Joan is famous for her babka. When we invite friends for Shabbat, the highest enticement we can offer is the advance notice that Joan is making it. It’s the kind of news that rearranges a calendar. So, when we were asked to bring dessert to a friend’s gathering, there was no question what she would make. But that day Joan was working, her mind on other things, and the babka stayed in the oven a little too long and came out burnt. She left a piece on my desk for a verdict, and its outer shell was rock hard. Joan knows I always tell the truth, so I did what the truth sometimes asks of us, I dug deeper. I broke the babka open and inside was the softest, richest, most delicious chocolate center she had ever made. The blessing of the warm center had been hidden inside the curse of the burnt exterior. A broken heart is how the light gets in. A broken babka is how you find the chocolate. That was the moment I gave Joan’s accident its name: The Burnt Babka.
Joan thought she had ruined dessert, instead she created something extraordinary. Perhaps that is true of us as well. Sometimes what looks burnt is simply transformed. Sometimes what appears hardened is protecting what is becoming. Sometimes the blessing waits beneath the crust, break it open.
Burnt Babka
Makes 1 loaf
A Note on Parve and Dairy
The dough is parve. So is everything in the filling but two ingredients: the fat and the chocolate. Those two choices decide whether the babka is parve or dairy.For a parve babka, one you can serve after a meat meal, use coconut oil or parve margarine in place of the butter, and choose chocolate that is certified parve.
For a dairy babka, use the butter and dairy chocolate. A dairy babka is still kosher. It simply cannot be served at a meat meal.
Kosher chocolate is sold both ways. Read the label before you buy. Parve chocolate carries a plain kosher symbol; dairy chocolate is marked with a D, such as OU-D.
Times
Preparation: 30 minutes active preparation
Rise: 90 to 135 minutes
Bake: 45 to 55 minutes
Ingredients
Dough (parve)
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Chocolate Filling (parve or dairy; see the note above)
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate (parve or dairy; check the label)
- ½ cup butter (dairy); for a parve babka, use coconut oil or parve margarine
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Pinch kosher salt
Burnt Crust (parve)
- 2 to 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 egg white (optional)
Mise en Place
Step 1: Wake the Dough
Combine warm water, yeast, and honey. Allow the yeast to bloom.
Add eggs and flour, then mix to combin
Stir in the salt and oil.
Step 2: Knead
Knead 6 to 8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Step 3: First Rise
Place dough in an oiled bowl.
Cover the dough, allowing it to rise until doubled in volume, about 60 to 90 minutes.
Step 4: Build the Chocolate
Melt the chocolate with the butter; for a parve babka, melt it with coconut oil or parve margarine instead.
Stir in sugar, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
Allow the chocolate too cool until spreadable.
Step 5: Spread the Chocolate
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle.
Generously spread the chocolate filling across the dough.
Step 6: Roll Into One Long Log
Tightly roll the dough in a single long cylinder.
Step 7: Lengthwise Cut
Using a sharp knife, cut the rolled dough lengthwise.
Step 8: Two Long Exposed Halves
Turn the cut dough so that the interior layers are exposed.
Step 9: Twist
Keeping the cut sides face up, braid the dough together.
Step 10: Place in Loaf Pan
Place the dough in a loaf pan.
Loosely cover the dough, allowing it to rise for another 30 to 45 minutes.
Step 11: Sugar Sprinkle
Sprinkle sugar over the babka.
Step 12: Bake
Bake at 375°F for 35 to 45 minutes.
Then increase to 425°F for 5 to 10 minutes, until the babka has a dark exterior.
Step 13: Cool
Allow the loaf to cool completely.
