Food Recipes Bread Yeast Breads Chocolate Babka 3.8 (9) 19 Reviews This amazing babka cake gets extra flavor in the swirl from cookie crumbs. As a bonus, it's topped with a thick, luscious chocolate glaze. By Melissa Weller Updated on November 9, 2023 Rate PRINT Share Active Time: 1 hr 15 mins Total Time: 14 hrs Yield: 2 (9-inch) babkas Frequently asked questions What dough is babka made of? Traditional babka is made from a sweet yeasted dough enriched with eggs and some kind of fat. For this recipe, that fat is pure butter, which puts it in the brioche category. Other loaves use oil instead, much like challah. Both butter and oil produce a soft, silky dough that's easy to roll out and shape, yielding moist, golden babka. What time of day do you eat babka? It is with great pleasure that we can say there's no wrong time to eat babka! This chocolate loaf is especially decadent, making it particularly well-suited for dessert, but if you're feeling fancy in the A.M. hours, it goes great with a cup of coffee. 20 Breakfast Pastry Recipes for a Sweet Start to Your Day Note from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen With two types of chocolate in both the filling and the glaze, baker Melissa Weller's babka cake is a chocolate lover's dream come true. Using a combination of bittersweet and milk chocolate ensures a treat that's both creamy and assertively chocolate-flavored, not unlike the dark milk chocolate bars that have become popular offerings from craft chocolate makers. Thankfully this chocolate babka recipe yields a couple of loaves, so sharing is a little easier. Ingredients Dough 4 cups all-purpose flour, preferably King Arthur 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons fine sea salt 1 cup whole milk, warmed 1 packet dry active yeast 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature Filling 9 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed 1 1/2 cups finely ground chocolate wafer cookies 3 tablespoons honey Glaze 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed 2 tablespoons light corn syrup Directions Make the dough In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the milk with the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and sprinkle the dry ingredients on top. Mix at low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the side of the bowl and mix at medium speed until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. © Con Poulos Add all of the butter at once and mix at low speed until it is fully incorporated and a tacky dough forms, about 3 minutes; scrape down the side of the bowl as needed during mixing. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and coat the paper generously with nonstick baking spray. Scrape the dough out onto the parchment paper and cut the dough in half. Pat each piece into a neat square. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Make the filling In a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt both chocolates with the butter, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Let cool to room temperature, then stir in the cookie crumbs and honey. © Con Poulos Coat two 9- x 4-inch loaf pans with nonstick baking spray and line with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches of overhang on each of the long sides. Roll out each square of dough to a 16-inch square. Using an offset spatula, spread all but 1/2 cup of the filling in an even layer over the dough squares to within 1/2 inch of the edges. © Con Poulos Starting at the long edge nearest you, tightly roll up each dough square jelly roll–style into a tight log. © Con Poulos Using a sharp knife, cut the logs in half crosswise. Using an offset spatula, spread 1/4 cup of the reserved filling on the top and sides of two of the halves. Set the other halves on top in the opposite direction to form a cross. © Con Poulos Twist to form spirals and transfer to the prepared pans. Cover the loaves with a towel and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. © Con Poulos Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the loaves in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, until puffed and well browned. Let cool slightly, then use the parchment paper to lift the babkas out of the pans and onto a rack set over a baking sheet. Discard the paper. Make the glaze © Con Poulos In a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt both chocolates with the butter; stir until smooth. Stir in the corn syrup. Spread the glaze on top of the warm babkas and let stand until set, about 30 minutes. © Con Poulos Originally appeared: January 2016 Rate It Print