Chocolate Babka / Cinnamon Babka
Is there a better cake than Babka? a good flaky dough with your favorite filling, yummy! There is only one problem - you can’t stop eating it! The good thing is that when you make your own Babka, you know you are using the best ingredients which makes you feel a little less guilty - or a little more healthy.
It is not that hard to prepare, especially if you made challah bread before, it is a very similar process.
For the filling: you can also use your favorite store-bought chocolate spread.
Dough Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3/4 cup oat milk (or any other milk of choice)
1/3 cup avocado oil or coconut oil, melted
Chocolate Filling
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut cream
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, optional
Cinnamon Filling
4-5 tablespoons coconut sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon powder
Syrup on top for both recipes
Pure maple syrup (about 2 - 3 tablespoons per cake)
Dough Directions
To a mixer bowl add flour, yeast, salt, pure maple syrup, oat milk and avocado oil. Mix and knead with a dough hook until you form a smooth ball. not sticky and not dry.
Make sure to scrape the sides with a spatula so that all the dough gets formed.
cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel on top.
Let it rise for at least 2 hours, until it doubled its size.
Then, take a rolling pin and roll the dough into a large rectangle.
Pour the filling on the dough and spread it evenly.
Roll the dough lengthwise all the way until you form a log.
Take a sharp knife and cut the log in half lengthwise. Next, twist the two halfs exposing the filling and place on a baking dish lined with a parchment paper. Cover with a clean towel and let it rise again for 3/4 hour.
In the meantime, heat oven to 375 F (convection setting)
Remove the towel from the baking dish and place the babka in the oven, Bake for about 40 minutes, until nicely golden brown. When it comes out of the oven, brush the top with pure maple syrup. while it’s hot.
Tip: if the babka dish is shorter that the strand you made, you can cut it in half and place one next to the other on the baking dish. Just like I did. You can see the seem in the middle of the babka.