Chocolate Babka. I have many recipes that may cause someone to fall in love with you, and this is one of them. It's absolutely fantastic and you may find yourself cutting slice after slice and savoring it without any other toppings.
The original recipe is from New York Times website, but I changed it up by making it with my own brioche dough recipe. Warning: the streusel has a tendency to fall off when baking and burn onto the bottom of your oven, so putting tin foil, or something below the loaves may help with this issue.
The recipe is here, and pictures of the process are below it.
Ingredients:
Dough:
3 and 1/2 cups of AP flour (420 g)
3/4 cup of warm milk (180 g)
1 tsp. sugar
2 and 1/4 tsp. yeast (9 g)
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 large egg yolks at room temperature
1/4 cup of sugar (50 g)
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup of soft butter (A stick and a half) (170 g)
Fudge Filling:
½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
¾ cup heavy cream or half-and-half (177 ml)
A pinch of salt
6 ounces 66% chocolate coarsely chopped (170 g)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) soft butter, diced (112 g)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (30 g)
1 1/2 Tbsp. granulated sugar (23 g)
2 tsp. cocoa powder (5 g)
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter (30 g)
3 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips (30 g)
Egg wash:
1 tsp vanilla extract
Egg yolk
1-2 tbsp. milk
Directions:
The first day:
Mix warm milk with yeast and 1 tsp. sugar. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl add flour, ¼ cup sugar, salt, and the eggs. When the yeast mixture is bubbly and active, add it to the mixture as well. Use a dough hook to mix the dough on low speed until it becomes somewhat soft and sticky and doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl (looks like dough, doesn’t have to have perfectly smooth texture).
With the mixer on low speed (2), slowly add the butter (about 2 tablespoons every 30 seconds or so. Keep mixing until butter is incorporated and dough doesn’t stick to sides of bowl (use your hands to knead if necessary). This can take 8-10 minutes total. The dough should be sticky soft and fall of the dough hook. It will be greasy due to all the butter. Make sure it passes the windowpane test.
Take the dough out and shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl. Place plastic wrap over the top, cover with kitchen towel, and place in warm place (microwave works) for 2 hours.
Press the dough down with your hands, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight (makes it easier to roll).
The second day:
Filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate, butter and vanilla and mix until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
Butter two 9-inch loaf pans (works with 8-inch pans too).
Remove dough from refrigerator. On a floured surface, roll into a 1/4 inch wide rectangle. Cut in half into two rectangles. Spread the filling over both rectangles, leaving 1 cm space on one long edge. Roll each into a tight coil. Transfer the two rolls onto a pan with parchment paper and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes (makes it easier to cut).
Slice one of the dough coils in half lengthwise to expose the filling. Twist the halves together into a tight spiral with the open faces up (exposed filling). Fold the spiral in half so the exposed filling faces up on each side. Tuck the ends under and place it into the buttered pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hours, until puffy. Preheat the oven to 350°F while rising.
Meanwhile, mix the streusel ingredients together until crumbly.
Before baking, mix the egg wash together and brush on the tops of the loaves. Sprinkle the streusel on top of each loaf. Bake 45 to 50 minutes (check temperature at 40 minutes). An instant-read thermometer will read between 190 and 210°F. The breads will also sound hollow if you tap on the bottom.
Let cool in pans for 1 hour before serving.
Best served fresh but can be reheated in microwave.
Makes 2 loaves. Store for up to three days at room temperature.
Warm milk, sugar and yeast before activation.
Warm milk, sugar and yeast after activation.
After adding the flour, eggs, salt, and sugar to the yeast mixture.
After mixing everything together. It forms a soft sticky dough, so now we can start adding the butter.
1/3 of the way through mixing the soft butter into the dough. I had to take the dough off the hook a couple times because the butter wasn't distributing at first.
1/2 way through adding the butter and letting it incorporate into the dough.
After mixing all the butter into the dough. I know it's a soft sticky mess but it's supposed to be that way!
After shaping the dough into a ball and placing in a greased bowl.
The bowl is then topped with saran wrap and a kitchen towel and allowed to rise in a warm place for 2 hours.
The dough after it's risen. Before punching down and putting in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
Dough after rising, pressing down, and chilling overnight (looks a bit weird, I know).
Dough after rolling out, cutting in half, and adding chocolate spread.
Dough after rolling up (there's swirls of chocolate within). Each roll will make one loaf.
One of the rolls from previous picture being cut in half.
Twisting it together.
Adding the twist for one of the loaves into a pan. This is before the second rise.
The two loaves after the second rise and before the egg wash and streusel topping.
Loaves have been topped and are ready to bake!
Loaves after baking (side view)
A loaf after baking (bottom view)
So beautiful.
And a closer look.
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