Every weekend should start with such a babka. A chocolate-filled yeast plait, in between there are small, crunchy hazelnut brittle particles and on top the sweet syrup that is characteristic of the babka. If you could even bring me to bed, the whole loaf of bread, I probably wouldn’t get up until evening. Netflix and Babka as the saying goes.
While I don’t mind getting up very early in the morning (even on the weekends) and then baking something delicious for breakfast, I know that not every Jeck is like that. A very common question from readers is, therefore: can I prepare the yeast dough the night before? Or bake the yeast plait a day earlier? Here are my answers:
The yeast dough is rolled out relatively thinly and filled. The layer of dough can therefore dry out more quickly than with a thick, dense yeast plait. This is why, by the way, this protective layer of sugar syrup is brushed on top here, it is supposed to protect the babka from too much air and dryness. However, I wouldn’t bake them entirely the day before, I just love soft yeast pastries too much.
PREPARE THE YEAST DOUGH THE EVENING BEFORE: THIS IS HOW IT WORKS
But: you can prepare the yeast dough for the babka in the evening and let it rise in the fridge overnight. Anyway! This is how it works: Mix the dough together as described in my recipe and only let it rise for an hour. Then put it in the fridge overnight. Then take it out of the fridge the next morning and let it come to room temperature before you start the filling.
FREEZE YEAST BRAID AND BABKA
In addition, I’ve heard that finished babkas and other yeast braids can be frozen fabulously. I’m not much of a freezer, I only have two small freezer compartments in the fridge, but here’s how it works for those who are freezer aficionados:
Let the baked babkas cool down. Then place in a sealable freezer bag. If you take it out of the freezer to be able to eat it, simply let it thaw in the foil for a few hours. Preheat the oven to 160°C top and bottom heat, then bake the babka in it for 8-10 minutes. I’ve also read that you can simply warm them up in the microwave after they have reached room temperature.
So there is nothing wrong with baking two babkas at once and freezing one of them for big hunger pangs. Tada!
If you want to get started right away: here is the recipe for soft chocolate babka with hazelnut brittle (which you can of course omit if you have a problem with hazelnut brittle).
RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE BABKA WITH HAZELNUT BRITTLE. A CHOCOLATE BUN
INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE YEAST DOUGH:
100ml milk
350g strong flour (type 550)
1 packet of dry yeast
60g sugar
1 egg lightly whisked
100g softened butter (plus a little more to prepare the loaf pan)
FOR THE CHOCOLATE FILLING:
60g softened butter in small pieces
60g good quality dark chocolate (I used 65% cocoa content here), finely chopped
25g brown sugar
15g baking cocoa powder
1 pinch of salt
1 handful of hazelnut brittle
FOR THE SYRUP:
50g fine sugar
50ml water
PREPARATION:
Warm the milk on the stove, but do not bring it to a boil. Only let it get lukewarm.
Put the flour, yeast, sugar, beaten egg, warmed milk and butter cubes in a mixing bowl of the food processor and knead with the dough hook for 5-10 minutes. The dough should pull away easily from the edge of the bowl. Shape it into a ball and place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with cling film and a kitchen towel while still warm and leave to rise for about 2 hours.
Towards the end of the rising time, prepare the delicious chocolate filling. To do this, slowly melt all the ingredients except for the hazelnut brittle in a small saucepan over very low heat (I usually switch to 2 of 9), stir and make sure nothing burns. Once everything has turned into a nice, smooth chocolate mass, remove the pot from the stove.
Place the risen yeast dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out with a rolling pin (*Amazon Partnerlink) to an approx. 25x40cm rectangle. Make sure that the dough always separates well from the surface, it is best to lift it up a little and possibly add more flour underneath.
Put the chocolate mixture on the dough and smooth it out, preferably leaving a border of 1.5 cm all around. Spread the hazelnut brittle on top. Then roll up the dough tightly from one long side, do not squeeze too much.
