Chocolate Babka
A Jewish/Eastern European dessert that tastes like a chocolate cake and Brioche fusion.
Equipment
- Electric mixer with dough hook attachment
- Spatula
- Large bowl
- Cling film
- Small bowl
- Spoon or small whisk
- 2 Loaf pans
- Rolling Pin
- Palete knife/offset spatula
- Serrated knife
- Tin foil
- Small pot
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
For the dough
- 530 gr. Flour plus more for dusting
- 100 gr. Sugar
- 2 tsp Dry yeast
- 1 small lemon peel grated
- 3 large Eggs
- 120 ml Water
- ⅓ tsp Salt
- 150 gr. Butter room temp., cut into 2cm cubes
- Sunflower oil for the pans
For the filling
- 50 gr. Powdered sugar
- 30 gr. Cocoa powder unsweetened
- 130 gr. Dark chocolate melted
- 120 gr. Butter melted
- 100 gr. Pecans roughly chopped
For the syrup
- 260 gr. Sugar
- 160 ml Water
Instructions
For the dough
- With the dough hook of an electric mixer, knead the flour, sugar, yeast and lemon peel on low speed for 1 minute.
- Add the eggs and water and knead for a few seconds on low speed, then for 3 minutes on medium speed.
- Add the salt and bit by bit the butter. Continue kneading the dough on medium speed for about 10 more minutes, until the dough has become smooth and elastic. From time to time scrape the sides of the bowl and dust with flour to loosen the dough from the sides.
- Grease a large bowl with oil and put the dough in it. Cover with cling film and let it rest for at least half a day or even better overnight in the fridge.
For the filling
- In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate and butter to a smooth paste.
Assembly
- Grease two loaf pans with 1kg kapacity (23 x 10cm) with oil.
- Divide the dough into two pieces; leave one piece covered in the fridge.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a (38 x 28cm) rectangle and straighten the edges.
- Smear half of the chocolate filling on the dough with a palette knife/offset spatula, leaving a 2cm border. Scatter half of the pecans on top.
- Lay the dough with the long side facing you. Brush some water on the left edge. Roll the dough tightly from right to left. Press the wet edge well on the roll, then place the roll with the seam facing down.
- Cut about 2cm off from both sides with a serrated knife. Carefully cut the roll lengthwise (!) in half.
- Press together the upper ends of the pieces and twist the pieces together, creating a type of braid. Press the bottom edges together.
- Carefully place the braid in the pan. Cover with a towel and let it rest for 1-1½ hours at a warm spot. Repeat this process with the second half of the dough.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Cover the pans with tin foil and bake for about 30 minutes on the middle rack. Do the toothpick test to see if the cake is done.
For the syrup
- Boil the sugar and water in a small pot at medium heat. Once the sugar has desolved, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool.
- Brush the syrup on the babkas immediately once out of the oven.
- Let the babkas cool in the moulds until lukewarm. Take out of the moulds and let cool completly. Enjoy!
Notes
You can store this cake wrapped in tin foil for two days, or freeze it for a few weeks, although it probably won't last that long because it will be eaten right up when it's out of the oven.
Instruction pictures from the Chocolate Babka recipe from Ottolenghi's cookbook Jerusalem.