Babka Recipe
Babka is a sweet bread that originated from Polish and Ukrainian Jews and became very popular in Israel thanks to the diaspora. Although the original was made with jam or a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, after gaining popularity in US, the chocolate version was also started to be made thanks to Americans who saw it as a duty to add chocolate into everything, and in a way, it gained worldwide fame.
A yeast dough similar to Turkish pogaca dough is used for babka. The difference from pogaca is that it has sugar. A special chocolate mixture is used as a chocolate paste. I know there are millions of hearts, only one question in mind. Can I do it with Nutella? I'm sure you are asking now. Because I knew you were going to ask, and a little out of curiosity, I tried it. It doesn't turn out good. The consistency of nutella is not suitable for this recipe. It makes it difficult to shape in the first place. Since it is very fatty, it absorbs the fat a lot while the dough is cooking and therefore it becomes hard.
Babka is not a fluffy bun anyway. It compromises its fluffiness as it is a thick dough and is pressed by the chocolate paste while baking. It does not have a great hardness, but it doesn't have a puffy consistency. If you set your expectations in this direction before trying it, you will not be disappointed. If you want it to puffy, you can try my chocolate pull apart bread recipe.
If you want to try it with cinnamon, you have two options. You can try cinnamon rolls or raisin cinnamon swirl bread recipes, or you can use the cinnamon filling that you prepare using the cinnamon filling method in those recipes instead of chocolate filling in this recipe.
Enjoy ...
Ingredients
For the dough;
- 1/2 cup of warm milk,
- 100 g of butter, at room temperature,
- 1 egg,
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar,
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast,
- 2.5-3 cups (preferably high protein) flour.
For the filling;
- 100 g of chocolate,
- 75 g butter,
- 1 cup of powdered sugar,
- 2 tsps of cocoa powder,
- 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional).
For topping;
- 1 egg yolk,
- 1 tablespoon of milk.
For its syrup;
- 2 tablespoons of sugar,
- 3 tablespoons of water.
Preparation
- Mix milk and yeast in a deep bowl,
- Add butter, powdered sugar and egg and mix,
- Add the flour little by little and knead until you have a dough that does not stick to your hands,
- Take the dough on the counter and knead it for 10-15 minutes,
- Cover it and let it rest for 45 minutes-1 hour,
- For the filling, melt the butter and remove from the heat,
- Add the chocolate and mix until it melts,
- Add powdered sugar, cocoa and cinnamon and mix,
- Knead the dough again and roll out a large rectangle,
- Apply the filling on it and wrap it in a roll from the short edge,
- Cut the roll in half lengthwise,
- Twine and place the two pieces in a 24 cm greased mold,
- Cover and rest for 1 more hour,
- Whisk the egg yolk and milk and brush the top of the babka,
- Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees until the top is browned,
- Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan for syrup and remove from heat,
- Take the babka out of the oven and rest for10 minutes, then apply the the syrup with a brush on top.
Bon Appetit...