Chocolate Hazelnut Babka!

January 17, 2021

The first time I knew and had a Babka was from Jane the Bakery in Japantown, San Francisco. Its rich, not too sweet chocolate fillings (I LOOOVE dark chocolates), crispy outer layer and soft inner layers captured me right away. I have had Babka from other bakeries, super markets later as well, but none of those triumphs Jane’s so far. Loving it, baking it. Let’s try making, improving and enjoying this Jewish delicacy!

QUICK TAKEAWAYS

The pastry chef of NYC Breads Bakery (in the first video attached below) explained a lot of science behind babka baking! So sharing some here as well 🙂

fat in butter encases the gluten strands; mixing them in the beginning because we do NOT want a very strong dough –> butter at first helps weaken the dough
first mix at low speed for homogenous dough texture, then higher speed to help gluten strands line up to form the network for dough strength
wrapping dough tightly will ensure dough NOT going to proof!! The less oxygen we gives in, the better it is!
- yeast should work hard to take carbon dioxide and convert to oxygen and “eat” the sugars (woohoo chemistry! no, that’s not a actual WOOHOO as I am NOT a huge fan for ochem class, just the snobby biologist’s nerdy “woohoo”); “the harder they work, the more flavors we got”
equally divide the sheet by put one hand on each side, then CLAP YOUR HAND! genius haha!
brushing simple syrup on babka not only gives a glaze, but also engulfs the moist in the babka (I think this can be substitute with dilute honey in water, room temperature which I used to brush croissants)

My takeaways:

can adjust sugar (less), dark chocolates, cocoa powder (less), hazelnut amount in this recipe
roll dough thinner might let chocolate overpower bread; more an art than science, based on personal preference
listen to the babka when taking out of oven

RECIPE

loaf tin: 9 inch x 5 inch

Brioche Dough

I decided not to follow NYC Breads Bakery’s dough recipe (first video below) for a few reasons:

comparing the flour amount used in their recipe to others, they use much less flour for 1 loaf, I wonder if that gives fluffier texture or the overall size is just smaller. Also they use the combination of 1:1 ratio of high gluten bread flour + low gluten cake flour, but I do not have bread flour at the moment, need a recipe use All Purpose flour..!
they use fresh yeast instead of dry yeast, and no conversion is provide
NYT recipe by Melissa Clark is the most highly voted, and as a GBBO fan, I also want to refer to Paul Hollywood’s recipe for sure. YouTuber Joshua Weissman’s video is a good intro; for the order of adding ingredients, and handling tricks, I will follow Breads Bakery’s video below.
This time I will follow Melissa’s recipe, when I try again with Paul Hollywood’s recipe, I will come back for more report and update.

	NYT by Melissa Clark	Paul Hollywood	Joshua Weissman
whole milk	59g	50ml	(water) 90F, 87.5g
AP flour	265.5g	275g	265g
sugar	33.5g –> 28g	25g	50g (O_O)
RT butter	70g	80g	75g
egg	2	2	1.5
salt	pinch	1/2tsp	1.5g
vanilla extract	1/2tsp	NA	NA
dry yeast	3.5g	5g	5g
baking temp & time	350F 40-50mins	190C/375F for 15mins then, 170C/338F (no fan) 150C/302F (fan) 25-30mins	375F 25-30mins

Chocolate Hazelnut Filling

Mainly refer to Joshua Weissman’s video, adding heavy cream inspired by Melissa Clark’s recipe; giving up on Paul Hollywood’s recipe because I was terrified by the amount of BUTTER, SUGAR he uses…

100g dark chocolate chips –> 90g next time, overpowering bread?
60g butter
40g powder sugar –> 20g next time, bit too sweet for me
21g cocoa powder –> 15g next time, not a smooth texture
salt
ground hazelnuts (40g) –> could be less next time

DAY 1:

Step 1: let 70g butter softens in room temperature

Step 2: mix all ingredients, butter should be added here (instead of add in after all the other ingredients form a dough) to weaken the dough; we do not want a strong dough;

activate yeast by mixing them in room temperature or 90F milk with a pinch of sugar (helps activating). Wait for 10-15mins or till mixture is foamy
add yeast + milk and egg to dry ingredients
timing to add butter: some recipes add butter little by little to create more gluten network before fat in butter stops them forming; I can try that again and see the difference.

Step 3: if you do NOT have a stand mixer, knead for 10-15mins; if you DO have a stand mixer, low speed for 2-3mins, mid speed for 5-10mins; remove dough to a board, stretch out and roll back, helping gluten strands to line up

Step 4: shape dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap to prevent introducing air; rest in refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or best 8-12 hours/overnight

DAY 2:

Step 1: make the chocolate fillings:

over water bath, melt 100g dark chocolate, 60g unsalted butter
mix with 40g powder sugar, 21g cocoa powder, pinch of salt
keep mixing till smooth, mixing also helps cool it down

Step 2: flour the board, roll out babka to large rectangle shape (almost 2-3 time the size of loaf tin)

mine might be too long (base); I tried to roll longer (up and down) to get a thinner sheet

Step 3: spread filling EVENLY, very balanced on babka sheet

Step 4: sprinkle ground hazelnuts then dark chocolate chips to introduce different texture than chocolate paste

Step 5: roll from bottom of the sheet upward, TIGHTLY!

Step 6: slice through the cylinder shape dough into two halves. Braid them for as many roll as possible without over-tightening it

Step 7: line parchment on the wall and base of bread mold

Step 8: bend babka and let two ends meet, then place in loaf tin, push the ends out, introducing tensions on both ends

Step 9: proof babka in closed oven with hot water beneath for 1.5-2 hours

hot water introduced humidity and warm temperature

Step 10: bake at 176C/350F for 30mins, top should be golden brown

Step 11: make simple syrup with 40g sugar and 30g water over medium-high heat, wait for sugar to dissolve, and syrup to simmer for 2mins. Remove from the heat, set aside to cool