Salty bun (babka) with Cretan Graviera PDO cream & cranberries

INGREDIENTS

For the dough:

450g flour for sweet bread (bun)

1/2 cup lukewarm melted butter

8g powedered yeast

a pinch of salt for yeast

1 teaspoon salt

250g lukewarm fullfat milk

1 egg

 

For the cream of Cretan Graviera PDO:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour for all purposes

300g lukewarm full fat milk

1 egg

200g. Cretan Graviera PDO Kalogeraki grated

salt, pepper

 

For the filling:

200g dried cranberries 

100g pomegranate juice

100g Cretan Graviera PDO Kalogeraki grated

 

IMPLEMENTATION

For the dough: in a big bowl add flour, create a pit with your hand and put inside the yeast together with sugar, the lukewarm melted butter - not hot - the lukewarm milk, the egg, the salt in the perimeter to avoid contact with yeast.

Knead all together in a smooth dough.

Cover the bowl with a membrane and set aside to allow blowing and double its size.

In the meantime prepare the graviera cream. In a pan (medium to high heat) add the butter and as it melts the flour. Bake for a few minutes whlle you constantly whisk the mixture and gradually add the milk until it turns to a thick cream. When you have a full smooth, velvet cream take off the heat and add the egg again whisking fastly to incorporate it in the cream. Then add the 200g of the grated Cretan Graviera PDO Kalogeraki and whisk again as the cream is hot in order to allow the melteting of graviera cheese. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside to cool a bit.

In a bowl add the cranberries to soak in the pomegranate juice.

When your dough is ready with a rolling pin create a parallelogram 1cm thick.

Coat the dough with one layer of the graviera cream, sprinkle the 100g of grated graviera, add the cranberries (drain the juice and keep some for topping) and roll the dough.

Cut vertically in half the roll of dough and with the two parts create a braid which then you will connect to make a wreath (round). Put in pan on a greaseproof paper.

Add on top the rest of the cranberries.

Bake in 180C - on air- in a preheated oven for around 30-40'.

Serve as it is hot!

Tip: you may prepare the dough from the previous night, let it double and then add it in fridge. The same goes with the graviera cream, as long as you keep it in fridge.