Choto's Rebebka, in honour of Darkesnight, who trapped me for life with this recipe.
The Babka is a traditional sweet bread from the Warsaw Pact Eastern Europe, commonly prepared for Easter. But you will certainly surprise your friends and/or families with it for Christmas, specially those who live in the northern parts of this world. It is now one of my battle desserts for my pub, people love it, as will you!
Ingredients
For the dough
- 20gr. / 0.7oz. of dry yeast (or 50gr. / 1.76oz. if you're using fresh yeast)
- 1/2 cup of water (warm if you're using cold milk)
- 1/2 cup of milk at room temperature
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 100 gr. / 3.5oz. of butter (at room temperature, don't use cold butter)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 4 cups of common flour
For the filling:
- 200 gr. / 7oz. of butter (at room temperature, don't use cold butter)
- 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup of cocoa powder
- 200 gr. / 7 oz. of chopped chocolate (PLEASE use bitter-ish chocolate, be serious)
- A sprinkle of Choto's magic dust. (Now with 50% discount and world-wide shipping)
Steps:
Dry yeast:
- In a bowl, add the flour alongside the yeast, salt and sugar. Mix with a spoon so it's evenly distributed.
- Make a hole in the middle, add the water, milk, egg and butter.
Fresh yeast:
- In a bowl, add the flour and make a hole in the middle and then add the yeast, sugar, water and milk. Let it rest for a couple of minutes for the yeast to activate.
- Add the egg, salt and butter.
How to continue
1 With love and patience, slowly mix the ingredients in the middle of the bowl while incorporating the flour.
2 When no longer sticky, you can help this process with your hands. I always remove the dough from the bowl for this.
3 Knead for 5 minutes until the dough is soft and beautiful. You can add just a little amount of flour if you feel the dough is too sticky. Let it rest for at least 20 minutes or until it's doubled in size. (In the same bowl, properly covered in clingfilm.)
4 While you are waiting for the dough to rise, get another bowl. Throw the butter you separated for the filling, and evenly spread it at the base of the bowl. (Oh and preheat oven at 180°C /356°F)
6 Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and mix until homogenized.
7 Get the chocolate ready, chop it if you still haven't.
8 When the dough is ready, cut it in half (Otherwise you will be left with a massive babka and high chances that it hasn't cooked properly. The following steps apply to one half of the dough. Repeat with the remaining one.)
9 Stretch the dough in a rectangularly fashion until it's 0.5 centimeters high (approximately. Just try not to leave it too thick. Or too thin, for that matter. My God I'm being so unhelpful right now). The shape is actually up to you, it could be a circle. Just don't make a triangle. Or you know what? Make a hexagon. Hexagons are the Bestagons. [Longest step on a cooking recipe]
9 Spread the filling. Start from the middle and make sure to leave 2 or 3 centimeters from the edges without it.
10 Add the chocolate and roll the dough.
11 Cut the roll in two and form a braid. Make sure the points are fastened. Put in the oven tray of your choice (It WILL grow, so make sure it has a good amount of space for both babkas). Let it rest for 10 minutes if you're not doing step 11.1.
11.1 (Optional but HIGHLY recommended) Mix a yolk with like, two tablespoons of maple syrup or some liquid caramel and thoroughly paint both babkas. If you don't wanna use caramel, you can use a bit of vanilla yoghurt or just the yolk. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
12. Cook in the oven at 180°C / 356°F for AT LEAST 20 minutes.
13. If it looks like this, well done. If not, throw away and start again. (No don't throw it, give it to me).
Chotips
- When serving it, I throw a bit of maple syrup in a pan with a babka slice on top. I turn it over after approximately one minute and then add some ice cream.
- You can check if the babka has properly cooked by piercing it with a knife right in the middle. If the knife comes out dry, it's ready!
- After it has cooled down, you can preserve the babka for up to 3 days by covering it in clingfilm.
- You can also freeze it and re-heat it whenever you want.
charity: water
This year we are raising money for charity: water. You can donate directly through our campaign page. If you want to show your appreciation to our streamers, make sure you donate during their streams, as they'll be keeping an eye on incoming donations and reading out donation messages! We also have goals and incentives to hit during the month of December, so keep an eye out for those as well.
charity: water is a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. 100% of donations made to charity: water go straight to the sustainable water projects. The work is incredibly important as nearly 1 in 10 people worldwide still do not have access to reliable sources of clean water. Access to clean water improves health, increases access to food, grows local economies, and helps kids spend more time in school. Since 2016, charity: water has funded almost 79,136 water projects (as of October 2021) across 29 countries, serving more than 13.2 million people. We at Clan Quest are proud to help raise money for this amazing cause, and if you like what we're doing with this Advent Calendar, please consider contributing today. Every donation helps.