This is my recipe for chocolate babka, which is loosely a merger of Adeena Sussman’s and Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes (the latter is via Michelle Lettrich and King Arthur Baking Company). I first made babka with a friend in high school–it was difficult, but we prevailed (while eating a ton of chocolate spread)! These days, I make babka once or twice a year, usually with chocolate but sometimes with cinnamon or other fillings. This past May, I made six batches of this recipe at once for kiddush at Netivot Shalom to celebrate finishing my PhD! The overnight rise in the fridge yields a deeply flavorful dough, but to make babka in one day, let it rise 1.5-2 hours on the counter, until it is doubled in size.
DOUGH:
4 C flour
1/4 C sugar
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp yeast
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 C whole milk
2 T water (plus 2T more, if needed)
8 T unsalted butter, cut into cubes and room temperature
Filling:
3/4 C chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/3 C cocoa, natural or Dutch-process
6 T unsalted butter
1/2 C sugar
GLAZE:
1/3 C water
Juice of one lemon
2/3 C sugar
To prepare the babka dough:
1. Mix together the flour, sugar, lemon zest, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add the eggs, milk, and water, and mix until a soft, shaggy dough forms, about 5 minutes (you may need to add more water, if there is dry flour at the bottom of the bowl).
2. With the mixer running, slowly drop in the cubes of butter, and knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is supple, elastic, and shiny. The butter should be fully incorporated.
3. Put the dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let refrigerate 24 hours.
To assemble the babkas:
4. Make the filling: put the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on low in 30-second increments until the butter and chocolate are melted, stirring frequently. Then, stir in the cocoa powder and sugar.
5. Divide the dough in two equal parts, and return one to the bowl, covered. With the other part, roll it into a 9″ by 18″ rectangle. Spread half the filling over the dough, leaving very little margin.
6. Starting with the short end, roll the dough into a spiraled log. Using a large knife, cut lengthwise down the center of the log. Take each piece and twist them around each other, taking care to keep the layers together and the exposed filling upwards. Place the log into a lightly greased 9″ by 5″ loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap. Shape the other babka; then let both rise 90 minutes, until very puffy and at least up to the rim of the pan.
To bake:
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, until the loaf is a deep golden-brown color.
8. While the loaves are baking, boil the water and sugar together to make the glaze, then stir in the lemon juice.
9. When the babka comes out of the oven, brush it generously with the glaze (there will nevertheless be plenty left over).
10. Once the babka is cool, run a spatula around the edges, invert it, slice and eat!
