Chocolate Cranberry Babka
- Dough
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold
- 1 tablespoon) active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup warm water (105u0b0 to 115u0b0F.)
- 5 eggs, cold
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- Filling
- 3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup dried cranberries or cherries
- Equipment: 8 to 10 cup tube pan, greased
- To make babka, spread flour in wide baking pan. Freeze at least 30 minutes. Using paddle attachment of a heavy-duty mixer, beat cold butter only until creamy, smooth, and free of lumps when pinched between your fingers. Scrape butter into a mound on wax paper and refrigerate. Proceed with the recipe right away; a long delay will reharden the butter.
- Dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar in warm water. Pour dissolved yeast in mixer bowl. Attach the dough hook. Add remaining 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, salt, and the flour and mix until blended. Knead dough on medium speed for 5 minutes. After kneading period, dough will be very soft, sticky, and elastic. It will all be wrapped around the dough hook. Add the cold creamed butter in several pieces, pushing it into the dough, and beat with the hook until thoroughly incorporated. Stop several times to scrape dough from bowl and hook. Scrape dough into bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- Mix the filling ingredients and cover. Up to 24 hours later, scrape the cold dough out onto a floured surface. Use rolling pin to roll dough into rectangle about 18x12x1/2". Scatter filling evenly over dough, leaving 1" margin on 1 long edge. Moisten margin with water. Beginning at long edge opposite margin, roll dough up like jelly roll. Press firmly to seal roll. With seam facing down, cut 18 slices, each about 1 inch thick.
- Toss the slices gently into the pan, without particularly arranging them. If you lay them flat in the pan, they will not stick together properly. Adjust the slices to reach same level in the pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350u0b0F. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake until top is deeply browned and the bottom of the pan sounds hollow when tapped or until an instant-read thermometer registers 200F, when inserted in the center of the bread, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool on rack.
dough, bread flour, butter, active dry yeast, sugar, warm water, eggs, salt, filling, light brown sugar, semisweet chocolate chips, cocoa, coffee, ground cinnamon, cranberries, tube pan
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/chocolate-cranberry-babka-1267996 (may not work)