramel Apple Babka without good apples! When baking or cooking desserts with apples, you want crisp and tart. Most people will go for varieties of Golden Delicious or Granny Smith because of its popularity in grocery stores. We actually found something even better, the Black Twig apple.
It is so crisp and SO tart that it actually puts the other apples to shame. The result is a perfect balance of sweet and refreshing tang. As it might be tough to find it in your local grocer, I always push people to explore their local farmers market and support them. You will be shocked at what amazing products you will find there! Let’s get started on this Paleo Salted Caramel Apple Babka!
Filling Instructions:
To start the Salted Caramel Apple Babka, we will make the fillings first. The apple has to be slightly macerated for the filling. You want to toss your diced apples with the shaved palm sugar blocks (You can use raw cane sugar if you allow it in your diet), lemon juice and vanilla extract. Allow it to sit for half an hour to an hour.
While you wait for the apples to marinate, we can whip up the cinnamon sugar and the dough next. For the cinnamon sugar, mix your cup of coconut sugar with your cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper. I LOVE black pepper with cinnamon. It really helps elevate the spiciness of cinnamon.
Dough Instruction:
To create the dough for the Salted Caramel Apple Babka mix your milk, ghee, and honey in a saucepan until it reaches 105ºF-110°F. This is the mixture we will prove our yeast in. Pour the mixture in a heatproof container along with the yeast. Allow it to proof for 15 minutes or so. Mix your flour with your baking powder and salt.
Now, add in the eggs and the yeast mixture and mix it well. Knead the dough until everything is well incorporated. There is no need to “work” the dough because there is no gluten protein. Divide the dough into three equal portions. Roll it out in a strip that is the width of your loaf pan. I used mini loaf pans. If you are using a regular loaf pan, there will be no need to divide the dough.
Once rolled out, spread a generous amount of ghee on the dough. Sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar and apples. Roll it up like a rug. I rolled my dough out on parchment paper/silicone mat to make the release easier. Pinch the seams shut and set it set down in a loaf pan. Set the rolled Salted Caramel Apple Babka in a warm dark place to allow it to rise for 30 minutes.
While it is rising, preheat your oven to 350°F. Once risen, bake the babka for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. For a full-size loaf, the baking time may vary. Once baked, allow it to cool off before topping with caramel and salt flakes. There you have it, my Paleo Salted Caramel Apple Babka and until next time, eat up my friends!
