Chocolate Babka

Food Network Kitchens

Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine

Picture of Chocolate Babka Recipe Photo: Chocolate Babka Recipe
Rated 5 stars out of 5
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  • Read 7 Reviews
Total Time:
12 hr 0 min
Prep
12 hr 0 min
Yield:
6 to 8 servings
Level:
Intermediate
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Ingredients

For the dough:

For the filling:

  • 1/2 cup blanched almonds
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons dark rum
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the streusel:

  • 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg, beaten

Directions

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.

Photograph by Anna Williams

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 7 reviews

  • on November 07, 2012

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    This was delicious! My only complaint is that it looks nothing like the photo. This happens several times from this magazine. It makes me think that their photographers are paid to shoot something and just find something similar in the area at a bakery to take a photo of and leave it at that. The Honey Roasted Peanuts looks like the photographer got some off of the street and then emailed the photo to Food Network.

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  • on March 20, 2012

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    This was good, but better when fresh out of the oven because everything was buttery and the top was crunchy from the streusel. Microwaving slices later didn't make it as good unfortunately. I'd also cut back on the bake time a bit...1hr was a bit too long and it could have been moister.
    Mine also didn't come out anywhere like the photo; it came out looking like cinnamon swirl bread. I don't see how you can get anything that looks that evenly chocolate distributed unless you mix the filling in w/ the dough before letting it rise...

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  • on March 04, 2012

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    Like the rest of the reviews state-it's best to start it the day before you want to actually eat it. I worked on my Sat and then baked it Sun morning. It was a difficult to make just a lot of steps. My family devoured the entire loaf in one sitting.

    people found this review Helpful.
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