Royal Chocolate Babka

One of the things that stands out in French boulangeries is the lack of yeast cakes. You can find amazing pastries, wonderful breads but less work with yeast in cakes. 

About two years ago, yeast buds began to appear in Paris, some of them in places where there were Israeli interns. At the same time, the trend also came from the United States (led by Breads Bakery New York) and Paris was suddenly filled with chocolate Babkas.

As part of this interesting awakening, I tasted a few Babkas in the city and for the most part I was disappointed, they were too dry and not rich enough in filling. 

So i decided I have to bake my own Chocolate Babka, a recipe that I took with me from Israel when I moved to Paris, exactly 10 years ago. The smell that filled the house brought back memories and the neighbors enjoyed a Royal Chocolate Babka.

Royal Chocolate Babka
2 round Babka loaves 20 cm

Ingredients
Dough:
100 grams butter
150 grams milk
550 grams all-purpose flouer (sifted)
25 grams fresh yeast
70 grams sugar
2 eggs (M)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Filling:
140 grams butter
40 grams cocoa powder
130 grams sugar
100 grams dark chocolate
150 grams praline paste or hazelnut-chocolate paste 

Brushing:
1 egg + 2 tbsp milk – mixed together

Syrup:
100 grams sugar
100 grams water
2 tbsp Cognac
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation
1. On a Bain-Marie or in a microwave melt butter. Pour milk into the bowl with the melted butter and set aside.
2. Combine and mix the flour, yeast, sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and keep mixing,
3. Stir in the melted butter and the milk, keep mixing and add salt.
4. Knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes till it’s smooth and elastic.
5. Remove the dough from the mixer, divide into 4 equal parts, shape each part into a dough ball. Place in a lightly floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent dehydration.
6. Leave in fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Dough will not fully double, that’s fine!
7. Prepare the filling: Melt together butter, cocoa powder, sugar and chocolate. After dissolving, add praline or chocolate spread and mix. Cool to room temperature.
8. Roll out the first dough ball into a 28×25 cm rectangle (keep the rest of the dough balls chilled).
9. Spread 1/4 of chocolate filling evenly over the dough rectangle.
10. Roll the dough up with the filling into a tight log and refrigerate for 10 minutes (it will be easier to cut).
11. Reapet with the rest of the dough balls till you have 4 filled logs.
12. Cut the edges of the logs so that you get 4 equal length logs.
13. Gently cut the log in half lenghtwise and lay them cut sides up. You got 8 strips, 4 for each Babka.

Braiding the Babka
14. First option – free style. line a 20-cm round pan with parchment paper, place 4 strips in curved shapes inside the pan.
15. Second option – Royal braiding 🙂 For your comfort, I marked the strips with numbers (see the pictures).

Place strip 1 on strip 2
Place strip 3 on strip 4
Place strip 5 on strip 6
Place strip 7 on strip 8

Repeat the operation in the opposite direction:
Place strip 2 on strip 7
Place strip 8 on strip 5
Place strip 6 on strip 3
Place strip 4 on strip 1
Push the remaining edges under the loaf in order to get a round loaf.

16. Place the loaf in the center of a 20 cm round pan lined with parchment paper. The cake should not fill the entire pan, it should be left some space for rising.
17. Cover the 2 loaves with a damp tea towel and leave to rise another 1 hour at room temperature.
18. Preheat the oven to 180C degrees
19. Remove towels, and brush the loaves with the egg and milk mixture.
20. Place each loaf on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, 
21. While babkas are baking, make syrup: Bring sugar and water, cognac and vanilla to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.
22. As soon as the babkas leave the oven, brush the syrup all over each till it becomes glossy and moist.
You can keep the Babkas for a few days at room temperature, I love to eat it very fresh, warm if possible.

Bon-Appetit
Sharon