Babka is a sweet braided bread/cake. It is prepared with a yeast-leavened dough that is rolled out and spread with a filling such as chocolate, cinnamon, fruit, or cheese, then rolled up and braided before baking.
Makes about 2-3 Babkas (according to size) [click here to watch video tutorial on instagram]
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 tbsp yeast
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg and 2 yolks
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
Chocolate mix:
200g roughly chopped chocolate
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
Cinnamon mix:
1/3 cup butter
2 tbsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
Simple syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
Directions:
Making the dough:
Placethe yeast into the milk and leave aside for 10 minutes until it gets foamy.
In a bowl or stand mixer add in the eggs, honey, vanilla, salt, and sugar and mix until incorporated.
Add in the milk and yeast mix.
Gradually add in the flour and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes as you do the dough will start forming.
Whilst mixing add the butter a few teaspoons at at time.
Continue mixing for about 7 minutes on medium speed until the dough is completely shiny, elastic , and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.(or knead for 10 minutes by hand)
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 2 hours.
Grease two loaf pans with oil and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper.
Once the dough has doubled in size, divide the dough in half and keep one half covered .
Making the chocolate filling:
In a microwave safe bowl, mix the chocolate, butter, cinnamon, vanilla, white sugar, brown sugar ,and unsweetened cocoa powder until combined.
Microwave the chocolate mix for 1 minute(mixing every 20 seconds) or until fully melted.
Making the Cinnamon filling:
Mix the butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and the white sugar until it becomes like a paste.
Making the Simple syrup:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring water and sugar to a boil. As soon as the sugar dissolves, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Shaping the Dough:
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle .
Spread the half of the mixture(cinnamon or chocolate)over the rectangle, leaving a 2 cm border all around.
Roll up the rectangle like a log and freeze it for 15 minutes(this will help us get a neater cut on the babka)
Using a serrated knife, cut the log into two long even halves.
Once you have two even halves , start braiding the dough by lifting the right half over the left half. Repeat this process, but this time lifting the left half over the right, to create a simple twist braid.
Carefully lift the braided dough into the lined loaf pan.( Don’t worry if there are gaps in the pan since the dough will fill up the pan)
Cover the pan with a damp towel and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes before baking for 30 minutes at 180 degrees celsius until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean with no dough attached.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
While the cakes are in the oven, make the syrup.
As soon as the babkas come out of the oven, brush the syrup over them.
Let them cool until they are warm, then remove them from their pans.
Bon Appétit!
Comments