Who wouldn't love a dessert roll made by twisting cinnamon and chocolate-filled dough? Babka is a favourite in Jewish bakeries around the world. This recipe swaps out the cinnamon and chocolate filling, though, for sweet apricots and pistachios!
Make the dough: In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, or a large bowl, combine the soy milk and yeast. Allow to stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes
In another bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, and salt. Add to the yeast mixture, mixing with a wooden spoon or the mixer’s dough hook on medium speed. Add the coconut oil and canola or grapeseed oil, and continue beating until incorporated. Add the egg and mix until the dough begins to pull into a ball.
Knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes, or by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes, until the dough is slightly tacky but smooth. If the dough is very sticky, knead in the additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, just until the dough is no longer too sticky to handle. If you kneaded by hand, return the dough to the bowl. If you let the mixer knead, simply remove the bowl from the machine. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1 to 1½ hours.
Make the filling: While the dough is rising, place the apricots and raisins in separate bowls, add enough warm water to cover, and soak for about 10 minutes or until soft. Drain each separately, pat dry, and return to the bowls.
Place the pistachios in the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse several times to grind to a fine flour. If you don’t have a food processor, use a mortar and pestle. Or chop the pistachios finely with a knife, then crush with a rolling pin. Transfer the pulverized pistachios to a small dish and set aside.
Next, place the apricots, sugar, coconut oil, cinnamon, and ginger into the work bowl of the food processor (it’s fine if some pistachio residue remains). Pulse several times, until a smooth paste forms. To make the filling by hand, chop the apricots as finely as possible, place in a bowl with the other ingredients, and use your hands to mix and knead the filling into as smooth a paste as you can.
Grease a 9-by-5-by-2½-inch loaf pan. When the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it in half. Pat each piece of dough into a rectangle. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough into a 9-by-15-inch rectangle about ¼-inch thick. Spread with half the apricot filling, leaving a 1-inch border along one of the long sides. Sprinkle evenly with half the ground pistachios, then half the raisins. Starting on the long side without the border, roll the dough up tightly, jellyroll-style. Pinch the ends together gently to seal. Allow the roll to rest, seam side down, while you repeat the process with the other piece of dough and the remaining filling.
