Sophie Loves Food: babka

Who doesn't love the combination of dark chocolate and pistachio? Whilst a babka is both messy and pretty timely to make I think the idea of this flavour combo wrapped up within a light and springy rye dough is the ultimate in indulgent weekend breakfast baking.

I know we're only on Thursday and a few more working hours away from the weekend, but hear me out. There's a trick to making this guy in advance. Make the dough and the filling on a Friday or Saturday, at the same time or day by day, and leave to prove in the fridge till you're ready. So long as you have the bulk of the work done, all you need to do is allow it to get to room temperature before baking.

I'm already looking forward to starting the next one ahead of this weekend to enjoy with a huge cup of black coffee in bed on Sunday morning. I recently gifted my giant coffee machine to my brother in exchange for an old school coffee dripper, and you know what? Its got me excited for lazy morning coffee rituals all over again!

S A L T E D C H O C O L A T E A N D P I S T A C H I O R Y E B A B K A
Serves 6-8, recipe adapted from Olive Magazine

For the babka dough:

500g rye flour, plus extra for dusting

30g golden caster sugar

1tsp salt

7g dried fast action yeast

zest of 1 lemon

275ml full fat milk

75g unsalted butter

2 eggs, 1 beaten and one to glaze

For the filling:

75g unsalted butter

75g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)

2tbsp icing sugar

2tbsp cocoa powder

75g blanched pistachios, roughly chopped, plus extra for decoration

1/2tsp sea salt flakes

Glaze:

75g golden caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

To make the dough, place the dry ingredients including the lemon zest into a large mixing bowl. Put the milk and butter into a small saucepan and gently heat over a low heat. Along with the beaten egg, add the mixture to the flour mix and stir to combine. Using a dough hook on a stand mixer, beat for 5 minutes until a soft, sticky ball of dough has formed. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
To make the filling, melt the butter and chocolate in small pan over a very low heat. Once fully melted, set aside to cool slightly, around 5 minutes. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder and whisk together until smooth.
Once the dough has doubled in size, tip onto a well floured surface and roll into a long rectangle about 1/2 inch in thickness. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving an inch around the edge. Scatter over the chopped pistachios and sea salt flakes. Fold in half lengthways and gently roll to seal the filling, until about the thickness of a pound coin.
To shape the babka, slice the dough rectangle into 4 equal width strips. Then, slice each of the 4 strips into 'trousers', i.e. leaving around 1/2 inch at the top unsliced. For each of the 'trousers' individually, plait together the two 'legs' before finally plaiting each of the 4 strips together. Don't worry this can be rough!
Place the dough plait into a grease round baking tin, about 8-10", tucking the loose ends underneath.
Leave to prove once more for around one hour, until the babka has doubled in size again. Alternatively, leave to prove overnight in the fridge and remove at least 30 minutes before baking to allow it to reach room temperature.
Brush the top of the babka with the remaining egg and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once cooked, a the babka will be golden, springy and a skewer inserted will come out clean.
To make the glaze, boil 75ml of water with the sugar until dissolved and of syrup consistency. Remove from the heat before stirring in the vanilla, brushing the top of the cooked babka and topping with some extra chopped pistachios.

Stores well in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Gently warm before serving if you like.

I'm hoping that I'll manage to brave the showstopper challenge one week soon. But for now I'm blaming it on the weather. Making a 3 flour beast in my tiny roasting kitchen is most likely to bring on a bread related breakdown. Paul, you are one mean man.

So instead, I opted for a chocolate loaf. A babka to be precise. I think everyone baking along made one of these guys, and you know what? I bloody love a babka. Truth be told I hadn't ever made one before...see baby challenge steps.

A deliciously sweetened loaf, with the softness of brioche and all the fillings you can shake a stick at.

I added some lemon zest into my dough, which proved to give a great flavour punch from the off. Then to the chocolate filling I added some cinnamon for warmth and some hazelnuts to finish the top for a nutty texture boost.

Babs the babka, as I've named her, could have perhaps been more risen. But was most certainly packed full of flavour, soft and pretty simple to make. Simple if you don't count the time invested. Albeit cheating with using a dough hook in my Kitchen Aid.

And there we have it. Bring on the batter for week 4!

C H O C O L A T E S W I R L B A B K A
(Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen, makes one large loaf for 12, or 2 small 1lb loaves)

350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

100g caster sugar

2tsp instant yeast

grated zest of 1 lemon or small orange

3 large eggs

1/2 cup cold waterr

pinch salt

150g unsalted butter, room temperature

sunflower or vegetable oil for greasing

Filling:

130g dark chocolate

120g unsalted butter

50g icing sugar

30g cocoa powder

1tsp ground cinnamon

handful of chopped hazelnuts to top

Syrup:

1/3 cup water

75g caster sugar

To make the dough, combine together the flour, sugar, yeast and zest in a large bowl of a stand mixer. Add the eggs, water and continue to mix on a medium speed with a dough hook until everything comes together into one ball. Turn the mixer down low, add the salt and butter one spoon at a time. You may need to scrape down the sides to ensure everything is well incorporated. Once the dough has come together, continue to beat on the same speed for 10 minutes. The dough should become smooth and will pull away from the sides of the bowl. Place into a large bowl coated with oil, cover with cling film and leave to prove in the fridge overnight (or 4-6 hours minimum). It won't quite double in size but will definitely rise.
To make the filling, heat the chocolate and butter over a low heat to melt. Remove from the heat and add the icing sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon. Stir to form a paste and leave aside to cool.
Grease either a large baking tray or two 1lb loaf tins. The bread can be frozen if you want to split the dough into two.
Remove from the fridge and roll the dough out on a well floured surface to a rectangle the thickness of a pound coin.
Spread the chocolate mix over the dough, leaving an inch gap round each edge. Brush the length of one of the longest sides with water. Starting to roll from the opposite site, tightly roll the dough into a long sausage and seal with the dampened end.
You may wish to chill the dough for 10-20 minutes, just to make it easier to cut. To cut the dough for plaiting, slice it in half down the middle lengthwise. Turn each strand cut side up, pinch one end together and gently plait until the bottom, pinching the ends once more.
Snake the dough into the prepared tray, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove at room temperature for 1-2 hours. It should become plump but won't increase in size too much. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts, or whatever you fancy before baking in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Once baked, the top will be golden and a skewer inserted into the babka will have no resistance. If underbaked, it will still feel stretchy inside.
Whilst baking, make the syrup in a small pan over a low heat. Allow the sugar to fully dissolve into the water before removing from the heat to cool slightly.
As soon as the babka is baked, remove from the oven and pour over the sugar syrup to get a good shine. Allow to cool in the pan half way before removing to cool fully.