Blueberry & cardamom babka with lemon glaze

For the dough, heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan set over a gentle heat until the butter has almost melted. Remove from the heat and allow the butter to melt completely. Meanwhile, put the flour, salt, yeast, sugar and cardamom into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, and stir to combine (if you don’t have a mixer, see tips).

Pour in the liquid (make sure it’s cool enough to comfortably hold your finger in it), crack in 1 egg, then mix everything together into a wet dough. Knead in the mixer on medium speed for 15 minutes. Scrape the dough off the hook, scatter a little flour over the top and loosely form into a ball in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until doubled in size. Oil a 2kg loaf tin, then line with baking parchment along the length, leaving some overhang.

Meanwhile, make the blueberry filling. Put all the ingredients into a medium saucepan and set over a medium heat, until the juices start to run from the blueberries and the sugar is melting. Turn the heat up and allow to bubble briskly for 10 minutes, until the blueberries are broken down and syrupy. Transfer to a shallow container, then cover loosely until cooled.

Lightly dust a clean work surface and your hands with flour and lift the risen dough out of the bowl. Give it a quick knead to knock out the air, then roll out to a roughly 50cm square around 0.2cm thick – the thickness is more important than the size. Give the blueberry filling a quick whisk with a fork to break it up. Spoon over the dough, then spread thinly using the back of the spoon, leaving a 2cm border at the edges.

If the dough is square, start from the rightor left-hand side – if it’s more rectangular, start from 1 of the long sides. Roll the dough up carefully, keeping it neat but not too tight, then sit it on its seam. Using a sharp knife, cut vertically down the middle of the roll – try to cut straight down rather than sawing. Once you have 2 long pieces of dough, start from the centre and loosely twirl them around each other, the top, then the bottom, like a 2 strand plait. Lift it up and gently fold over on itself, in ½ or thirds, to fit it into the tin. It doesn’t have to be neat.

Loosely cover the babka with a clean tea towel and leave to rest in a warm place for 40 minutes-1 hour, until the dough is puffed and stays indented when gently pressed. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.

Beat the second egg, then brush it over the exposed dough. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, covering loosely with foil once the dough is dark golden. Once baked, the babka should feel much lighter and not wobble when the tin is shaken. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edges and lift out onto a rack, using the lining paper to help. You may have to invert it to get it out. Cool completely.

To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar with just enough lemon juice to form a thin drizzling consistency. Drizzle all over the babka, gently spreading it over to form a thin translucent glaze over the top, then leave for 1-2 hours to set. Slice to serve.