Chocolate Babka
Chocolate babka is the queen bee, the ruler of the yeasted cake world. Elegant chocolate swirls envelope a bright and zesty enriched dough that is crowned with syrup glazed pecans. Even with all the richness of the butter and chocolate, babka is surprisingly light and avoids the cloying sweetness of some cakes, making it the perfect treat for a holiday breakfast or celebratory dessert.
While it has a reputation for being laborious to make, babka is not overly difficult. However, there are a lot of steps in the recipe, and following those steps carefully is critical to success. You will also want to make sure you have all the proper equipment and enough time. You should plan on making the dough the night before you want to bake the cakes. Then in the morning you will need time to prepare the filling, roll the cakes, and proof them for about an hour, so don’t plan on eating the cakes for an early morning breakfast. At my house, we eat babka on Christmas morning, but I bake the cakes in advance, store them in the freezer, and then thaw them on Christmas Eve, so they are ready when the hungry present seekers awake.
A few notes on this recipe. I really recommend that you use a stand mixer as the buttery dough is very sticky and needs a lot of kneading. I also believe the overnight proof in the fridge is critical to developing lovely flavor and making the dough more pliable for rolling. Finally, it’s best to spread the filling while it is still slightly warm, so you’ll want to work quickly to roll and braid both cakes. You certainly can use the filling when it’s room temperature, but I have found that the warm filling helps the layers of dough adhere together slightly better, making your plait a little tighter and easier to transfer to the pan.
Equipment:
Stand mixer
Food scale
2 9 in loaf pans
Ingredients:
530g all-purpose flour
100g sugar + 2TBS sugar for filling + 260g sugar for syrup
2 tsp. SAF gold brand yeast
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
120ml water at 80º F+ 160ml water for syrup
150g unsalted utter at room temperature, cubed + 150g unsalted butter for the filling
Rounded 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
Canola oil for greasing
62g powdered sugar
37g cocoa powder
162g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
100g raw pecans, roughly chopped
2 TBS. sugar
Method:
Make the dough. Measure out the flour, zest, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a fork to thoroughly mix these together, and then load the bowl into the mixer. Add the eggs and 120ml of warm water, and use the dough hook to mix the dough on medium for about 4 minutes for the dough to come together. Continue to mix as you add the salt and then, one cube at a time, the 150g of room temperature butter. Wait to add additional cubes of butter until the previous one is mixed into the dough. You will need to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and sprinkle flour around the edges several times to help the kneading process. Once all the butter is incorporated, continue to knead the dough on medium for 10-13 minutes until the dough forms into a smooth ball.
Place all of the dough into a large oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Leave it in the fridge overnight (8-16 hours) to proof.
The next morning prepare the loaf pans by greasing them with oil and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
Make the filling. Use a sifter or sieve to sift the cocoa powder and powdered sugar into a medium bowl, and then stir them together with a fork. In a double boiler heated over gently simmering water, melt 150g of unsalted butter with the dark chocolate. Stir frequently and remove from the heat as soon as the chocolate and butter are fully melted. Pour this into the cocoa powder mixture, and stir to combine.
Divide the dough into two equal parts. Store one in the refrigerator while you work with the other. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Your dough should be a rectangle about 11 inches long by 15 inches wide. Try to make the dough an even thickness and the edges as straight as possible. With the long side closest to you, spread half of the filling on the dough. Leave a border of about 1 inch around all sides, except the side closest to you. Spread the filling for that side right up to the edge to achieve a nice chocolate spiral in the center of your cake. Sprinkle 50g of the chopped pecans and 1 TBSP of sugar evenly over the filling. Then gently roll the dough up into a log starting from the side closest to you and moving up. Try to roll all along the log as evenly as possible. Once you get to the top, brush a bit of water along the top edge (where you left a border in the filling), and then continue to roll. The water helps to seal the seam. Gently push the two ends of your log in towards the center of the loaf to seal and massage the roll to make it a bit more even. Repeat for the second part of dough.
Cut and plait the cakes. Use a serrated knife to slice the roll in two. Position the halves so the filled layers are exposed, then pinch the two halves together at one end. From that end, lift the right half over the left, and then lift the new right half over the new left. You’re just gently plaiting the two dough halves all the way until you reach the next end. Once you get there, pinch the end again and lift the twisted cake into the prepared loaf pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Repeat for the second cake.
Allow the cakes to proof for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until they have puffed and increased in size by about 20%.
Bake the cakes at 375ºF for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (test the crumb, not the chocolate filling).
While the cakes bake, make the syrup. Boil 160ml of water with 260g sugar. Once the sugar dissolves, remove the syrup and cool. Once you remove the cakes from the oven, immediately brush the syrup over the hot babka. Work incrementally, but be sure to use all of the syrup. Then leave the cakes to cool until just warm before removing from the pan.
Note: Babka can be wrapped and stored in the refrigerated for a week or frozen for several weeks.
Recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s “Chocolate Krantz Cakes” in Jerusalem: A Cookbook
