Chocolate Babka

Chocolate Babka

Brioche-style dough: bread flour, yeast, milk, eggs, butter, sugar, salt. Kneads 10 min till elastic; rises 1 ½ hours. Chocolate filling: dark chocolate + butter melted with cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, cools to spreadable. Dough divides in half; each rolls to a rectangle 40 × 25 cm; filling spreads to edges; rolls up tight; cuts lengthways down the middle; the two halves twist around each other (the iconic babka braid). Lifts into a buttered loaf tin; rises for 45 min; bakes for 35 min at 180°C. Sugar syrup brushes over hot.

Desserts 4 hours 20 minutes Serves2
Rugelach

Rugelach

Rugelach dough: equal weights butter and cream cheese, beaten together, with flour and salt, like a cream-cheese shortcrust. Chills for 2 hours. Filling (chocolate version): cocoa, sugar, butter, sometimes chopped chocolate. Dough divides into 4 portions; each rolls into a circle 28 cm across; spreads with filling; cuts into 8 triangular wedges like a pizza. Each wedge rolls up from the wide edge toward the point. Brushes with egg wash; dusts with sugar. Bakes for 22 minutes at 180°C.

Desserts 3 hours 10 minutes Serves32