Cranberries, candied oranges, spices and chocolate. That’s everything Christmasy in a soft and delicious babka! Spiced Chocolate Christmas babka is a perfect winter treat!
What all goes in?
To make this babka christmasy you’ll need –
- Dried Cranberries
- Candied Oranges
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Cocoa powder
How to make Spiced Chocolate Christmas Babka?
- Make Brioche dough – Giving the bread enough time to rise both the times is important, as an under proofed bread could lead to leaking of the filling and dense inside.
2. Make the spiced chocolate filling – To make the chocolate filling creaming the butter and sugar till fluffy is important. The spices add great subtle flavour to the filling.
3. Shape the babka
How to know when your Babka is baked?
To check if the bread is baked, one can use a thermometer. The inside of the baked bread should read about over 93 degrees C or 200 degrees F. Also, you could remove the bread from the mould and tap the bottom of the bread. A hollow sound indicates that it is baked completely.
Storing Spiced Chocolate Christmas Babka
Wrap the babka in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container at room temperature for upto 7 days.
Check out other Holiday baking ideas –
- Reindeer Sandwich Cookies
- Spiced Orange Cheesecake
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Coffee Date Cake
- Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
- Red Velvet Cookies
- Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Some more bread recipes –
- Cream Cheese And Basil Babka
- Herb Olive Focaccia
- Mexican Coffee Buns
- Matcha Swirl Milk Bread
- Pizza Dough Breadsticks
Spiced Chocolate Christmas Babka
Course: Dessert8
servings30
minutes40
minutes2
minutesCranberries, candied oranges, spices and chocolate. That’s everything Christmasy in a soft and delicious babka! Spiced Chocolate Christmas babka is a perfect winter treat!
Ingredients
- For brioche dough
250 g Bread flour / All Purpose Flour (Maida)
40 g Caster Sugar
½ tbsp Yeast
1 Large egg / 40 ml Whole milk (for eggless)
50 ml Whole Milk
30 ml Water
75 g Unsalted Butter, softened
1 tsp Salt, skip if using salted butter
- Spiced Chocolate Filling
100 g Unsalted Butter, softened
100 g Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
30 g Candied Cranberries, chopped
30 g Candied Oranges, chopped
- To brush
1 tbsp Honey
1/2 tsp Water
Directions
- For brioche dough
- Take 30 ml of luke warm water, add in 1 tsp of sugar and the yeast. Let it sit covered for 5 mins.
- In a stand mixer bowl (attachment – dough hook) or mixing bowl, combine the flour, remaining caster sugar and add in the yeast mixture.
- Add in the milk and egg (More milk for a vegetarian option) and knead the dough.
- Once it all comes together, add in the salt and butter and continue kneading till window pane test comes through. This should take about 10 minutes in a stand mixer and 20 minutes or so by hand.
- Once the window pane test comes through, shape the dough into a smooth ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap.
- Let it rise for one hour or more, till double in size.
- Spiced Chocolate Filling
- In a bowl, combine softened butter, brown sugar and spices. Cream the butter with the help of an electric hand mixer. Once creamy and fluffy and in half of the cranberries and candied oranges, give it a mix till just combined.
- Shaping the babka
- Once the dough is double in size or after 1 hour of letting it rest, punch down the air from the dough and place it on a clean surface dusted with flour.
- With the help of a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a thin rectangle.
- Now spread the spiced chocolate filling on the dough all over.
- Roll the dough tightly into a log. With the help of a serrated knife, cut the log lengthwise into two parts.
- Place the two parts in a ‘ x ’ and twist the two parts around each other to form a braid.
- Place the braid in a greased and lined loaf pan.
- Preheat the oven to 175C/350F
- Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes, OR until it has increased in size.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown on top.
- Once baked, let it cool in the loaf pan for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
- Combine Honey and water in a small bowl. With the help of a pastry brush, brush the top of the babka and sprinkle the remaining chopped cranberries and candied oranges to top.
Notes
- To check if the bread is baked, one can use a thermometer. The inside of the baked bread should read about or over 93 degrees C or 200 degrees F.
- Giving the bread enough time to rise both the times is important, as an under proofed bread could lead to leaking of the filling and dense inside.
Did you try this recipe? We’d love you to rate it below under ‘rate this recipe’ or in the comment section below. Thanks!
