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All that's left of a chocolate babka

Elagins's picture
Elagins

All that's left of a chocolate babka

We had some friends over for brunch the other morning and I was incredibly busy from around 6am on, baking bialys, russian coffee cake and this chocolate babka. Fortunately, they all came out of the oven in the nick of time and all got demolished by our ravening friends -- enough to warm the cockles of any baker's heart. Thought any and all might be interested in seeing what's left of a 2+ pound chocolate babka. The stuff on the top is streusel -- equal quantities of butter, sugar, flour by weight.

 

ivyb's picture
ivyb

can I come over next time?  Glad to hear it went over well; of course, why wouldn't it?  Were you able to get pics up yet? AND..... can you share the recipe(s)?  i am always on the lookout for GOOD food, and i am sure I am not the only one!

 

Bravo!

Ivy

 

Strega's picture
Strega

looks fabulous!  Please share the recipe, I want some now :)

alyaman's picture
alyaman

waaaw i like it tooooo  much

 but can u share the recipe pls....

flourgirl51's picture
flourgirl51

I would love this recipe also- looks delicious!

Elagins's picture
Elagins

OK, so here it is. This is actually a variation on Maggie Glezer's babka recipe, which I got from A Blessing of Bread. All quantities are in ounces:

 

BreadFlour 24  (100.0%)

WholeMilk 11.5  (47.9%)

Unsalted butter 4.5  (18.8%)

Egg Yolks, large 1.65 (6.9%) - approximately 3 yolks

Sugar 6.5  (27.1%)

A/D Yeast 0.8  (3.4%)
or Instant Yeast 0.65 (2.7%)

Salt 0.18 (0.8%) - 1 scant tsp

Vanilla Extract 0.45 (1.9%) - 1.5 tsp

Filling (also for greasing pan)

Sugar 7.8  (1 cup)

Unsweetened cocoa 3.00 (1 cup)

Unsalted butter   4.00 (1 stick)

Streusel

Bread Flour 4.0

Sugar 2.0 

Unsalted butter, room temp 2.0 

 

1. Warm the milk to 105-110 degrees F. If using A/D yeast, dissolve it in milk and allow to stand for 5 minutes or so; if using instant yeast, stir it into milk. Meanwhile, melt the butter and allow to cool.

2. Add half (12 oz) of the flour to milk and yeast and mix until smooth. Allow to ferment about 30 min, until very foamy and volume triples, to the point where it will collapse if you drop the bowl gently on the counter.

3. Add remaining ingredients and blend using paddle. Continue using paddle and knead until gluten forms and dough comes away from sides of bowl. This is a very rich, slack dough and it will take time for the gluten to form, but it will happen, so be patient.

4. Allow to ferment 45-60 min, until more than doubled in bulk and very gassy.Grease a loaf, bundt, or tube pan with butter. Turn dough out onto a generously floured board (this dough is very sticky) and knead well to degas. Divide the dough into two pieces.

5. Roll the first piece of dough into a very thin sheet, preferably less than 1/4". I find that using a silicon mat and silicon rolling pin really helps. Otherwise, make sure you have enough flour on hand to prevent sticking. When you finish rolling the first sheet, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle it evenly with half of the sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder. Roll it into a spiral, jelly-roll style. Repeat for second piece of dough.

6. Preheat your oven to 325F/165C and set rack in lower third of oven. Twist the two rolls of dough together to form a double helix, a/k/a a spiral, and arrange in the pan. Dough should not reach more than halfway up the sides. If you have too much dough, use a second pan. Allow to proof for 30-45 minutes, until the dough extends above the rim of the pan.

7. Brush top of babka with melted butter. Blend flour, sugar and softened butter into a coarse mixture and sprinkle generously on top. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until loaf is a rich, dark brown and it sounds hollow when tapped with a finger. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before tapping it out onto a rack to finish cooling.

8. Brew a pot of strong coffee and go crazy!!!


 

ivyb's picture
ivyb

I will try to make it this week-end (after Pesach). 

Peace,

Ivy, ny

flourgirl51's picture
flourgirl51

Thanks so much!

Strega's picture
Strega

Thanks very much for sharing this recipe.  Do you recommend using natural or Dutch process cocoa?

Elagins's picture
Elagins

honestly, it doesn't matter. there's enough fat in the recipe so that a little bit more or less really isn't going to affect anything. also, you could use grated unsweetened baking chocolate ...