In the "Dinner Party" episode of Seinfeld, Jerry and Elaine missed out on the last chocolate babka, and were forced to purchase one that had cinnamon- a "lesser babka," if you will. Well, what if we combined the two? This chocolate AND cinnamon babka was a bit time consuming to make, but it was well worth the effort! Dave and I can't stop eating it....
Ingredients:
for the dough
9.5 ounces bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (I used just over this amount of active dry yeast- more on that later)
1.5 ounces granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces unsalted butter, softened
for the filling
1 egg, beaten
about 1 ounce cocoa powder (I used less)
about 2.5 ounces sugar
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips)
cinnamon
for the topping
3 ounces all-purpose flour
3 ounces powdered sugar (I didn't have any, so I used light brown sugar)
2 ounces softened butter
Directions:
for the dough
- Combine all of the dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer and mix on low speed to combine.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk them together. NOTE: I used active dry yeast, so I first microwaved half of the milk to about 110 degrees, and proofed the yeast before adding it to the other wet ingredients
- With the machine running on low, pour the wet ingredients into the dry. When everything is moistened switch to the dough hook and turn the machine up to medium.
- Knead until a dough comes together, then add the butter and continue kneading until it’s incorporated and the dough is smooth and sticky, about 5 minutes. (it was VERY sticky)
- Remove the dough to a lightly greased bowl and allow it to rise for 1-2 hours until it has about doubled in size.
I know - I didn't whisk the wet ingredients together first. It was okay anyway...promise!!
the tiny, sticky dough ball
Oooh...nice and fluffy! A note on why it's in the oven- as I assemble/mix the dough, I turn the oven to its lowest setting. 200F I believe. Then when it is time to rise, I turn the oven off, throw it in, and shut the door. It works perfectly every time!!
Shaping
- When the dough has doubled in size, roll it out into a square, about 1/8 inch thick.
- Brush with egg wash on three of the edges.
- Sift on the cocoa powder and sprinkle sugar everywhere, except for the egg-painted sides.
- Distribute the chocolate evenly, then dust the whole thing lightly with cinnamon. (I may have done a bit more than "lightly"...ha!)
- Roll the dough sheet up starting from the edge that has no egg wash. Twist, then fold the roll in half
- Give it two or three twists and lay it gently into a well-greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan
- Brush with egg wash and let it rise in a warm place (I did the same as I described above) until the dough comes up to the lip of the loaf pan, about another hour.
I went ahead and lined my pan with some parchment paper
Do you know how hard it was to manipulate this dough AND take the pics at the same time?! Tough, I tell ya.
Don't make the same mistake I did. I ended up with a bulbous side (see above). Fold the two ends towards the center, THEN twist. The filling will be more evenly distributed, and you won't end up with a bursting tumor on one end.
Topping and Baking
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, then prepare the topping: mix the ingredients and work together by hand until crumbly.
- Brush the dough once again with egg wash and sprinkle it all over with streusel. (I had leftover topping. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't eat it straight from the bowl...)
- Bake about an hour until it’s brown and springs back when tapped.
- Remove the pan from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.
- Lift parchment to remove babka and allow to cool completely (at least an hour)
DO NOT cut into it early. Well, you can (I did), but it's going to be super melty and make your bread collapse a bit. It will have more structural integrity once it has fully cooled! Enjoy!
