Cinnamon Chocolate Coffee Cake Or Babka Food

CHOCOLATE CHUNK-CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Combine chocolate, nuts, cinnamon and 2/3 cup sugar; set aside. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• Beat butter and remaining sugar in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Beat in flour mixture alternately with sour cream.
• Pour half the batter into 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray; top with half the chocolate mixture. Repeat layers.
• Bake 40 to 45 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

CHOCOLATE BABKA

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: In a small saucepan or a bowl in the microwave, warm the milk until it's lukewarm but not hot (about 110 degrees). Add yeast and a pinch of sugar and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until slightly foamy.
• In an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, or in a food processor, mix together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, the salt, the vanilla, the lemon zest (if using) and the nutmeg. (If you don't have a mixer or processor, use a large bowl and a wooden spoon.) Beat or process in the yeast mixture and eggs until the dough comes together in a soft mass, about 2 minutes. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl and doesn't come together, add a tablespoon more flour at a time until it does, beating very well in between additions.
• Add half the butter and beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Beat in the rest of the butter and continue to beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and stretchy, another 5 to 7 minutes. Again, if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Butter a clean bowl, form the dough into a ball and roll it around in the bowl so all sides are buttered. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place (inside of a turned-off oven with the oven light on is good) until it puffs and rises, about 1 to 2 hours. It may not double in bulk but it should rise.
• Press the dough down with your hands, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight (or, in a pinch, for at least 4 hours, but the flavor won't be as developed).
• Prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Scrape mixture into a bowl. Stir in chocolate, butter and vanilla until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. Filling can be made up to a week ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge. Let come to room temperature before using.
• Prepare the streusel: In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Stir in melted butter until it is evenly distributed and forms large, moist crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. Streusel can be prepared up to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge.
• Prepare the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 2/3 cup/158 milliliters water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
• Butter two 9-inch loaf pans, then line with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches of paper hanging over on the sides to use as handles later.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll one piece into a 9-by-17-inch rectangle. Spread with half the filling (there's no need to leave a border). Starting with a long side, roll into a tight coil. Transfer the coil onto a dish towel or piece of plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
• Slice one of the dough coils in half lengthwise to expose the filling. Twist the halves together as if you were braiding them, then fold the braid in half so it's about 9 inches long. Place into a prepared pan, letting it curl around itself if it's a little too long for the pan. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy (it won't quite double). Alternatively, you can cover the pans with plastic wrap and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight; bring them back to room temperature for an hour before baking.
• When you're ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use your fingers to clump streusel together and scatter all over the tops of the cakes. Transfer to oven and bake until a tester goes into the cakes without any rubbery resistance and comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. The cakes will also sound hollow if you unmold them and tap on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer will read between 185 and 210 degrees.
• As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, use a skewer or paring knife to pierce them all over going all the way to the bottom of the cakes, and then pour the syrup on top of the cakes, making sure to use half the syrup for each cake.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

CINNAMON CHOCOLATE COFFEE CAKE - OR BABKA

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar until smooth.
• Add vanilla and slightly beaten egg yolks and mix about 2 minutes until fluffy.
• Add flour and yeast and stir slightly.
• Add the milk and mix on low speed to make a soft dough, adding flour as needed or milk.
• Knead for 4 minutes before tipping onto counter.
• Stretch the dough into a rectangle and fold letter style top to bottom and side to side.
• Place dough in straight sided container, cover and rest 15 minutes.
• Stretch and fold again, resting 15 more minutes.
• Allow dough to rise 1.5 times its volume to double its volume.
• Roll dough out to a 12 inch by 12 inch rectangle.
• Make filling by placing frozen chocolate chips and cinnamon in a food processor and process to a grandular consistency. Add cold butter and pulse until well mixed.
• Spread mixture on dough, leaving a 1/4 inch rim uncoated.
• Roll dough into a rope like cylinder without stretching the length beyond 15 inches.
• Cut the rope into 2 15 inch half-cylinders and braid to form a loaf, folding in the ends. Place in an 8 inch x 4.5 inch loaf pan well oiled.
• Preheat oven to 350F while letting loaf rise to 1.5 times its volume.
• Brush with egg white glaze if desired and bake for 50 minutes to an hour and 10 minutes, until the internal temperature is 180F to 200°F.
• To prevent over browning due to the sugar in this recipe, cover loosely for at least half the time with aluminum foil while baking.
• Let cool completely before serving.

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE BABKA

Steps:

• For the Mexican chocolate babka dough: In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and cinnamon. Add the milk and eggs and mix with the dough hook to combine. With the mixer running, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until it is incorporated into the dough. The butter should be soft and pliable but not melty. When all the butter is incorporated, knead/mix, stopping to scrape the hook, sides and bottom of the bowl every few minutes, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky, another 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, flip over to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest and rise until it's doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• For the Mexican chocolate babka filling: In a medium bowl with a stiff rubber spatula, mix together the sugar, butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili powder and salt until combined. Add the oil to smooth it out to a spreadable consistency. Taste and add more chili powder if you like more heat. Reserve at room temperature.
• Grease a pullman loaf pan or standard loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment so that it comes up 2 of the sides and overhangs by an inch. On a clean countertop, roll the dough out into a 10-by-22-inch rectangle. The dough should be slightly sticky, but if it's too sticky to work with, you can dust with a little flour. Spread a thin even layer of filling all over the dough, reserving about 2 tablespoons of it. Roll the dough the long way into a tight log and cut it in half so you have 2 shorter logs. Spread the top of one of the logs with the reserved filling and then twist the logs together. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan, cover with plastic, and let rise until puffy and risen by about half, another 30 to 40 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Gently brush the top of the babka with heavy cream. Bake until the top is deep golden brown, about 50 minutes.
• For the simple syrup: Meanwhile, combine the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan and warm until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• When the babka comes out of the oven, brush the simple syrup over the top. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack to continue cooling. Of course, you should try it while it's still warm!! To store, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature. This is best within a day or two--after that, use it for French toast!

CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON BABKA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 and grease two loaf pans.
• To make chocolate filling:
• In the bowl of a food processor (I use a mini-prep for this), chop the broken up chocolate, cinnamon and sugar until the mixture looks coarse and sandy. If you do not have a food processor, simply chop the chocolate finely and mix with cinnamon and sugar.
• Cut in the butter or margarine with a fork.
• To make streusel:.
• In a medium bowl, combine the confectioner's sugar and flour, then cut in the butter or margarine until it resembles coarse crumbs.
• To assemble:.
• Roll out the dough as thinly as possible on a lightly floured surface to form a 15x4 inch rectangle (the thinner you roll out the dough, the greater the swirl effect inside).
• Sprinkle the dough evenly with the filling then roll up tightly lengthwise so that you are left with a long log. Seal the seam if you can.
• To create the swirl: fold the log in half (it should look like a squished letter 'U') and then twist the 'U' a few times so it looks like a twisted rope.
• Immediately place the shaped loaf into a greased loaf pan and set aside to rise for 30 min or so.
• Brush the loaves with the egg wash, then sprinkle heavily with the streusel topping.
• Place the loaves on a baking sheet (never bake without something underneath - as the cake rises, the streusel can tumble out of the pan onto the oven floor, creating a smoky mess) and bake for 30-40 min, depending on the size of your loaves. They should be a deep golden brown on top.

CINNAMON CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the butter, oil and chocolate. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat. Add the water; pour into a mixing bowl. Cool to room temperature. Beat in the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; add to the chocolate mixture alternately with buttermilk. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 350° until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Remove to a wire rack. , In a small saucepan, combine the butter, milk and chocolate. Cook and stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth; fold in pecans. Spread over warm cake. If desired, sprinkle with additional chopped pecans.