After a very stupid work accident, I found myself with the obligation to go for a hand surgery to repair a torn tendon in the left thumb.
Nothing to be scared of, really.
Until the moment the surgeon told me I would be off work for 3 weeks.
I panicked.
I began to list all tasks I would have to hand over and began to feel guilty towards my colleagues who would have to take in charge an overload of work during my sick leave.
I tried to find good reasons not to go for surgery beginning by "I think it is getting better" (only in my head though) and finishing by "There is not warranty it will get better with surgery" (who was I thinking to fool apart from myself ?).
Ultimately, the date for surgery was fixed and I could not postpone nor cancel it, my sambo was there to make sure I will do it (can I love him more than I already do ?).
If the surgery went smoothly and almost unpainfully, it is when I looked at the bandage my left hand was in for 2 weeks that I began to feel the torments of restlessness. What was I supposed to do with this voluminous mitten that made my left hand looked like a Playmobil or Lego figurine one ? The surgeon had THE magic answer : do nothing, absolutely nothing, take this time to rest and let your hand heal.
I should have thought that it was the perfect time to finally read all the books I have been buying awaiting the perfect time off aka holidays, to go for some walks followed by long naps to restore some healthy routine, to go back to writing, to have long conversations with friends and family about everything and nothing, to binge watch the latest tv shows on Netflix or HBO, to prepare lists of to do and to see for our next summer vacation... That is already quite a list for someone supposed to do nothing and yet, the only thing I could focus on was the one I would not be able to do, WORK.
The two first days post surgery were a living nightmare for me, for my sambo, for anyone coming around. I was clueless on doing nothing. I was in perpetual movement, or more precisely in a permanent state of searching something to do that was not lying on the bed or on the couch enjoying the joy of doing nothing for the first time in a very long time.
I was missing WORK.
Family and friends were in total misunderstanding and reminded me what was my work in retail : long hours on shop floor or in stock room, being most of the time on my feet and in movement, the headaches due to the permanent electric light and the background music of both the store and mall, the exhaustion. And going deeper, my own feeling of not being quite enough for the job, of becoming too old to handle it and ultimately not finding any sense in what I am doing.
After a few days, my body took the lead and decided all by himself that nap was a good activity for him and I found myself sleeping on my laptop or on a book sometimes for hours. Of course, waking up I was feeling guilty and could not help checking some work news. It wad a bad, very bad idea. I then disconnected myself completely from all work related social media and began slowly but surely to really do NOTHING. I tamed the sick leave to begin to reflect on why working was so important for me. I do not talk here about the importance of having a pay and being independent even if it plays some role. No, I am really talking about feeling recognized and useful. And yes, I am working in retail. And yes, even if retail industry can argue about clothes being a necessity, I truly do not think the world needs that we are consuming that insane quantity of clothes each year.
Why would I feel then so bad not to work ? Why would I feel I am somehow taking advantage of the situation ? (and looking at my Lego figurine hand, what advantage could it be, seriously).
From then, my sick leave days were an in between of keeping up with a slow pace while having my brain running at 200 km/h speed on all the things I should do to make the best of this off work time.
And that is how 4 days before getting back to work, I ended up baking a babka while facing that obviously, I need to make a change when it is about my work life.
There are many, many recipes of babka that you can find by a simple Google research and all are most probably very good ones. But if you want to try mine, there it is. It is clearly not a vegan, gluten free and lactose free one though.
List of ingredients for the dough :
250g of flour (if you are in France, I would mention T45 flour... I am currently in Sweden and it means absolutely nothing here)
50g of sugar
50ml of whole milk
80g of butter (you can use salted butter if you like it) at room temperature. In french, we say "beurre pommade" which means that the butter is soft
1 big egg at room temperature
1 pinch of salt
12g of dried yeast
List of ingredients for the filling :
As a matter of fact, you will probably see mainly chocolate babkas all over the internet but really you can chose whatever filling you like.
It can be Nutella or any hazelnut/chocolate paste you like. Just make sure to warm it up just a little bit to make it easier to spread it on the dough.
It can be a mix of butter, cinnamon and sugar.
It can be melted dark, milk or white chocolate to which you can even add some chopped hazelnuts.
It can be your favorite jam.
It can be poppy seeds with cream cheese.
You have an endless choice of flavors.
Step 1 : Make the dough.
Ideally you have a stand mixer.
If you do not have one, you can still do it. Yes, you can. Like my great grand-mother was doing it. With your hands (no joke).
So in a bowl, you will mix the flour, the sugar and the pinch of salt.
Add the plain egg and begin to mix slowly.
Pour in the yeast that you had before dissolved in the 50ml warmed milk.
And slowly continue to mix.
Cut the roomed temp butter in small bites and incorporate in 3 to 4 times. The idea there is obtain a very smooth dough so it is important to let the butter incorporate well.
With a stand mixer using the dough hook, it will take you around 10mn to obtain a soft and shiny bowl of dough.
With your hands, well, you will have to work a little more but the good news is you will obtain the same soft and shiny bowl of dough and both of you will rest for one to two hours before the next step.
Actually, if you would like to serve your babka for breakfast, you can prepare the dough the night before and let it rest the whole night in the fridge. The morning after, all fresh from a good night sleep, you will be ready for the step 2.
Step 2 : the dough has its rest, it is time for filling and baking !
A little flour on the table, you are ready to roll out your dough in the shape of a rectangle. Have in mind the size of the cake mold you are going to use.
Then spread the filling you have chose, not too thick but not too light neither. Generosity is key for me when I am baking or cooking but I have to say that for the babka, I have to restrict myself on the amount of filling unless it is almost impossible to bread the dough but let's get back to our recipe.
So you have spread the filling.
Now, you can gently roll up the dough in a tight spiral placing the seam underneath. Yep, the first time it is a bit of a stress but you will get it.
Once you have rolled up the dough, it is now time to cut it....ha ha ha. I see your face. But how did you think you were going to braid It ?
So, let's go for a small surgical action and cut the roll in 2 following the length way and will quick understand why too much filling is not your friend.
You have now 2 long pieces of dough that you can braid so you can see the layers of dough and filling.
You are nearly there.
Soon you can rest again.
Once your braid is done, transfer it into the cake mold that you have before hand generously buttered. If you want to go for reduced fat, you can line you mold with baking paper.
Cover with a clean tea towel and let it rest for one hour at room temperature to give time to the dough to almost double volume.
15mn before the proving time end, put your oven to heat at 180°C.
1h has gone, time for the babka to reveal itself in all its glory by going 25 to 30mn in the oven. Brush the the top of the dough with milk or beaten egg and off in the oven !
My tip : at 20mn time of baking, check the coloration. At 25mn of baking, check with a skewer the baking process. It should come out clean. If not, keep on for 5mn.
Some like to make a syrup to give a shiny finish to the babka but I do not like it that much so I will leave you to this because I have a slice of babka that is waiting for me with a hot cup of black coffee.
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