Chocolate Babka
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“You can’t beat a babka.”
I don’t think I had ever heard of a babka before this Seinfeld episode.
I had never eaten one either.
But after all the fuss, how could you NOT want a babka, without a hair of course.
They don’t seem to be popular in California bakeries,so I went ahead and made my own, and it only took 10 years to get around to it.
Babka is basically a twisted yeast dough with a streusel – similar to a coffee cake.
Most babka are either cinnamon or chocolate. Not wanting to make the “lesser babka” , I went chocolate.
Ingredients
- For the bread:
- 1/2 cup of milk warmed to about 120 degrees
- 1 envelope of active dry yeast {I always use Red Star}
- 3/4 cup sugar {divided}
- 1 egg
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 stick of butter {divided}
- 10 ounces of bittersweet chocolate {finely chopped}
Instructions
- warm the milk
- combine the yeast, flour, and salt
- whisk together half of the sugar and the egg
- add the egg mixture to the milk, and stir this into the flour
- knead in the half of the butter
- continue to knead until you have a soft, smooth dough
- cover and let rise until doubled
- while the dough is rising make the filling –
- mix the other half of the sugar with the chocolate, and cut in the remaining butter
- once the dough has risen,roll into a square 16 X 16
- sprinkle 3/4 of the chocolate filling over the dough {leaving a small border}
- roll, and then give the roll a couple of twists
- sprinkle 1/2 of the remaining streusel on half of the roll
- fold roll in half and twist again
- place the roll in a well greased loaf pan
- sprinkle on remaining streusel
- cover and let rise 30 minutes
- bake in an oven pre-heated to 350
- check loaf for doneness after 55 minutes {it may need an additional 5 – 10 minutes}
You DON’T want to skimp on the filling. If you think you’ve added too much, add a bit more. It’s chocolate.
Jerry and Elaine may have been bringing theirs to a dinner party, but we had it for breakfast. You can never go wrong with chocolate for breakfast ; it is a coffee cake after all.
Enjoy!
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It’s SO gorgeous Heather!! Pinned of course!
why thank you Dorothy!
Oh my goodness, I LOVE your thoughts on chocolate filling. Chocolate is basically my favorite food group! The swirls in your babka look so pretty and sophisticated. It wouldn’t last more than 24 hours with me around! ?
thanks Amy – for a first try, I was pretty pleased , and YES it was SO chocolaty
I’ve read about babkas before, but had never tried one. I just love the name! This looks delicious and so similar to a large cinnamon roll in its preparation.
I bet a cinnamon babka is very much like a large cinnamon roll loaf! I may just have to give it a try
OOOh, this takes me back a few years to that particular Seinfeld episode. I’d always wondered what that Babka looked like. Fabulous!
I always wondered the same ?
Ah, I miss Seinfeld! GORGEOUS photos. As soon as I can have grains back in my diet, I am making this! Pinning it now!
thanks Marylynn! I SO miss Seinfeld
This is too beautiful to eat! (almost ? hahaha!)
I have to admit, I had a hard time cutting into it ? but it was to good NOT to eat
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