Sweet Peach Marzipan Sourdough Milk Bread

This Peach Marzipan Sourdough Milk Bread is a milk bread recipe reserved for royalty. To make this bread is a lengthy but very rewarding process. It’s a process for only those truly devoted to the art of baking exciting 100% naturally leaved milk breads layered with peachy and almond-y stuff.

This bread is similar to babka but much lighter and fluffier. It’s like someone took a slice of toasted milk bread and spread some marzipan butter on top of it. And then spread a hefty amount of homemade peach jam on top. And then decided to just combine it all before baking and twisted up into…a lovely Peach Marzipan Sourdough Milk Bread. But of course, with added crumble topping.

And by the way, this recipe does not use the same milk bread recipe as my Sourdough Japanese Milk Bread. If you want to make just milk bread on its own, please use that recipe! This recipe is specifically tweaked for peachy & marzipan-y goodness.

This recipe also uses store-bought marzipan to make the marzipan filling. This is the marzipan I use because it's at my local grocery store.

Peach Marzipan Sourdough Milk Bread...And Its Time Table

Day before baking (in the morning):

• Mix the dough and let rise for 2 hours at room temperature, then stick it in the fridge for 24-36 hours).
• Make the peach filling, let cool completely, then put it in the fridge.
• Make the crumble topping and place in the fridge.

Baking day:

• Prep the loaf pan.
• Mix the marzipan filling and roll it out.
• Roll out the dough, put the rolled-out marzipan on top, and spread the peach filling on top of that.
• Shape the loaf, place it in the pan, and let rise for 2.5 hours. Add the crumb topping and bake!

Ahem. Yeah, there’s a million steps. Nobody said perfection would be easy. But if you like milk bread, and you like jam, and you like crumble, this bread is for you. Just give it your darn best shot. It’s worth it. And simpler than it might seem.

This is a pretty wild loaf, I am not going to lie. And so, after baking especially, you have to be super careful with it. It’s a huge loaf, and very top heavy. It needs tender loving care, you hear? Respect its wildness and it will give you so much love!

If you make this recipe, comment below & let me know how it went. You can also tag me on Instagram @higheralchemybaking.

Peach Marzipan Sourdough Milk Bread

This 100% naturally-leavened milk bread has a layer of peach jam and a layer of marzipan. It's almost like a babka, but fluffier.

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Prep Time 1 day d 11 hours hrs

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 day d 12 hours hrs

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, Asian

Servings 16 servings

Calories 231 kcal

Equipment

• One 9x5 inch loaf pan

Ingredients

  

for the dough

• 265 g milk room temperature
• 75 g mature sourdough starter
• 370 g bread flour
• 70 g rye flour
• 15 g brown sugar
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 55 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 5 g salt

for the peach filling

• 6 ripe peaches finely diced
• 60 g sugar
• juice of ½ a lemon

for the crumble topping

• 45 g all-purpose flour
• 15 g cornmeal
• 65 g sugar
• pinch of salt
• 55 g unsalted butter cold
• ½ teaspoon almond extract

for the marzipan filling

• 30 g melted butter
• 198 g marzipan
• 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
• 10 g all-purpose flour
• 10 g sugar

Instructions

 

To make the dough

• Combine the milk, starter, flours, brown sugar, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with a dough hook for 6 minutes on medium speed.
• Slice the butter into one-inch cubes and add one cube at a time, mixing until the cube dissolves completely. Add all the cubes like this then continue to mix for 3 minutes on medium speed. Cover the bowl and let sit for ten minutes.
• Add the salt and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Cover and let rise for two hours on the counter. Set in the fridge for 24-36 hours.

To make the peach filling

• You can make this a day in advance of assembly. Put the diced peaches and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Allow to cook down for 30 minutes or until thick and jammy. You want it really, really thick, with barely any liquid. At the end of cooking, add the lemon juice and cook for a few more minutes. Let cool completely, then place in the fridge until assembly.

To make the crumble topping

• You can make this a day in advance of assembly. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Slice the butter into pats and add to the flour mixture. Pour in the almond extract, then toss and pinch the butter pieces with your fingers until they are the size of jellybeans and everything is crumbly. Cover and set in the fridge until ready to assemble.

To make the marzipan filling

• Make this right before assembly. Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed until fully combined. Pull out the marzipan filling and place it between two parchment paper sheets to roll out to a 9x12-inch rectangle.

To assemble and bake

• Thoroughly oil a 9-inch non-stick loaf pan or Pullman pan with parchment paper.
• Take the dough out of the fridge and roll out into a 9x12-inch rectangle. Pull off the parchment paper from one side of the marzipan filling and place on top of the dough rectangle. Remove the other side of parchment paper.
• Using 280g of the peach filling, spread it over the marzipan layer with an offset spatula until evenly coated. Then roll up the dough in a way that it is 9 inches wide. With a sharp, serrated knife, slice the cylinder in half lengthwise, then braid the two pieces up and over each other like a babka, with the jammy part facing up/out.
• Carefully lift the braid and place it into the prepared pan, scooping the ends of the dough underneath if necessary. Cover loosely and let rise for 2.5 hours or until it just reaches the top of the pan. Preheat the oven to 375F thirty minutes before the rise is over.
• Place the loaf pan on a sheet pan to catch any crumbs during the bake. Sprinkle all of the crumble topping on top of the risen dough. Bake for 40 minutes, then lower the heat to 350F and cover with foil, baking for 20 minutes more. Then remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.
• Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then run a knife along the inner edges of the pan to pry off any pieces of crumble that are gluing your loaf to the pan. Carefully pull the bread out and let cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing. If it’s stuck, wait 15 more minutes and retry. This is a top-heavy loaf so be careful when moving it around/touching it while still hot.

Notes

You can omit the marzipan layer if you desire.

Your sourdough starter should be at its peak when you use it.

This bake makes a huge, top heavy bread. If you wish to split the dough in half and bake into two separate pans, you can do so. Feel free to split the fillings/crumble along with it.

And if you like this recipe, check out my Peach Sourdough Bundt Cake! Go peaches.

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