A traditional chocolate babka recipe with a sweet green twist
It’s almost time to break out some of the delicious traditional Hanukkah foods that we all know and love to commemorate the holiday. If you want to approach this date prepared, then we highly recommend you check out this incredible chocolate babka recipe. It’s sweet and festive and the perfect holiday treats to complement a Hanukkah meal, as the dry bread can help to soak up the oils that are so often used in these dishes, which settles the stomach.
What is babka?
Traditional babka is a braided cake or bread. This dessert dish originated among Jewish communities in both Ukraine and Poland. It can come in a variety of unique flavours that include apple, cinnamon, sweet cheese, and cinnamon raisin, but the most popular is the one that we’re going to show you how to make today, which is chocolate.
Cannabis-infused chocolate babka
Chocolate babka looks to be a nice sweet golden brown vanilla crust, but once you slice the loaf, you’ll find a mesmerizing visual effect of swirls inside. It looks fancy, which makes it the perfect dessert for an elegant feast. Still, it’s also easy to make, as long as you follow the instructions closely and measure the ingredients accurately, as any small adjustments can throw off the flavour and texture of this delicious dessert loaf.
Preparation: 2 hours
Cooking: 1 hour
Calories: 211
Servings: 8 slices
Dough ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Filling and topping ingredients
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
- 1 large egg
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 4 level tablespoons of cannabutter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Tools
- Small mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Medium mixing bowls
- Electric mixer stand and bowl
- Dough hook attachment
- Marge mixing bowl
- Plastic wrap
- Loaf pan
- Microwave safe bowl
- Rolling pin
- Silicone spatula
- Sharp knife
- Sauce brush
Instructions
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Pour the milk into a small mixing bowl along with the yeast and a pinch of granulated sugar before setting it aside to activate, which should take around five minutes.
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Add the egg, granulated sugar, egg yolk, and the yeast mixture to a medium mixing bowl and whisk the ingredients together until smooth.
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Sift the salt and flour together in an electric mixing stand bowl and then dump in the egg mixture before blending everything together on low speed for approximately one minute.
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Switch to the dough hook attachment, and then add 7 tablespoons of unsalted butter before combining the ingredients at a medium speed for between 8-10 minutes. Once you’re done, the babka dough should be shiny, tacky, and sticky.
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Sprinkle some flour across a clean surface, and then dump the dough onto it so that you can knead the ingredients by hand until they’re smooth.
Use a small amount of butter to grease a large mixing bowl, and then transfer the dough to the dish before covering it in saran wrap and leaving it in a warm place to rise for 1½ hours.
When the mixture is ready, it should be double its original size, and that’s when you know it’s time to fill and assemble, so uncover the babka dough and preheat the oven to 350F.
Butter the inside of the loaf pan, add the chocolate, 2 tablespoons of cannabutter, cocoa powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar to a microwave-safe bowl.
Melt the ingredients in 30-second increments until they are smooth, whisking them gently as you go to avoid scalding or chunks. This should take anywhere from one to three minutes to accomplish.
Flour a clean surface and flip the dough out onto the bed of powder.
Sprinkle a small amount of flour on top of the babka dough and then use a rolling pin to flatten the layer into a rectangle that measures approximately 22x12 inches.
Use a silicone spatula to gently spread the chocolate filling evenly across the layer of dough.
Roll the rectangle up until you can no longer see the chocolate filling, and then carefully tug and pinch at the dough while maintaining its shape.
Take a sharp knife and use it to cut the log into four quarters lengthways, and then place the first two in a criss-cross pattern in front of you.
Twist each of the tips one at a time and then lay the next two logs ontop before repeating the steps.
Transfer the dough to the bread pan, push it down into the pan gently with your fingertips, tap it on the counter several times to ensure that any air bubbles have been removed before covering it with plastic wrap, put it somewhere warm to rise for 30 minutes.
While the bread is rising, you’re going to need to prepare the streusel by combining all the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, with a whisk, before incorporating the final 2 tablespoons of cannabutter.
Whisk the egg and cream together in a small bowl, and then use this mixture to coat the entire exposed top layer of the chocolate babka loaf before sprinkling the sugar mixture over the top.
Bake the babka bread in the oven for one hour, turning it around halfway to ensure even cooking.
We highly recommend that you let a load of freshly baked babka bread cools entirely before slicing and serving, as it may crumble and fall apart if you do it too soon, plus you’ll risk some severe burns. Still, after 30 minutes or so, the delicious dessert will be ready to be carved and enjoyed.
