Comments on: chocolate babka

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:57:51 +0000

THIS IS AMAZING. I think there must be crack in it. Like Katie (post #129) I make challah with several risings, so this recipe didn’t seem daunting. I actually found it easier than expected, and the results are incredible. I served it last night for dessert to several people–some had heard of it, some had not–and everyone raved about it. It’s addictive. I put the rest in the freezer to prevent myself from eating it all, but I keep slicing off pieces and microwaving them anyway. YUMMM. Speaking of microwaving, in order to get a faster rise, I heat glass of water till boiling, place it in the back corner of the microwave, and then put the bowl with the dough in it and shut the door (do NOT turn on the microwave). It creates a very warm, enclosed environment that makes the dough rise very fast. I do the same with the loaf pan before baking. Faster babka = yay! I am going to serve it to my family for Thanksgiving as well. Try this recipe! It is way better than all the others on the web.

By: Carol

Carol — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:26:18 +0000

Just came back from a visit to New York, with a chocolate babka in tow (it’s either that or bialys every trip if I can manage it), and this time decided to see if I could find a recipe out there to make it myself. I’m so glad yours googled up first! Since my challah takes 6 to 8 hours with 2 risings, that part isn’t so daunting at least. Thanks for making it possible to live in Minnesota but keep those memories alive from growing up in NY!

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:17:49 +0000

Ok..i had the 2 medium sized loaves in for 30 minutes..they looked done, so i shut off the oven and left them in there for about 15 minutes or so.. im afraid i may have overbaked, my oven is strong… but i dont think so..even though I cut it in half, i had them in for WAY less than the recipe stated…
my mom the bread expert “tapped” the bottom and they sounded hollow so she stated they were done… they smell incredible!! :) :)

By: Katie

Katie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:15:05 +0000

Hi there!! thanks so much for this recipe! I just made it today and they are in the oven as we speak… a few notes, though:

-I cut the recipe in half… it is easy to do, the actual dough uses 2 eggs, and 2 yolks.. (the extra egg is just for egg wash)…. I just used my extra egg white for the wash… I put the dough in 2 loaf pans and they made 2 medium loaves

-The proofing: I also found that for the first rising time..it took about 2 hours to double in size..and the second rising..it took about 1 hr. instead of 30 minutes to puff up nicely… just wanted to point that out, since some might not be familiar with making bread…you have to let it puff!! I’m in Canada, and it’s November, so I wrapped a tablecloth around the bowl to help keep it warm while it rose…maybe in the summer it will take less time…

-The filling: I used good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips, and they ground up in the food processor quickly.. i then added the cinnamon & butter and mashed up the whole thing in there…

thank you so much for this I have been dying to try it… I don’t know how long they will take to bake..I can post again with my baking times in case anyone wants to half the recipe also… :)

By: Delia

Delia — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:38:40 +0000

Five hours later and the babka was a big hit. It was a little too chocolate-y in my opinion, but my friends raved about it. They are wanting to buy me a food processor as a thank you so “next time” it will be easier. Another great recipe!

By: Delia

Delia — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:11:57 +0000

I finally decided to overcome my fear and make this decadent dessert. I have the dough proofing in the oven right now. I chopped all of the chocolate by hand and I do declare I broke a sweat doing it, although, this is Texas and one could break a sweat getting out of a cold shower!

While I was waiting for the butter and eggs to get to room temp, I decided to also make the pickled grapes. They look mighty pretty in their canning jars, I can’t wait to try them tomorrow!

Thanks again, Deb for all of your wonderful recipes. I have had so much fun recreating them and sharing the results with my friends and my facebook community. I always link your site and have made a few smitten junkies out there. Keep up the great job! <– exclamation point for emphasis, not hostility.

By: deb

deb — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:48:06 +0000

Hi Jon — After you roll the whole thing up, you fold the roll over on itself (first sprinkling some filling over one half). It basically makes the twist pattern even more knotty and complex. Hope that helps.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:43:25 +0000

Can you clarify step 7? I get the first rolling and pinching and the first set of twists. But I don’t understand what comes next – what is the left and right side? by length or width? My guess is the long way makes more sense. And then fold and pinch which ends? Thanks.

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:17:23 +0000

It is indeed a daunting recipe but worth it for the super delicious end-result. I’ve baked it several times but usually for special occasions. Definitely something to do when you have plenty of time and not too many interruptions from the kids or spouse.

As for the chocolate- I’ve used everything from Hershey’s dark to Valhrona- I can tell the difference but most of my tasters don’t have a preference.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:35:22 +0000

I love smitten kitchen and came straight here to find a recipe for Rosh Hashana dessert. I made these babkas yesterday and the result was perfection. I made one x-large, one large, and three mini loaves from this recipe. They are almost exactly like the babkas my nana used to buy at Diamond Bakery on Fairfax in LA. The only slight difference is those babkas had more crumbly streusel and mine were hard (but still so tasty!). I took the large loaf for dinner at a friend’s house last night and I still don’t think they believed I made it! The recipe is very easy to follow, but it helps to have all the right kitchen utensils, especially the food processor for the chocolate. Some changes: I couldn’t afford the Callebraut so I used 5 4.25-oz bars of Hershey Special Dark and 3 1/4 4.4-oz bars of Hershey Milk. It still tastes divine. Also, after reading the comments on the Martha Stewart recipe page and here, I didn’t use all the chocolate filling or streusel topping (saving it for another use). Thanks for sharing this great recipe. It’s not for the first-time baker and took me about 4 hours from start to finish, but is well worth it.