Chocolate Babka

My mother has made me obsessed with Babka!

I have been pinning babka recipes for several years with the intention of making it, but she beat me to it and now I am addicted....So addicted that I ate a whole loaf by myself in two days...Nope, I'm not embarassed.:-) So far, this is my favorite recipe. I have dreams of making all kinds, like coconut custard babka, blueberry lemon babka and the list goes on, but that will have to wait for now.

This recipe is perfection!

P.S. It's a little labor intensive. Not the most, but it will take several hours of your time, so plan ahead. I have only made the one day version of this and it's amazing.

P.P.S. Adapted from SmittenKitchen blog, who adapted it from Yotam Ottolenghi

Yield: 2 loaf-sized chocolate babkas

Dough 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 pkg)

1 tsp of diastatic malt powder (only if you have it around! Adds flavor to the dough if you're doing a one day process) Grated zest of 1 small lemon or half an orange 3 large eggs, at room temperature 1/2 cup water (room temperature or luke warm) and up to 1 to 2 tablespoons extra, if needed 3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt 2/3 cup unsalted butter (5.3 ounces) at room temperature, (a spring room, not a summer room) neutral oil, for greasing

Filling 4 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (or approximately 3/4 cup chocolate chips) 1/2 cup unsalted butter 2/3 cup powdered sugar 1/3 cup cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, but preferable)

Syrup 1/2 cup water 10 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar

Make the dough:

Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and zest in the bottom of the bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs and 1/2 cup water, mixing with the dough hook until it comes together; this may take a couple minutes. It’s okay if it’s on the dry side, but if it doesn’t come together, add extra water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms a mass.

With the mixer on low, add the salt, then the butter, a spoonful at a time, mixing until it’s incorporated into the dough. Then, mix on medium speed for 10 minutes until dough is completely smooth. I found that after 10 minutes, the dough began to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, you can add 1 tablespoon extra flour to help this along.

Coat a large bowl with oil and place dough inside, cover with plastic and let rise for at least 3 hours (or overnight. doing an overnight proof will make your dough have a little more flavor). Dough will not fully double, so don’t worry if it doesn’t grow by more than half. I let mine rise for 4 hours on a winter day and it was perfect. The buttery dough is much easier to roll out and form into a log when it’s cold. Once your dough is done rising, put it in the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling it out. Letting the fridge firm up the dough helps tremendously.

Meanwhile, make filling: Melt butter and chocolate together until smooth (I do this in the microwave). Stir in powdered sugar and cocoa; mixture should form a spreadable paste. Add cinnamon, if desired.

Assemble loaves: Coat two 9-by-4-inch loaf pans with oil or butter, and line the bottom of each with a rectangle of parchment paper. Take half of dough from fridge. Roll out on a well-floured counter to about a 10-inch width (the side closest to you) and as long in length as you can, rolling it thin, likely 10 to 12 inches.

Spread half of chocolate mixture evenly 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. Putting the log on a tray in the freezer for 10 minutes made it much, much easier to cut cleanly in half. Repeat with second dough.

Trim last 1/2-inch off each end of log. Gently cut the log in half (the long way) and lay them 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 (because they’re pretty). Don’t worry if this step makes a mess, just transfer the twist as best as you can into the prepared loaf pan. You may need to squish it or make an S with it to get it to fit, but don't worry if it's not perfectly tight in the pan. The dough will fill in any gaps by the time it’s done rising and baking.

Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise another 1 to 1 1/2 hours at room temperature. Repeat process with second loaf.

Bake and finish: Heat oven to 375°F. Remove towels, place each loaf on the middle rack of your oven. Begin checking for doneness at 25 minutes.When fully baked, you’ll feel almost no resistance when you insert a sharp knife or toothpick. If it needs more time, check it every 5 minutes until done. If it browns too quickly, cover it with foil.

While babkas are baking, make syrup: Bring sugar and water to a simmer until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. As soon as the babkas leave the oven, brush the syrup all over each loaf. It will seem like too much, but will taste just right — glossy and moist. Let cool about halfway in pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way before eating.

Keep for a few days at room temperature. Any longer than that, I recommend freezing them. They freeze and defrost really well.