Chocolate Babka

Recipe by Food and Wine

Process-

Wow wow wow. I started the process yesterday around 2pm and just finished and it’s 6:00pm. The dough sat in the refrigerator for 24 hours. This truly is a labor of love and worth every minute. I’m not going to bore you with every detail of this because it’s pretty detailed, not difficult, just a lot of steps, but the one thing I will tell you is the most difficult part of the recipe was making the dough into a square. I still can’t do it, but to be fair I haven’t googled any tricks though. I was trying to figure out how to do it on my own, but I’m getting to the point where that’s not going to fly anymore.

If you like baking -this bread is so gratifying to make and tastes delicious also VERY IN and trendy.

Taste-

Lots of chocolate in this bad boy- milk and semi sweet. There’s also honey. Chocolate, honey and yeasty bread are like two peas in pod- well more like 3 peas in a pod. The outside of the loaf is so crispy and chocolaty and inside is like a soft pillow. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be like that or if I under baked it, either way it’s working for me.

Random Thoughts:

If you know me well, you know I’ve always wanted to be Jewish. I’ve thought of converting, but I feel like if I wasn’t born into it I won’t intrude and admire the culture from afar. I love everything Jewish- part of the reason I made this babka and every time I see it in the store, it has tree nuts in it and I’m VERY allergic. Like throat swells up, I can’t breath, and sick for more than 24 hours. Just in case you were wondering.

Are we watching GBBO? if you are there is a girl on there named Lotti and she was complaining on the last episode about how baking recipes always ask you to make the dough into a circle then roll into a square- I’ve been wondering the same thing!!! It’s not easy to roll dough into a square! (as I said above)

It’s my bday week! WOOHOO! I turn 34 on Saturday. It’s crazy how time flies huh? I’m a walking Idiom ugh. I thank my mom for that.

As I said in my last post I’m making myself a birthday cake and really juiced. It’s going to take me all day but I have nothing else to do. Shag cake here I come!

I sold out of my treat boxes! I’ll be making them next Tuesday and delivering to everyone the follwing wednesday. I’m nervous. It’s going to be a lot of work. I also have some custom orders coming in! When I started this blog I didn’t start it to bake treats for people and didn’t think it would go that route, but I’m taking what I can get!

Get ready for the SHAG CAKE!
-JLM