Babkallah

A cross between a babka and a challah, this babkallah recipe consists of a quick-and-easy to make dough, filled with an absolutely scrumptious orange, cardamom and chocolate filling!

Babkallah. Credit: Savour School

• serves

  8

• prep

  1 hour

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Dough

• 115 g (4.06oz) full cream (whole) milk
• 8 g (0.28oz) instant dry yeast (see Note)
• 5 g (0.18oz) caster (superfine) sugar (A)
• 390 g (13.76oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 60 g (2.12oz) caster (superfine) sugar (B)
• 9 g (0.32oz) salt
• 4 g (0.14oz) vanilla bean paste
• 80 g (2.82oz) egg yolks
• 115 g (4.06oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

Cardamom, orange and chocolate filling

• 70 g (2.47oz) brown sugar
• 5 g (0.18oz) salt
• 2 g (0.07oz) orange zest
• 1.5 g (0.05oz) ground cardamom
• 45 g (1.59oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 150 g (5.29oz) good quality dark chocolate (e.g. Callebaut 811 Dark Coverture 54.5%), chopped

Assembly

• Vegetable oil spray
• Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Rising time: about 4.5 hours, total.

Instructions

1. For the dough: Heat the milk to 40˚C (104˚F). Add the yeast to the warm milk followed by sugar (A) and mix to combine. Allow the yeast mixture to ferment at room temperature for approximately 5 minutes.
2. Place the flour, sugar (B) and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment and combine. Add the vanilla, egg yolks and yeast mixture to the flour and begin to mix on low speed. Using a spatula, mix the room temperature butter until it is soft, pliable and comes together. Add the butter to the dough and mix on a medium speed for up to 15 minutes. The dough will be ready when you test a piece and can stretch it to achieve a transparent window.
3. Gently roll the dough into a ball and place it into a large bowl then cover with plastic wrap. Allow to prove at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until it has risen another 80% in size.
4. Gently knock back the dough before dividing it into 3 equal portions, approximately 250 g (8.82 oz) per portion. Form the dough into 3 loaves and lightly cover them with a piece of plastic wrap. Allow the loaves to rest on the bench at room temperature for approximately 5 minutes.
5. For the filling: Place the brown sugar, salt, orange zest and cardamom in a bowl and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, mix the room temperature butter until it is soft and pliable.
6. Roll one portion of the dough to a rectangle of approximately 20 cm x 30 cm. Leaving a 2 cm boarder, spread one third of the butter over the pastry. Sprinkle a third of the sugar mixture over the butter and spread out evenly using an angled palette knife. Sprinkle one third of the chocolate evenly over the sugar mixture. Roll the dough lengthways into a log. Pinch each end and along the seam to seal the dough. Roll the log to 38 cm in length tapering the ends slightly. Repeat this process with the remaining 2 loaves of dough.
7. Line a baking tray with a Silpain baking mat or similar. Lightly spray the mat and a 23 cm x 10 cm x 4.5 cm rectangle baking ring with vegetable oil. (Alternatively, use a similar sized loaf tin).
8. Plait the pieces of dough by joining the three ends and intertwining them. Transfer the babkallah onto the prepared tray. Place the rectangle ring over the babkallah, gently adjusting the dough to fit. (Or place in loaf tin.) Cover the babkallah with a sheet of plastic wrap and set aside to prove at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, until it has risen by approximately 30% in size.
9. Heat the oven to 190˚C (170˚C / 338˚F fan forced).
10. Brush a small amount of water on top of the babkallah and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. Allow to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before removing it from the ring/tin. Transfer the babkallah to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Notes

• You can substitute the 8g instant dry yeast 8 g dry yeast or 12.8 g fresh yeast.
• Check the babkallah halfway through baking. If the top appears to be browning too quickly, reduce the oven temperature.

Kirsten Tibballs generously shared this recipe with SBS Food when we had a chat to her about all things babka – it’s an example of the recipes available to students in the online classes offered by her Savour Chocolate & Patisseries School. You can see a short video of Kirsten making the babkallah here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.