Chocolate Babka Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: In a small saucepan or a bowl in the microwave, warm the milk until it's lukewarm but not hot (about 110 degrees). Add yeast and a pinch of sugar and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until slightly foamy.
• In an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, or in a food processor, mix together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, the salt, the vanilla, the lemon zest (if using) and the nutmeg. (If you don't have a mixer or processor, use a large bowl and a wooden spoon.) Beat or process in the yeast mixture and eggs until the dough comes together in a soft mass, about 2 minutes. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl and doesn't come together, add a tablespoon more flour at a time until it does, beating very well in between additions.
• Add half the butter and beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Beat in the rest of the butter and continue to beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and stretchy, another 5 to 7 minutes. Again, if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Butter a clean bowl, form the dough into a ball and roll it around in the bowl so all sides are buttered. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place (inside of a turned-off oven with the oven light on is good) until it puffs and rises, about 1 to 2 hours. It may not double in bulk but it should rise.
• Press the dough down with your hands, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight (or, in a pinch, for at least 4 hours, but the flavor won't be as developed).
• Prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Scrape mixture into a bowl. Stir in chocolate, butter and vanilla until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. Filling can be made up to a week ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge. Let come to room temperature before using.
• Prepare the streusel: In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Stir in melted butter until it is evenly distributed and forms large, moist crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. Streusel can be prepared up to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge.
• Prepare the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 2/3 cup/158 milliliters water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
• Butter two 9-inch loaf pans, then line with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches of paper hanging over on the sides to use as handles later.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll one piece into a 9-by-17-inch rectangle. Spread with half the filling (there's no need to leave a border). Starting with a long side, roll into a tight coil. Transfer the coil onto a dish towel or piece of plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
• Slice one of the dough coils in half lengthwise to expose the filling. Twist the halves together as if you were braiding them, then fold the braid in half so it's about 9 inches long. Place into a prepared pan, letting it curl around itself if it's a little too long for the pan. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy (it won't quite double). Alternatively, you can cover the pans with plastic wrap and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight; bring them back to room temperature for an hour before baking.
• When you're ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use your fingers to clump streusel together and scatter all over the tops of the cakes. Transfer to oven and bake until a tester goes into the cakes without any rubbery resistance and comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. The cakes will also sound hollow if you unmold them and tap on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer will read between 185 and 210 degrees.
• As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, use a skewer or paring knife to pierce them all over going all the way to the bottom of the cakes, and then pour the syrup on top of the cakes, making sure to use half the syrup for each cake.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. In a small saucepan, heat water to 120°-130°; stir into dry ingredients. Stir in eggs and yolk, orange zest and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky)., Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight., Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each half into a 12x10-in. rectangle. For filling, in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and salt. Spread filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam and ends to seal., Using a sharp knife, cut each roll lengthwise in half; carefully turn each half cut side up. Loosely twist strips around each other, keeping cut surfaces facing up; pinch ends together to seal. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans, cut side up. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°., Bake until golden brown, 35-45 minutes, tenting with foil halfway through baking. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Brush over warm babka. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Combine the yeast and 2 tablespoons warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer; set aside until foamy, 5 minutes. Add the milk, sour cream, egg yolk and 1/2 cup flour; beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed until combined. Gradually beat in the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour, scraping the bowl as needed, to form a wet dough, about4 minutes. Increase the speed to medium high; add the whole egg, sugar, salt and vanilla and beat until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time; beat until incorporated. The dough will be very wet.
• Brush a large bowl with butter; transfer the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour, 30 minutes. Stir the dough to punch it down; cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
• Generously dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour. Pat the dough into a square on the parchment, then roll into an 11-by-15-inch rectangle. Transfer the dough and parchment to a baking sheet and brush off the excess flour. Cover and chill until firm enough to shape, 1 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Pulse the almonds and sugar in a food processor until fine. Add the butter, egg, rum, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest and almond extract; pulse until smooth. Cover and chill 1 hour.
• Make the streusel: Mash the confectioners' sugar, flour and butter in a bowl with a fork to make clumps. Cover and chill until ready to use.
• Butter an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Spread the almond filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border; sprinkle with the chocolate. Starting from a short side, use the parchment to tightly roll up the dough, brushing off the excess flour. Pinch the ends of the roll, then twist several times. Fold the twist in half so the ends meet. Twist the folded dough again and place in the pan. Cover with buttered parchment; let rise in a warm place until puffy, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the loaf with the beaten egg, then sprinkle with the streusel. Bake until the bread is golden and springs back when pressed, 1 hour to 1 hour, 10 minutes. Loosen with a knife, then let cool in the pan, 1 hour. Unmold onto a rack to finish cooling.

Steps:

• Pour warm milk into a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast and pinch of sugar over milk; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• In a bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, and egg yolks. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture, and whisk to combine.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt. Add egg mixture, and beat on low speed until almost all the flour is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Change to the dough hook. Add 2 sticks butter, and beat until flour mixture and butter are completely incorporated, and a smooth, soft dough that's slightly sticky when squeezed is formed, about 10 minutes.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead a few turns until smooth. Butter a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Place chocolate, remaining cup sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in remaining 1 1/2 sticks butter until well combined; set filling aside.
• Generously butter three 9-by-5-by-2 3/4-inch loaf pans; line them with parchment paper. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon cream; set egg wash aside. Punch back the dough, and transfer to a clean surface. Let rest 5 minutes. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Keep 2 pieces covered with plastic wrap while working with the remaining piece. On a generously floured surface, roll dough out into a 16-inch square; it should be 1/8 inch thick.
• Brush edges with reserved egg wash. Crumble 1/3 of the reserved chocolate filling evenly over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Refresh egg wash, if needed. Roll dough up tightly like a jelly roll. Pinch ends together to seal. Twist 5 or 6 turns. Brush top of roll with egg wash. Carefully crumble 2 tablespoons filling over the left half of the roll, being careful not to let mixture slide off. Fold right half of the roll over onto the coated left half. Fold ends under, and pinch to seal. Twist roll 2 turns, and fit into prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of dough and remaining filling.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the top of each loaf with egg wash. Crumble 1/3 of streusel topping over each loaf. Loosely cover each pan with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes.
• Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until babkas are deep golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from oven, and transfer to wire racks until cool. Remove from pans; serve.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Sprinkle the yeast over the milk in a liquid measuring cup; add a pinch of sugar and set aside until bubbly, about 7 minutes. Combine the flour, the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, the eggs, yeast mixture, salt, vanilla, nutmeg and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead until soft and smooth, about 5 minutes. Knead in the butter in three additions, dusting the dough with flour if it's too sticky. Transfer the dough to a large bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down the dough, re-cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the fridge overnight.
• Make the filling: Heat the sugar, heavy cream and salt in a saucepan until scalding. Pour over the bittersweet chocolate chips, butter and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk until smooth and shiny. Let cool to room temperature.
• Make the topping: Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl; work in the butter with your fingers until the mixture is sandy and chunky. Stir in the mini chocolate chips; set the topping aside.
• Form the loaves: Cut the dough in half with a bench scraper or chef's knife. Using a rolling pin, roll each half into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread the filling on both dough rectangles, all the way to the edges. Starting from a long side, tightly roll each rectangle into a log. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes. Unwrap the logs; cut each in half lengthwise with a bench scraper or chef's knife. Twist the halves together a few times, starting from the middle. Coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and line with parchment, then spray the parchment. Place a dough twist snugly in each pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 1/2 hours.
• Finish and bake the babka: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush each loaf with butter and sprinkle with the topping. Bake until browned, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, make some simple syrup: Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan; simmer, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let cool. Pull the loaves out of the oven and immediately poke a bunch of holes in each with a wooden skewer. Pour 1 1/4 cups simple syrup evenly over the loaves.
• Let sit 10 minutes, then remove the babka from the pans, remove the parchment and let cool completely on a rack.

Steps:

• Warm the milk and melt 1/4 cup butter in a glass or ceramic bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, or on the stovetop in a saucepan. Combine the bread flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour, yeast, and 1/4 cup sugar. Add the water, the milk-butter mixture, the egg, and the salt to the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Use the dough hook in a stand mixer on low speed or knead the dough by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes. If the dough is too wet, add more bread flour, about 2 tablespoonfuls at a time (up to 8 tablespoons) to make a workable dough; too much flour can make the dough dry. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Make the chocolate filling and the streusel while the dough is rising. For the filling, stir together the finely chopped chocolate, the cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar. Cut in 1/4 cup chilled butter with a fork. To make the streusel, combine the confectioners' sugar and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; cut in 1/4 cup chilled butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• When the dough has doubled, punch the dough down and cut it into two equal pieces. Loosely shape each piece into a ball. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface to form a 15x4-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with half the chocolate filling, roll up to form a long log, and seal the seam. Attach the ends to form a circle and place the ring, seam-side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Use a serrated knife or kitchen shears to cut slits at 1-inch intervals around the rings. Cover the rings with damp kitchen towels and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Brush the loaves with the egg wash, if desired. Sprinkle streusel on top. Bake the loaves for about 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets to promote even browning, until the bread is a deep golden brown.

Steps:

• For the Mexican chocolate babka dough: In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and cinnamon. Add the milk and eggs and mix with the dough hook to combine. With the mixer running, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until it is incorporated into the dough. The butter should be soft and pliable but not melty. When all the butter is incorporated, knead/mix, stopping to scrape the hook, sides and bottom of the bowl every few minutes, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky, another 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, flip over to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest and rise until it's doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• For the Mexican chocolate babka filling: In a medium bowl with a stiff rubber spatula, mix together the sugar, butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili powder and salt until combined. Add the oil to smooth it out to a spreadable consistency. Taste and add more chili powder if you like more heat. Reserve at room temperature.
• Grease a pullman loaf pan or standard loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment so that it comes up 2 of the sides and overhangs by an inch. On a clean countertop, roll the dough out into a 10-by-22-inch rectangle. The dough should be slightly sticky, but if it's too sticky to work with, you can dust with a little flour. Spread a thin even layer of filling all over the dough, reserving about 2 tablespoons of it. Roll the dough the long way into a tight log and cut it in half so you have 2 shorter logs. Spread the top of one of the logs with the reserved filling and then twist the logs together. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan, cover with plastic, and let rise until puffy and risen by about half, another 30 to 40 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Gently brush the top of the babka with heavy cream. Bake until the top is deep golden brown, about 50 minutes.
• For the simple syrup: Meanwhile, combine the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan and warm until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• When the babka comes out of the oven, brush the simple syrup over the top. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack to continue cooling. Of course, you should try it while it's still warm!! To store, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature. This is best within a day or two--after that, use it for French toast!

Steps:

• Make streusel: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. Drizzle in the melted butter and mix with your fingertips until the mixture lumps into unevenly sized crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Combine the chocolate, sugar and cinnamon. Brush a 8 x 4 x 2 1/2 inch pan, or 5 cup loaf pan with melted butter. Roll the dough into a rectangle measuring 9 x 22 inches and brush off any excess flour. Brush the dough generously with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2 inch along the top edge of the dough. Sprinkle the chocolate mixture evenly over the dough, leaving the top 1/2 inch border free. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Sprinkle the streusel over the chocolate, reserving about 3 tablespoons.
• Brush the 1/2 inch border along the top lightly with water. Beginning at the bottom edge, roll the dough into a log and pinch along the seam to seal it well. Moisten the ends of the log with water and bring them together to form a ring. Pinch the ends to seal. Gently twist the circle of dough twice into a double figure 8 and place in the prepared loaf pan, keeping the joint and seam down. Brush the top with melted butter.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover the pan with a towel and set in a warm draft free place to proof for about 1 1/4 hours, or until a finger gently pressed into the dough leaves an indentation. It will not quite double, but will increase more than half again in size when fully proofed. Brush the top with more melted butter and sprinkle with the reserved chocolate/sugar and streusel. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until the dough in the crevices appears baked. If the top browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil. Cool on a rack, in the pan, for 15 minutes. Slip a knife around the edge to loosen it and turn out onto the rack. Cool before slicing.

Steps:

• Place biga ingredients in bread machine according to your manufacturers directions. Start on dough cycle. Let mix for 2 minutes (It doesn`t need to go for the full time of the dough cycle) then unplug and leave closed till the next morning.
• Dough:.
• The next morning add butter to biga which at this point should have collapsed. Whisk well eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt then add to bread machine. Top with flour.
• Set machine for dough cycle. At beep add raisins and zest.
• Meanwhile mix filling ingredients together in a food processor and chill till ready.
• Grease tube pan well and coat with cookie crumbs.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• When dough is done turn out on to a lightly floured work surface, and punch it down to release the built up gases.
• Roll out into a rectangle 8 by 14 inches.
• Spread the filling then roll them up jellyroll style and pinch the seams to seal them. Flatten the dough slightly with a rolling pin, then twist the dough 6 to 8 times. Allow the dough to rest a few minutes. Make spirals with the dough and place them in a greased tube pans. Cover pan with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in volume, about 30 to 60 minutes.
• Bake the cakes for 45 minutes; then let cool in the pan.