Chocolate Babka Recipe

Yesterday morning I sadly flew home, back to London after a few days working in Sicily, where I took as much time as I could to eat gelato and enjoy the weather . It was a whirlwind of a trip, travelling across the island, seeing and eating as much as possible. I was busy working so unfortunately didn't get to explore as much as I would normally like but of course I did manage to sneak away from my duties to get hold of some local ingredients to bring home to bake with, I'm talking hazelnuts, lemons, oregano and of course pistachios, possibly one of the most well known Sicilian ingredients. Next time I visit I want to go to the source and explore Bronte. Whilst I was on the island I tried pistachio in gelato, granita (my new favourite thing), cannoli and even in a few savoury dishes. Of course I wanted to use the nuts in a recipe and the one that sprung to mind is one that I have been meaning to share for far too long. Over the last five or so years as the trend for Babka has come and maybe even gone, I totally fell in love with them. A swirled loaf packed full of chocolate and nuts then soaked in syrup, whats not to like? My version is fairly standard, a soft brioche style dough enriched with butter and eggs, swirled together with a mixture of butter and chocolate, covered in pistachios and baked. The dough I use is based on my cinnamon bun dough but with more egg and a touch more butter. I find that using a dough that is light on the additions of butter and egg makes for a much drier loaf because the dough is rolled fairly thin it can have a tendency to dry out so a properly enriched dough really helps make the perfect babka.

When it comes to the filling I have taken a big queue from the recipe for Krantz Cake in Ottolenghi's book Jerusalem. I have tried many versions over the years and his is by far the best so I have based my recipe on that version, although there are a couple key differences but these mainly come down to flavour preference and ease of making. 

Like many recipes for Babka this makes two loaves and while you could of course reduce the recipe in two I love the ability to have one of these loaves in the freezer ready to whip out when needed. 

Chocolate and Pistachio Babka

Babka Dough
600g plain flour
7g dried yeast
2 tsp salt
30g caster sugar
250ml whole milk
3 large eggs
75g unsalted butter

Chocolate Pistachio Filling
100g pistachios, roughly chopped
50g light brown sugar
30g cocoa powder
120g dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids)
120g unsalted butter, diced
large pinch flaked sea salt

Syrup
200g caster sugar
125ml water

To make the dough place the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix briefly together to combine. Pour in the milk and the eggs and, with the dough hook attached,mix together on low/medium speed for about 10-15 minutes or until the dough is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl and is elastic. With the mixer still running add the butter and mix until fully incorporated into the dough then continue mixing for a further 10-15 minutes or until elastic and no longer sticking to the bowl. Form the dough into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight. 

In the morning start off by making the chocolate filling. Place all of the ingredients except the pistachios into a small saucepan and cook over low heat until fully melted and smooth. Be very careful, stirring constantly, to prevent the chocolate catching on the pan and burning. Set aside for 20 minutes to cool and thicken slightly. 

Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into two equal sized pieces. On a lightly floured worksurface roll out into a rectangle roughly 30x40cm. Spread half of the chocolate mixture all over the dough, leaving a small border around the outside. Roll the dough, along the long edge, into a tight spiral then using a very sharp knife cut through the middle, cutting the dough into two long pieces. Place one piece of dough over the second forming an x then braid together the two pieces of dough. Gently place the babka into a 9x4 loaf pan that has been lightly greased and lined with a strip of parchment paper. Cover the tin with clingfilm and set aside for about an hour and a half or until the dough has about doubled in size. Repeat with the second piece of dough. 

Whilst the loaves are rising preheat the oven to 180C (170C Fan). When risen remove the clingfilm and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown on top. Whilst the loaves bake, make the syrup by placing the sugar and water into a small saucepan and bringing to a simmer. Once the sugar has fully dissolved turn off the heat and set aside until needed. Once the babka has baked remove from the oven and brush liberally with the syrup, it will seem like a lot but trust me and use it all. Allow the loaves to cool fully before cutting into them, otherwise the bread will end up doughy and dense. If you are freezing one of the loaves, once cooled wrap in two layers of clingfilm and a layer of foil. When you come to defrost the loaf leave it at room temperature, still wrapped, for a few hours. This way as the babka defrosts the condensation that forms ends up on the outside of the loaf and doesn't effect the quality. Fresh from the oven the babka will keep for about three days. 

Caramelised White Chocolate Cheesecake Tarts Recipe

I think, after doing this job for eight years now, I have come to recognise when I become besotted with an ingredient and it becomes all I want to use. It has happened with cardamon, passion fruit, caramel and a whole host of ingredients far too long to list. But one ingredient has been a constant, my baking companion, the ingredient I turn more than anything else, and of course that is chocolate. I don't discriminate, I love everything from the candy bars I grew up with to the fanciest single estate, rare bean bar. Chocolate is a magic ingredient and I will never tire of using it. Now when it comes to white chocolate, I love it for different reasons. I do love to eat it occasionally, I like its more simple sweetness, its creamy flavour, it’s comforting almost. Sadly, however, it’s hard to deny that the flavour is a little more one-note, none of the complexity of milk and dark chocolate. That is unless you cook it slowly and caramelise it, and you absolutely want to do that!

I’m not sure I can tell you just how good these tarts taste, you really need to bake a batch yourself. Think a white chocolate cheesecake but which someone has completely slathered in salted caramel, do I really need say more? This recipe uses the joy that is caramelised white chocolate, mainly because I have a small obsession with the stuff. It is dangerously easy to make, it takes the flavour of white chocolate up to a ten, adding a full dulce de leche note to the creamy vanilla notes of the chocolate, and it becomes this golden nectar that you could eat with a spoon. To further complement the flavours in this recipe I have also infused the cream for the ganache with a little spice, some fresh ginger, cinnamon and cardamon. The spicing is on the more subtle side but it really rounds out this recipe wonderfully. 

Caramelised White Chocolate Cheesecake Tarts

12 four inch tart shells, fully baked (use 2x recipe here)

Cheesecake Filling
225g cream cheese
75g sour cream
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
85g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Caramelised White Chocolate Topping
150g white chocolate (30-35% cocoa butter content)
150ml double cream
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1 cardamon pod, lightly crushed

To start this recipe you first need to make the caramelised white chocolate. Whilst this recipe only uses 150g it is easier to make in bigger batches, normally I don’t make less than 300g, thankfully it keeps for months so you can use the extra in a different recipe. 

Preheat the oven to 120C.

Roughly chop the chocolate and place onto a rimmed baking tray and place into the oven for about an hour, to an hour and a half, stirring every ten minutes until the colour has gone from cream to a rich caramel colour. The darker the colour the stronger the flavour change will be and the more caramel like the chocolate will become. Think of making this chocolate the same way you brown butter, it is the milk solids in the white chocolate that caramelise and add such an amazing flavour. When it comes to the stirring, make sure every ten minutes you give the chocolate a thorough stir, making sure to scrape the chocolate from the bottom of the tray otherwise it may catch and burn. As the chocolate cooks don’t worry if the chocolate seems grainy, when you stir it, the chocolate will liquefy again. Once caramelised scrape into a container and set aside until needed. As the chocolate sets, because you haven't tempered it, the chocolate will look streaky and maybe grainy, this is absolutely fine as you’ll be melting the chocolate for the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Before making the cheesecake infuse the cream for the ganache. Add the cream, ginger, cinnamon and cardamon to a small saucepan and set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and set aside to infuse.

When ready to bake these tarts we first need to prevent the pastry from becoming soggy. Take the two leftover egg yolks and beat together and use a pastry brunch to coat the inside of the tart shells with the egg. Place these tart shells into a hot oven for a few minutes until the egg has set. 

For the cheesecake filling, whisk the cream cheese until smooth then add the sour cream, egg, egg whites, sugar and vanilla until the cheesecake mixture is smooth. Scrape the cheesecake filling into a jug and divide evenly amongst the prepared tart shells, filling about two thirds full. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until the cheesecake is set around the edges but still has a little wobble in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to the fridge for 30 minutes.

For the ganache place the cream back over the heat and bring to a simmer. Place the chocolate into a bowl with sieve set over the bowl. Pour the cream through the sieve to remove the spices then set aside for a couple minutes before stirring together to form a smooth silky ganache. Pour the ganache onto the tarts and when the ganache starts to set, sprinkle with a little flaked sea salt.

I find these tarts are best kept in the fridge, which will allow the tart shells to stay crisp longer, around 2-3 days.

Tahini Shortbread Cookies with Salted Honey Ganache

I seem to become easily obsessed with ingredients, some become short lived obsessions some stick around for years. Tahini has become my most recent obsession, I have been sneaking it into as many recipes as I can. The recipe that started this love affair was a chocolate tahini bundt cake that I developed for Olive Magazine (it's still one of my favourites). The combo of chocoalte and tahini is magical, it just works. If you've never had tahini in a sweet recipe think of it playing a similar role to peanut butter, it has a deep roasted sesame flavour and works beautifully in sweet recipes. This cookie recipe was inspired by a picture of shortbread from a bakery in the states; it was thick and simply served, no adornment, no filling, just simply served sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds. In my mind this turned into what we have here, a crisp tahini shortbread sandwiched together with a salted honey ganache and like most recipes that sit on that line of sweet and savoury they're incredibly moreish, they're also slice and bake cookies making them quick and easy to make. 

Tahini Shortbread Cookies with Salted Honey Ganache
Makes about 35 cookies
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
100g tahini
385g plain flour

Salted Honey Ganache
100g dark chocolate (65-75% cocoa solids)
100g double cream
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp flaked sea salt

Decoration
1 large egg white
a mix of black and white sesame seeds (2/3 white 1/3 black)

To make the cookies place the butter and sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the vanilla and salt. With the paddle attachment beat together for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Scrape in the tahini and mix briefly to combine. Add the flour and mix briefly just until combined, you want to avoid over mixing at this point as the cookies will come out tough. Tip the dough out onto the worksurface and use your hands to bring together into a uniform dough. 

Cut the dough in half and form into thick sausage shapes, roughly 5cm thick. As these are slice and bake cookies you want to get these logs as round as possible, if you want to learn a nice tip on how to do this you can watch the video. Wrap the logs of dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for about 4 hours until firm. 

Preheat the oven to 180C 350F and line three baking trays with parchment paper. 

Using a thin sharp knife cut the cookies into rounds, about 4-5mm thick and place onto the prepared baking trays. Dont worry too much about the cookies spreading, you can leave just a couple cm's between each cookie. Lightly brush each cookie with egg white and sprinkle liberally with the sesame seed mix. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on the baking trays.

For the filling place the cream, honey, tahini and salt into a small saucepan and over medium heat bring to a simmer. Make sure to stir this mixture regularly as the honey will sink to the bottom of the pan catching and burning quite quickly. Once at a simmer pour the cream mixture into a bowl with the chocolate and sit for a couple minutes before stirring together to form a silky smooth ganache. Set aside until thickened enough to hold its shape then scrape into a piping back and pine rounds of ganache onto half of the cookies, sandwiching together with a second cookie. 

Over the time the ganache will soften the cookies so I prefer to keep these in a sealed container in the fridge, where they will keep for up to four days. 

Brownie Crinkle Cookies

First off let me apologise for the sheer amount of teasing I did with this recipe, over on Instagram I have been telling you this recipe was on its way, far too many times. The simple reason being that whilst it fudgy, rich and delicious after the first test I wanted to make sure the texture was spot on each and every time it was baked. I wanted to get the texture perfect, the right amount of spread, the fudgy inside and the shiny glossy top. Turns out this cookie, being made of a small handful of ingredients and very limited flour, is very susceptiple to changes depending on the temperature of the batter. Let the chocolate and butter cool down too much and the cookies spread way too much, use it while too hot and the cookies loose that beatiful glossy finish and dont spread enough. After many, many tests, every single one a terrible chocolate filled chore, I finally nailed the recipe. I really wanted to make a intensely chocolate flavoured cookie that had a texture that reminded you of that perfect fudge brownie. What I was trying to avoid however was a recipe that needed a prolonged chilling stage, in fact I wanted to avoid chilling completely if possible, I need my cookie fix way quicker than that! And that isnt to say a cookie like this that is chilled cant be fabulous, this recipe itself is based off my rye chocolate cookies from Olive Magazine which are chilled for 4 hours before baking and they are fabulous. After a lot of tinkering I am finally happy with the cookie and I cannot wait to see you guys making it, and with Easter weekend coming up fast this would be the perfect thing to make.

Note
Just a quick note on ingredients before I get to the recipe. For this cookie, with so few ingredients, it is really important to use good quality products. For the chocolate stick to something that a) you love the taste of and b) is around the 70% cocoa content mark. This isn't about the notion that 70% cocoa is an indicator of quality, it really isn't, it's more so that it tells you more about what the chocolate is made up of. If you use a 45% chocolate, for example, that's a lot more sugar and will change the texture of the cookies, and trust me these cookies, whilst incredibly simple to make, don't like being messed around with that much. The second important ingredient to choose carefully is the cocoa powder. I used the dutched cocoa rouge from Guittard because it has a deep rich flavour and colour. If you use a natural cocoa instead it wont lend the same colour or intensity of flavour. Now I know a lot of you are know saying, 'what on earth is dutched cocoa' and simply put, it is cocoa powder that has been treated with an alkali that darkens the colour and makes for a richer cocoa. If you are in the UK, or really anywhere in Europe thankfully this is generally what is available, but if you are in the US look for a cooca that mentions that mentions an alkali or calls itself dutched cocoa. Just avoid anything labeled natural, it wont be as good in this recipe. If the cocoa really doesnt give any indicator of wheter it is dutched or not look at the colour, generally speaking dutched cocoa has a deeper darker brown colour, less bright and red than natural cocoa. If you want more info about this, check out this great piece on Serious Eats

Brownie Crinkle Cookies
Makes 10

200g dark chocolate (around 65-70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
125g unsalted butter, diced
150g caster sugar
100g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
130g plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder (dutch processed)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (plus flaked sea salt for sprinkling)

Temperature and timing is very important with this recipe so before you start get all the ingredients weighed out, two baking trays lined with parchment paper and the oven preheated to 180C (160C fan) 350F.

Place the butter and chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a pan and gently simmering water. Allow to melt, stirring occasionally until fully melted. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside for the moment. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or using an electric hand mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugars, on medium-high speed, for exactly 5 minutes. Once the eggs have been mixing for exactly 5 minutes pour in the chocolate mixture and mix for a minute or so to combine. Meanwhile mix together the dry ingredients, sieving the cocoa powder if it has lots of lumps. Add the dry ingredients and mix very briefly just until combined. Use your spatula to give one last mix, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is evenly combined. Use a ice cream scoop to form the cookies. The batter will be a little on the wet side, so invert the cookie scoop just above the baking tray to avoid spills. Make sure to leave plenty of space between each cookie as they will spread. Sprinkle each cookie with a little flaked sea salt before placing into the oven and baking for 12 minutes. The cookies will come out of the oven with that wonderful crinkled look and slightly domed. They will collapse a little as they cool but this helps form that perfect fudgy centre. The cookies will be very soft so allow them to cool on the baking trays for at least 20-30 minutes before removing from the tray to cool completley. 

These cookies will keep for 4-5 days but will be best within the first 3 days.