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The 4th Bake Off Box for May 2021 contained the ingredients and recipe for Paul’s Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka! You may recall that this was the technical challenge in “Chocolate Week” of last year’s Bake Off – so this bake also ticks off another technical challenge on my bucket list!
This Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka was the best Bake Off Box recipe by far! It’s sweet, sticky and chocolatey – all folded into a lovely soft enriched dough! Definitely one of my favourites so far and I will 100% be making this again!
The full review of this month’s box and equipment can be found here, and make sure to check out my other Bake Off Box recipes and reviews here:
- Bake Off Box #1 | February 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #1 | Signature Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Bake Off Box #1 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #2 | March 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #2 | Mini Walnut and Banana Loaf Cakes Recipe
- Bake Off Box #2 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #3 | April 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #3 | Lemony Lemon Slices Recipe
- Bake Off Box #3 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #4 | May 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #4 | Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka Recipe
- Bake Off Box #4 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #5 | June 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #5 | Bakewell Tart with Feathered Icing
- Bake Off Box #5 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #6 | July 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #6 | Strawberry and Vanilla Sandwich Biscuits
- Bake Off Box #6 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #7 | August 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #7 | Passion Fruit Éclairs (with Meringue Kisses)
- Bake Off Box #7 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #8 | September 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #8 | Salted Caramel and Chocolate Mini Rolls
- Bake Off Box #8 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #9 | October 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #9 | Focaccia with Olives, Garlic & Rosemary
- Bake Off Box #9 | Unboxing and Baking Video
- Bake Off Box #10 | November 2021 | Review
- Bake Off Box #10 | Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Custard
- Bake Off Box #10 | Unboxing and Baking Video
Watch the Unboxing and Baking Video here:
What is a Babka?
A Babka is a traditional Jewish bake. In Yiddish, bubbe means Grandma, and is said to give name to this bakes as the folds and swirls inside the bread are like the folds in a Grandma’s skirt. I don’t quite see that but hey – I’m not complaining it tastes great!
Babka is made from an enriched dough, which means that in addition to the usual flour, yeast, salt and water of a traditional bread dough, the dough also contains all or a few of the following: eggs, milk and butter. This adds to the “richness” of the dough, yielding a light, soft and buttery texture. However, all these ingredients slow down the growth of the yeast, which is why enriched dough requires longer proofing times. Patients is key – but it is worth it in the end!
This babka is filled with a rich chocolate filling and toasted crunchy hazelnuts – think of it like Nutella in a bread! What could be better! This Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka is perfect for an afternoon treat dunked in tea of coffee! It is very similar to the German Nusszopf, which is more on the nutty than on the chocolate side. Definitely worth a try, so check out the recipe here!
How to make the Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka
This Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka requires a little skill, but hopefully the recipe instructions and the video will help you along the way!
The first step is to make the dough. Take your time kneading as it is important to build up the gluten in the dough, so if you are unsure make sure you check out this video here to learn my technique for kneading bread dough. The butter is incorporated once the dough is already fairly smooth. This stage will require patients working with a sticky dough, but bear with it and try not to add too much additional flour!
Toasting the hazelnuts is very straightforward and the chocolate filling is very quick and easy to make – just make sure it is cool before you spread it over the dough so that it doesn’t melt the butter. The trickiest part is cutting and shaping the dough, so make sure to follow the picture guide or the instructions in my video if you are unsure!
After that, all it takes is a little more proving to make sure the dough is light and airy, before baking the babka, spreading it with some sugary syrup and eating it!
Would I make any changes to this recipe?
Those of you who read my recipes more regularly will know that I find it hard to stick to recipes 100% and like to add my own little twist to things! So far, I have had a few different suggestions of how I would alter (dare I say improve…?!) the recipes from the Bake Off Box, but this Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka recipe is nigh on perfect! The only thing I might do is add a few more hazelnuts – but maybe that’s just me being gready!
I have made something similar to this Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka before, as the Germans make something very close to a Babka, called a “Hefezopf” (enriched dough plait) which is often filled with a chocolate, nut or poppy seed filling! I love making the nut-filled one, in fact, it is one of my Dad’s favourites so I make it a lot for him. Instead of making a “Nusszopf“, i.e. the plait, you can also cut the roll into slices and make nut swirls, or “Nussschnecken” (nut snails) as they are called in German!
More Technical Challenge Recipes from the Great British Bake Off
I am trying to bake every technical challenge ever attempted on the Bake Off (within reason, I’m obviously not building fires in the garden to make pitta bread) and this recipe actually ticks off another item on the list! This was the technical challenge on the 2020 Bake Off for week 4 which was called “Chocolate Week” (love it!). If you’re interested in some of the other Bake Off technicals I have tried, check out the recipes below:
- Mary Berry’s Religieuses
- Mary Berry’s Fraisier Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Hand-raised Chicken, Bacon and Apricot Pies
- Mary Berry’s Bakewell Tart with feathered Icing
- Paul’s Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
- Mary Berry’s Frosted Walnut Layer Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Cottage Loaf
- Mary Berry’s Homemade Jaffa Cakes
- Paul Hollywood’s Wagon Wheel Biscuits
- Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Mini Pork Pies
- Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirls
- Prue’s Vegan Chocolate and Raspberry Tarts (S2UC Special)
- Pizza Star Bread (Junior Bake Off)
- Mary Berry’s Coffee and Walnut Battenberg Cake
- Paul’s Crusty White Cob
- Paul Hollywood’s Rainbow Bagels
- Prue Leith’s Malt Loaf
- Paul’s Jammy Biscuits
- Paul Hollywood’s Olive Ciabatta Bread Sticks with Homemade Tzatziki
- Prue Leith’s Sticky Toffee Puddings with Sesame Tuiles
- Prue Leith’s Prinzregententorte
- Paul Hollywood’s Baklava (22cm)
- Paul’s Caramel Biscuit Bars (Twix)
- Prue Leith’s Vegan Sausage Rolls
- Prue’s Sablé Breton Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Sticky Belgian Buns
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Prue’s Garibaldi Biscuits with Feathered Chocolate Icing
- Paul Hollywood’s Pain au Raisins
- Paul’s Spicy Beef Tacos
- Paul Hollywood’s S’mores
- Prue Leith’s Pistachio Praline Ice Cream Cones
- Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Prue’s Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry Tarts
- Paul Hollywood’s Devonshire Splits
Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka | Bake Off Box #4
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE DOUGH:
- 275g plain flour, plus a little for dusting
- 1 sachet (7g) fast-action dried yeast
- 25g caster sugar
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 2 M eggs
- 50ml milk
- 80g unsalted butter cut into 1cm cubes, at room temperature
FOR THE FILLING:
- 50g blanched hazelnuts
- 75g unsalted butter
- 110g caster sugar
- 60g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 30g cocoa powder
FOR THE SYRUP:
- 100g caster sugar
- 100ml water
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- A little sunflower or vegetable oil, for greasing
- 2lb loaf tin
- Metal dough scraper (optional)
- Rolling pin
- Small palette knife (optional)
- Silicone pastry brush
Method:
- To make the dough, weigh the flour into a bowl, then add the yeast to one side and the caster sugar and salt to the other. Mix with the flour on their respective sides, before mixing all of the dry ingredients together and making a well in the middle.
- Whisk the eggs with the milk and pour into the well, then start bringing everything together using your hands or a knife until the ingredients come together into a rough dough.
- Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead for 5-8 minutes until smooth.
- Flatten the dough into a rough circle, then start kneading in the room-temperature butter, a few cubes at a time, until the dough is soft and slightly sticky. Continue to knead the dough (you may want to dust your work surface a little bit if the dough is very sticky, but try not to add too much additional flour) until smooth and glossy.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, then cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hour until roughly doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and tip the hazelnuts onto a clean roasting tray. Once hot, toast the hazelnuts in the oven for 4-5 minutes, turning half-way through. Set aside and leave to cool slightly before roughly chopping half, and finely chopping the other half of the hazelnuts.
- In the meantime, place the butter, caster sugar and chocolate for the filling into a small saucepan and set over a medium heat. Gently melt until the mixture is smooth, then remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder. Leave to cool and thicken slightly while the dough is proving.
- Lightly grease the loaf tin with some melted butter or non-stick baking spray and line it with a long strip of baking paper, leaving an overhang at each side.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto your work surface. Knock the dough back by pressing out the air using your fingertips or knuckles. Then shape the dough into a rough rectangle.
- Lightly dust the worksurface and your rolling pin with a little flour then roll the dough into a 30x35cm rectangle. Keep moving and turning the dough as you go to stop it from sticking to the surface.
- If the chocolate mixture has hardened too much, quickly beat it with a wooden spoon to soften it into a spreadable consistency. Spoon the mixture onto the dough, then use a small palette knife or the back of a metal spoon to spread it into a thin even layer, leaving a 1cm border around the edges. Then sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts.
- Roll the dough up tightly from the longer edge so that the seam is at the bottom, then neaten up the edges. Turn the dough by 90° so it is positioned vertically down the middle of your worksurface (see video).
- Trim about 2cm off each end to neaten (you can keep the end bits and bake them later as a small snack). Use a large knife to cut down the length of the dough roll to divide it into two long pieces.
- Turn each piece so that the cut side is facing upwards, then pinch together the ends at the top. Gently lift one half over the other and repeat this process until you get to the bottom to make a two-stranded plait. Then pinch together the ends and tuck them under.
- Carefully lift the babka into the prepared loaf tin, then cover with a tea towel and leave to prove again for 1-2 hours until doubled in size and puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan. Once hot and the babka has risen, bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/150°C fan and bake for a further 25-30 minutes. The babka should be browned on top and a skewer inserted should come out clean. Place the tin on a wire rack to cool while you make the syrup.
- Add 100ml of water and the caster sugar to a small pot and gently heat until the sugar has dissolved. Then bring the syrup to a boil and leave for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool and thicken for 10 minutes.
- Brush the syrup over the babka while it is still warm, then leave it in the tin to cool completely (1-2 hours).
- Carefully lift the babka out of its tin by the overhanging baking paper, peel away the paper and slice to serve.
