Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 15 g Bread flour
- 80 g Whole or 2% milk
Dough
- 330 g Bread flour 2¾ cup
- 6 g Instant yeast 2 tsp
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 2 tsp Granulated sugar
- 1 large Egg room temperature
- 4 tbsp Browned unsalted butter cooled
- 120 g Whole or 2% milk ½ cup, warm, around 100°F
Filling
- 2 tbsp Browned butter
- 56 g Unsalted butter 4 tbsp, softened
- 2 tbsp Black cocoa
- 50 g Granulated sugar ¼ cup
- pinch Sea salt
Instructions
Brown the butter
- Note: This recipe requires 6 total tablespoons of brown butter, separated into 4 tbsp and 2 tbsp sizes. You can either brown all the butter together, and weigh it, and then use ⅔ in the dough and ⅓ in filling, or you can brown them separately. This is up to you which you prefer to do, it will have the exact same result. You will want to do this step first to allow the butter to cool sufficiently.
- Add your butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow butter to melt, then stir continuously. Butter will bubble up and then foam. Then the milk solids will begin to brown. When the butter has become a golden brown and has a nutty aroma, remove from heat immediately and pour into a small bowl to allow to cool.
Make the Tangzhong
- In a small saucepan, whisk together water, milk, and flour. Turn heat to medium and stir with a rubber or silicone spatula.
- After about 90 seconds the mixture will turn into a more pudding like consistency. It is ready when your spatula leaves trails in the pan, where you can see the bottom of the pan.
- Transfer into a small bowl and let cool. Set aside.
Make the dough
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached, add flour, salt, yeast, sugar, egg, cooled tangzhong and warmed milk. Mix on low until a rough, shaggy dough comes together.
- Add in 4 tbsp of cooled brown butter, 2 tbsp at a time. Allow the first half to be fully incorporated into the dough before adding the remainder.
- Mix dough on low/low-medium until the dough is smooth and elastic, passing the window-pane test. If unfamiliar, the window pane test: take a small piece of dough, about the size of a golf ball and stretch out the sides. The dough should be elastic enough that light begins to be visible through the dough before it tears.
- Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Allow to rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
Prepare the filling
- Mix together in a small-medium bowl, softened butter, brown butter, cocoa powder, sugar, and pinch of salt with a spatula or spoon.
- The filling will be a creamy paste. It is fine if the sugar granules are visible but make sure there are no cocoa powder clumps. Set aside.
Shape the babka
- Prepare a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- When dough is ready, punch down and transfer to your workspace. Roll out your dough into roughly a 10x15 rectangle.
- Spread your filling over the dough, leaving about a ½ inch border on the short sides.
- Roll your dough along the short side. When you get to the end, pinch the edge into the dough.
- Taking a knife or bench scraper, cut the dough in half, lengthwise.
- Take your two pieces and wrap them around each other, creating a twist.
- Place your babka into your prepared loaf pan, and cover. Allow to proof for another 30-45 minutes, until it has puffed up in size.
- While your dough is proofing, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- When your babka is ready, place on the center rack of your oven and bake for about 40 minutes. The internal temperature of the bread should be 190°F
- Remove from oven and allow bread to cool in pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow babka to cool COMPLETELY before cutting into it. This may take several hours, but cutting into bread while it is hot may leave you with a gummy texture.
- Babka is best enjoyed first day, but will keep for 2-3 days stored in an airtight container. Enjoy!