Babka

As we waited for the dough to rise, Lawrence fired up the Seinfeld episode, “She Got the Babka”.  Suffice it to say, sometimes baking at home is best!

Last weekend, the thought of a babka for Sunday popped in my head.  My pantry held all the essentials, even chocolate, so I ran upstairs to my office in search of two pages I was pretty sure were in my “do sometime” pile:  Daniel Boulud’s babka from Elle Decor.  Ta da!

“Daniel’s Dish” is the primary reason I’m a subscriber to this magazine.  You can trust Daniel Boulud on delicious.

I won’t call it an easy project.  But if you enjoy baking, it’s fun.  (And need I mention how divine chocolate tastes with bread??)  If you’re game, start before it gets too late in the day so you have time to mix the brioche-like dough and let it rise for 2 hours.  After that, you can stash it in the fridge for overnight and start on phase 2 (“chocolate”)  in the morning, which ends with another couple hour rise.  If you’re intent on eating babka for early morning breakfast, make it the day before, it stays fresh for at least 2 or 3 days.

Here’s the best part:  twisting the ropes of dough and layering them in the pan:

Dough rectangles, spread with chocolate, rolled up, then twisted together

Recipe adapted from original by Daniel Boulud, published in Elle Decor March 2017.