My first attempt at a chocolate babka
- Louise Thannhauser
- Jul 26, 2016
- 3 min read
For a long time now baking a babka has been on my to do list and only yesterday did I get round to trying it out. There's something about it's appearance that looks so tempting and delicious, I think it's the swirls of chocolate that lures me in. Anything involving chocolate has the go ahead from me.
The recipe I followed was surprisingly straight forward and the dough was nice to work with. However, if I were to make it again (which i'm definitely up for) I would keep it in the oven for longer than you would think. I baked it for about 20 minutes when the suggested time was 30 minutes. The outside was golden brown and when a skewer inserted it went in with little resistance and came out clean so I assumed it was thoroughly cooked. Unfortunately after cooling, the inside was a little on the raw side so next time I would cover with foil to stop it burning and continue baking for at least the last 10 minutes. I hope I can inspire you to give the recipe a go!
For one 9-by-4-inch loaf:
Ingredients
For the dough
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp warm water
265g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50g sugar
Grated zest of half an orange
2 medium eggs
60ml water
1/2 tsp salt
75g butter at room temperature
Sunflower or other neutral oil, for greasing
For the Filling 65g dark chocolate 60g butter 50g icing sugar 15g cocoa powder 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Syrup 40ml water
3 tbsp sugar
Method
Coat a 9-by-4-inch or 1kg loaf pan with oil or butter, and line the bottom of each with grease-proof paper.
Mix the 2 tbsp warm water with the yeast in a small bowl and let sit while weighing out the other ingredients.
Combine the flour, sugar, yeast mixture and orange zest in the bottom of the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add eggs and 60ml water, mixing with the dough hook until it comes together; this may take a couple minutes.
With the mixer on low, add the salt, then the butter, mixing until it’s incorporated into the dough. Then, mix on medium speed for 10 minutes until dough is completely smooth; scraping the bowl down a few times.
Coat a bowl with oil and place the dough inside, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight or for at least half a day. The dough should have risen but |I found it didn't quite double in size.
For the filling, melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Stir in icing sugar, cocoa and cinnamon. The mixture should form a spreadable paste - if a paste is not formed either cool for a few minutes in the fridge or add more icing sugar, a tablespoon at a time.
Take the dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface to about 10-inch width (the side closest to you) and as long in length (away from you) as you can when rolling it thin, likely 10 to 12 inches.
Spread the chocolate mixture as evenly as possible over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Brush the end farthest away from you with water. Roll the dough up with the filling into a long, tight cigar. Seal the dampened end onto the log.
Transferring the log to the freezer for 10 minutes may help with this step. Cut the log in half lenghtwise and lay the lengths next to each other on the counter, cut sides up. Pinch the top ends gently together. Lift one side over the next, forming a twist and trying to keep the cut sides facing out. Transfer to the tin.
Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise another 1 to 1 1/2 hours at room temperature. Again the loaf may not double in size but should hopefully increase a substantial amount.
Heat oven to 190°C. Removes towel and place the loaf in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
To make the syrup bring sugar and water to a simmer until sugar dissolves.
As soon as the babka leaves the oven, brush the syrup all over.
Leave the syrup to soak in, and the loaf to cool halfway in the tin, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely, or if you don't have enough patience (like myself) eat it warm then and there.
Comentarios