Babkallah is braided version of the Babka, comes from Challah which is traditional Jewish braided bread.
Dough has to rise from 3-5 hours in total.
Ingredients
The history of the Babka recipe is rooted in Eastern European Jewish culinary traditions. Babka is a sweet yeast-risen bread or cake that has become popular in Jewish communities and beyond. The exact origins of Babka are not entirely clear, but it is believed to have originated in Eastern European countries such as Poland and Ukraine.
The word "Babka" means "grandmother" in Polish and Ukrainian, which suggests that the recipe has been passed down through generations. In its traditional form, Babka is a rich, sweet bread made with butter, eggs, and often flavored with ingredients such as chocolate, cinnamon, nuts, or dried fruits. The dough is typically rolled out, filled with the chosen ingredients, and then twisted or braided before baking.
Directions
- Pour the warm milk into a stand mixer bowl and add yeast.
- To the yeast mixture, add the granulated sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, salt, and butter.
- Mix with dough hook on medium speed for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place.
- Rise until the dough has doubled in size, 1½ to 2½ hours.
- In a small mixer bowl coarsely pulse mix chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Place the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide it into 3 equal portions.
- Shape each portion into a rope measuring 30 centimeters long.
- Flatten each rope using a rolling pin into a rectangle.
- Brush the surface of each rectangle with the melted butter and then sprinkle with the filling.
- Starting from bottom, roll up each rectangle to form a spiraled log.
- Place the logs side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Pinch the logs together at one end and braid them.
- Then pinch the opposite ends together and tuck both ends underneath the braid.
- Cover the babkallah loosely with plastic wrap.
- Set aside in a warm spot until it’s expanded to about 1½ times its original size, 1 to 2 hours.
Make sure you seal the chocolate-filled logs of dough very well so they don’t unravel as you braid, as this could compromise the spiral of filling in the finished babkallah. Leave a little slack in the braid, as lots of tension could cause the strands to split apart down the centerline in the oven, exposing the filling. If this happens, though, it won’t adversely affect the final flavor or texture.
- Arrange an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- Brush the babkallah with the egg, then sprinkle generously with demerara sugar.
- Bake until the surface of the dough is deeply browned, 35 to 45 minutes.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack.
The baked babkallah, well wrapped and stored at room temperature, will keep up to 4 days but is best served on the first or second day.
Ingredients
Directions
- Pour the warm milk into a stand mixer bowl and add yeast.
- To the yeast mixture, add the granulated sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, salt, and butter.
- Mix with dough hook on medium speed for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place.
- Rise until the dough has doubled in size, 1½ to 2½ hours.
- In a small mixer bowl coarsely pulse mix chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Place the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide it into 3 equal portions.
- Shape each portion into a rope measuring 30 centimeters long.
- Flatten each rope using a rolling pin into a rectangle.
- Brush the surface of each rectangle with the melted butter and then sprinkle with the filling.
- Starting from bottom, roll up each rectangle to form a spiraled log.
- Place the logs side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Pinch the logs together at one end and braid them.
- Then pinch the opposite ends together and tuck both ends underneath the braid.
- Cover the babkallah loosely with plastic wrap.
- Set aside in a warm spot until it’s expanded to about 1½ times its original size, 1 to 2 hours.
Make sure you seal the chocolate-filled logs of dough very well so they don’t unravel as you braid, as this could compromise the spiral of filling in the finished babkallah. Leave a little slack in the braid, as lots of tension could cause the strands to split apart down the centerline in the oven, exposing the filling. If this happens, though, it won’t adversely affect the final flavor or texture.
- Arrange an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- Brush the babkallah with the egg, then sprinkle generously with demerara sugar.
- Bake until the surface of the dough is deeply browned, 35 to 45 minutes.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack.
The baked babkallah, well wrapped and stored at room temperature, will keep up to 4 days but is best served on the first or second day.