Dark Chocolate, Coffee & Cinnamon Babka

Well, that health kick lasted long.

Personally, I blame it on the babka! And the fact that once I see something I think would be fun to bake, I can’t resist! I may or may not even be scoffing two chunky slices of this bad boy whilst writing this post… I’M WEAK OK!! *hangs head in shame*

Though, I’m sure I’m not the only who’s DONE with that January health kick. I mean, as long as you’re not overdoing it, a little sweet treat every now and then isn’t thaaat bad, right?

In fact! Did you know that a little bit of dark chocolate can actually suppress your appetite?! Yup, a TV show told me so the other day (so it’s obvs true). Apparently the bitter tasting flavanoids (plant-based compounds/nutrient, or ‘phytochemicals’), present in cocoa beans and dark chocolate with a high % of cocoa, can help make you feel fuller for longer and want to eat less! Of course, this is only true for dark chocolate that hasn’t been processed with alkali (‘dutched’), or loaded with milk and sugar. Whatevs, I’ll take it!

And it just so happens that I’d bought a few too many bars of 85% cacao dark chocolate over the holidays for my Christmas cakes, so why not put them to good use?! Cue the babka.

I mean, sure it probably doesn’t really count if you bake the chocolate into something sweet, but it’s a start for someone who’s not quite used to the bitterness of 85% chocolate on it’s own!

Plus, chocolate babka’s are too frickin’ tasty! And when you add coffee and cinnamon to the equation?

Phwoar.

To start, I added the dried yeast to the warm milk to get it active and bubbling.

Then in a large bowl I creamed together the softened butter and sugar. Once combined I mixed in the oil and vanilla extract.

I then beat in the egg yolks, one by one, and continued to whisk until the mixture was light and fluffy. Make sure to hold back one egg white for the egg wash later.

I then added the flour, salt and yeasty milk and mixed until it began to form a dough. I kneaded this for 5 to 10 minutes until it became smooth and elastic. I placed this in a lightly greased bowl, covered and left to prove in a warm place for 1-2 hours until doubled in size. You could alternatively leave it in the fridge to prove overnight.

To make the filling I melted the dark chocolate and butter in a saucepan over a very low heat, taking care to watch it and keep stirring so it didn’t burn.

I then mixed in the icing sugar, cocoa powder, flour, cinnamon and instant coffee until it formed a paste. I set this aside until I was ready to use it. If this begins to firm up in the meantime, just warm it over a low heat for a few seconds to re-melt it slightly. You still want it to be room temperature when you use it.

For the streusel I mixed the sugars, flour, cinnamon and chopped pecans in a bowl. I then rubbed in the chilled butter till it formed a coarse breadcrumb consistency.

I left this in the fridge until ready to use.

Once the dough had proved, I knocked it back, tipped it out onto a lightly floured surface then cut it in half. With one half I rolled it out into a large rectangle of about 1cm thickness.

I then spread half the chocolate filling in an even layer all over the top.

I then rolled it along the long edge into a log. Try saying that with a mouth full of fruit gums!

Then twisted the log into a figure of 8 and lay it into a loaf tin lined with baking paper. I then repeated this with the remaining dough and filling.

I covered these and left to prove for a further 30 minutes to 1 hour until doubled in size once more.

Once proved again, I brushed the top with the reserved egg white and sprinkled on a generous about of streusel. I baked these at 180°C for 25-30 minutes until the streusel was golden brown.

If you like your chocolate oozy, serve warm. If like me you wanted to see the cool swirly pattern too, leave to cool completely before slicing.