Chocolate Babka
Source: NY
Times
This recipe
does not need any alteration for high altitude.
There are two
ways to do this recipe. If you do not have time, it can be done
in eleven hours, although your actual time doing stuff is
probably less than an hour. Or you could do it over three days
which while requiring more planning is preferred. The three day
process looks like:
Day 1: make the dough for an overnight rest, make the fudge filling and refrigerate, make the streusel and refrigerate
Day 2: roll out the dough, spread the fudge, make the braids and refrigerate overnight
Day 3: add the streusel, bake, then make and add the syrup.
Notes: I bake
by weights. Flour can vary depending on the humidity. For
liquid, even heavy cream, I use 1ml equals 1 gram. On the dough
I keep adding flour till it is not sticking to the sides of the
bowl, it is still a well hydrated dough and will look sticky on
the bottom
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE DOUGH:
·
½ cup/118
milliliters whole milk
·
1 package (1/4
ounce/7 grams) active dry yeast
·
⅓ cup/67 grams
granulated sugar, plus a pinch
·
4 ¼ cups/531
grams bread flour, more as needed
·
1 ½ teaspoons
fine sea salt
·
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
·
1 teaspoon
grated lemon zest (optional)
·
½ teaspoon
freshly grated nutmeg
·
4 large eggs
lightly beaten
·
10
tablespoons/140 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus
more for greasing bowls and pans (note I may try melting the
butter which is something I do for my pretzels).
FOR THE FUDGE
FILLING:
·
½ cup/100 grams
granulated sugar
·
¾ cup/177
milliliters heavy cream or half-and-half
·
Pinch kosher
salt
·
6 ounces/170
grams extra bittersweet chocolate, preferably between 66 and 74
percent cocoa, coarsely chopped.
o Last time I
made this I used 4 oz of Ghirardelli Bittersweet 60% cocoa and 2
oz Theo Pure 85% Dark Chocolate (based on hitting two
supermarkets ☹) It worked
well
·
8
tablespoons/112 grams/1 stick unsalted butter, diced, at room
temperature
·
2 teaspoons/10
milliliters vanilla extract
FOR THE
CHOCOLATE STREUSEL:
·
½ cup/60 grams
all-purpose flour
·
3
tablespoons/45 grams granulated sugar
·
1 ½
tablespoons/11 grams cocoa powder
·
½ teaspoon
kosher salt
·
4 ½
tablespoons/64 grams unsalted butter, melted
·
⅓ cup/60 grams
semisweet chocolate chips
FOR THE SYRUP:
·
⅔ cup/135 grams
granulated sugar
·
⅔ cup/158
milliliters water.
Steps
Prepare the
dough:
Bread Machine
No bread machine - be careful
you do not burn out your mixer
·
In a small
saucepan or a bowl in the microwave, warm the milk until it’s
lukewarm but not hot (about 110
degrees). Add yeast and a pinch of sugar and let sit
for 5 to 10
minutes, until slightly foamy.
·
In an electric
mixer fitted with the dough hook, or in a food processor, mix
together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, the salt, the vanilla, the lemon
zest (if using) and the nutmeg. (If you don't have a mixer or
processor, use a large bowl and a wooden spoon.) Beat or process
in the yeast mixture and eggs until the dough comes together in
a soft mass, about
2 minutes. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl
and doesn’t come together, add a tablespoon more flour at a time
until it does, beating very well in between additions.
o
Note for
Kitchen-Aid, no higher than 2 for speed. I destroyed mine on
the first time I made this. I did not destroy the replacement
the second time I made it.
·
Add half the
butter and beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and elastic,
3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a
spatula as needed. Beat in the rest of the butter and continue
to beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and stretchy, another 5 to 7
minutes. Again, if the dough sticks to the sides of the
bowl, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
·
Butter a clean
bowl, form the dough into a ball and roll it around in the bowl
so all sides are buttered. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and
let it rise in a warm, draft-free place (inside of a turned-off
oven with the oven light on is good) until it puffs and rises, about 1 to 2 hours.
It may not double in bulk but it should rise.
·
Press the dough
down with your hands, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate
overnight (or, in a pinch, for at least 4 hours, but
the flavor won't be as developed).
o
Last time I
did the 4 hours as I was only given 24 hours warning. It was
fine.
Prepare the
filling:
·
In a medium
saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream and salt.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar completely dissolves,
about 5 minutes.
Scrape mixture into a bowl. Stir in chocolate, butter and
vanilla until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. Filling can
be made up to a week ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge.
Let come to room temperature before using (I wonder if cold
will make it thicker for the rolling).
Prepare the
streusel:
·
In a bowl, stir
together flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Stir in melted
butter until it is evenly distributed and forms large, moist
crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. Streusel can be prepared up
to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge.
Prepare the
syrup (done while baking the loafs):
·
In a small
saucepan, combine sugar and 2/3 cup/158 milliliters water. Bring
to a simmer over medium heat, then simmer for 2 minutes,
stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
Rest of Prep
·
Butter two
9-inch loaf pans, then line with parchment paper, leaving 2
inches of paper hanging over on the sides to use as handles
later. (I am not sure why the pans need grease as the paper
lines the whole pan)
·
Remove dough
from refrigerator and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll
one piece into a 9-by-17-inch
rectangle. Spread with half the filling. Because the filling
is very soft, I have found spread to the short edges but on
the long edges, on the edge the roll will start, leave a
quarter inch to the boarder and leave 1 inch on the other long
boarder. The filling will not stay completely in place and
when you finish rolling, it is pushed to or past the outside
edge. I may start to experiment with making the filling more
viscous so that it will not move on the roll. Starting
with a long side, roll into a tight coil. Transfer the coil onto
a dish towel or piece of plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer
(fridge will work if no room in freezer) for 10 minutes.
Repeat with the other piece of dough.
·
Slice one of
the dough coils in half lengthwise to expose the filling. Twist
the halves together as if you were braiding them, then fold the
braid in half so it’s about 9 inches long. Place into a prepared
pan, letting it curl around itself if it’s a little too long for
the pan. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise
in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy (it won’t quite
double). Alternatively, you can cover the pans with plastic wrap
and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight; bring them back
to room temperature for an hour before baking.
·
When you're
ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use your fingers to
clump streusel together and scatter all over the tops of the
cakes. Transfer to oven and bake until a tester goes into the
cakes without any rubbery resistance and comes out clean, 40 to
50 minutes. The cakes will also sound hollow if you unmold them
and tap on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer will read
between 185 and 210 degrees.
·
As soon as the
cakes come out of the oven, use a skewer or paring knife to
pierce them all over going all the way to the bottom of the
cakes, and then pour the syrup on top of the cakes, making sure
to use half the syrup for each cake. An alternative here
is to get the cakes out of the pan after skewering, and onto a
cooling rack where you have made an aluminum foil tray with
edges, and then pour the syrup on and finish the cooling.
· Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
DJ Samuels
Modified
9/14/22