Chocolate Babka
I wouldn’t know what Chocolate Babka was if i didn’t watch Seinfeld , there was one episode where Elaine and Jerry wanted to get chocolate babka , but it was too late , someone else already got it . Since then i always wondered how chocolate babka tastes like . Then i bought Martha Stewart’s baking handbook which has recipe for chocolate babka , except it was intended for 3 loaves of babkas , heck what am i going to do with 3 loaves of chocolate babkas ?? LOL ..
I had another bread book , artisan bread , and it has the recipe for chocolate babka also . I got this book few months ago , never tried a single recipe from there yet , except last night i read through it , and this morning too , after reading some of them , i was tempted to make chocolate babka . And the recipe was only making 1 loaf , just what i needed !! Anyway it wasn’t hard to make at all , especially with the kitchen aid dough hook , it helps , and the dough was ready within minutes . The only thing with this was .. the waiting period of letting the dough to rise . It took 2 hours to let the dough rise for the first time , and then rolling it out , put the filling in and shaping it , and letting it rise for the 2nd time , another 2.5-3 hours . So it was total of 5.5 hours of waiting !!! And almost an hour to bake the bread . The result was a very rich delicious bread !! If you’re a chocolate lover , i think you would love this !!
Here is what you need for the DOUGH :
2 tbsp. active dry yeast
3/4 cup of warm milk ( about 95 F )
* Mix this together , dissolve the yeast in the warm milk , let it sit for 5 minutes , while you prepare the other step .
1/4 cup of unsalted butter , room temperature
6 Tbsp. of sugar
*Cream this together in a mixer with paddle attachment with medium speed for 2 minutes .
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp. of vegetable oil
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
*Beat this together , and then add the mixture into the butter mixture in 4 different portions . Beat well after each additions . Scrape down each time too .
1 tsp. salt
3 1/3 cup of flour
* Add the flour into the butter – egg mixture all at once , and add the milk – yeast mixture into egg=butter mixture . Beat with low speed using paddle attachment , if it’s getting too hard for the paddle , switch to the dough hook . keep beating about 2-3 minutes . Remove from the bowl , knead by hand for 2 more minutes on the lightly floured surface
.Grease a bowl , shape the dough into ball , put the dough in the bowl , cover with plastic , let it sit in room temperature for 2 hours . It should double in size like this
Take the dough out from the bowl , roll the dough into 15×15 square , about 1/4-1/8 inch thickness .
Add the fillings :
9 oz of semi sweet chocolate chip
1/4 cup of cold unsalted butter , cut into chunks
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
In a food processor , chop the chocolate chip really good until it’s almost turn to powder , add cinnamon , then add the cut up cold butter , and pulse few times until it’s mixes well . Sprinkle this filling on the roll out dough . Like this :
Roll the dough into jelly roll style , seam side down , and then roll back and forth until it lengthen to 18-24 inches .
After that , on both ends , twist the dough carefully not to tear it , keep twisting gently , like this
Once you’re done twisting it , coil the dough like a snail
Then turn it up right with seam side down
Press down gently
Grease a loaf pan 5×9 line with parchment paper , put the dough in there , cover with plastic , let it rise 2 more hours .
After 2 hours , your dough should be rising like this :
Take the plastic out , preheat your oven to 350 F , bake babka for 25 minutes , and then rotate , bake for another 25 minutes , or until the side is golden brown . The top should be rich brown color too , if gets too burn looking, tent with foil . Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing them .
