Hot Chocolate Babka with a Surprisingly Delicious Finish
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You know that episode of Seinfeld where they’re arguing over cinnamon versus chocolate babka? Yeah, so we had a similar argument, so here we are. It’s both cinnamon and chocolate in the form of a hot chocolate babka with marshmallow icing (because we’re going all in with this one, baby).
The Comfort of a Good Chocolate Babka
If you’ve ever sipped a warm cup of cocoa with cinnamon sprinkled in it, you know it’s a special kind of treat. It’s not just warm in temperature. That cinnamon has just the right amount of spice and warmth to bring the pink to your cheeks and a smile to your cocoa-covered lips.
In this chocolate babka, we’re breaking a couple of rules, making a few unexpected changes, and leading up to an insanely delicious swirl of bread. This loaf contains a chocolate dough filled with a buttery, chocolatey, cinnamon swirl for starters. Then, it’s sliced, roped, and rested in a loaf pan. To top it off, we’ll make a luscious marshmallow icing. Let’s get started!
Knowing When Chocolate Dough is Done
Paul Hollywood usually gives Bake Off contestants that “that’s dumb” smile when they try to make chocolate dough, so forgive me for trying anyway. The key is to know when your bread is actually done.
Get your meat thermometer ready because we’re going to use it to make sure your interior comes to a full 190ºF. Working with chocolate dough, you cannot call if your bread is done by look.
It’s starting out a dark brown and you’ll be tempted to pull it when it darkens because you’ll think it’s burnt. That’s why we’re going for internal temperature today.
We’ve gotten ahead of ourselves a bit, though. Let’s talk about making our chocolate dough. This recipe is in grams because this is one of those more exact recipes. You know me by now. My recipes usually have substitution options in case you are out of something. Not this time.
If you want a different babka, I recommend going to Mr. Hollywood’s recipe. This is the recipe they had the bakers make on the show.
Making a Chocolate Enriched Dough
So, for my hot chocolate babka, like I said, we’re starting with chocolate dough. Weigh out the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt, and give them a good whisking so they’re fulling incorporated. You can even sift if you’re feeling it. I wasn’t… but you know.
Then, pop your water in the microwave. Yes, we’re using water and not milk. This is more of a calories thing than anything else. We want the water to be a warm 110ºF. You can use your thermometer or stick your finger in to see that it’s just warmer than your body temperature.
Then, let the active dry yeast bloom in the warm water. Once it’s frothy, add in vegetable oil and vanilla. Yes, we’re using oil instead of butter. It’ll be fine. Stay with me.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, you’ll have that dry mix. Now, add in your wet ingredients as well as 2 eggs. We’re not getting too fancy with the order of ingredients, just dump it all in.
Turn your mixer on low until it’s all combined, and then whack it up to medium-high for about 10 minutes. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl and get nice and smooth. To me, it will look like a Tootsie Roll.
The Hot Chocolate Babka Filling
It wouldn’t be a holiday treat without excessive filling, right? So, while your dough rests for an hour (it will double in size), grab a small bowl. In it, you’ll whisk together cinnamon, cocoa powder, and sugar.
Once your dough has finished proofing, roll it out into a rectangle that is a little less than 1/2 inch thick.
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in another small bowl, and grab a pastry brush. Similar to my recipe for cinnamon rolls, you’ll brush all the butter onto your dough.
Then, you’ll sprinkle all of your cinnamon-cocoa mixture over the surface, edge to edge. Use your hand to gently pat it into place. Sprinkle on some miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips for good measure.
Shaping Your Hot Chocolate Babka
Continuing to feel like you’re making cinnamon rolls, roll your rectangle on the long side. Keep it nice and tight.
Once it’s rolled, pinch down the seam so it’s sealed up well. Then, with a sharp knife cut it in half lengthwise. It’s going to look completely opened up and you’ll think you’ve made a mistake. It’s fine. Keep going.
Carefully lift one side over the other at the center to cross them. Then, working on one end, continue to rope one side over the other until you’ve reached the end. I do 3 ropes per end.
Then, gently place a hand on either end of your rope and press it in gently to your buttered loaf pan. I use a glass pan. If you’re using a metal pan, it may take a shorter amount of time for your bread to bake. We’ll talk more about that below.
Let it rise in the pan for 45 minutes while your oven preheats.
Baking a Hot Chocolate Babka
The bake takes an extra step because of that chocolate dough. It’s prone to overbrowning, so after 20 minutes, you’ll tent a bit of foil over it for the remainder of the cooking time.
In my glass loaf pan, it took an hour total to come to 190ºF. In a metal pan, my breads usually cook in 40 minutes. I don’t have a loaf pan large enough to test this for you, so you’ll need to check the temperature at the 40-minute mark to avoid overbaking.
When there is about 10 minutes left in your bake time, you’ll want to get your glaze started. This is a simple sugar syrup with equal parts sugar and water. You’ll stir to dissolve and that bring it to a simmer for 5 minutes to get it thick.
Then, when your babka comes out, you’ll want to brush it down with that nice syrup for the classic shiny look. Of course, you can skip this if you just don’t feel like it.
The Icing on the Hot Chocolate Babka
And of course, no hot chocolate is complete without marshmallows, right? So, let’s gild this lily with some marshmallow icing!
This starts with marshmallow fluff and is loosened up gently with a bit of milk, thickened with a little extra powdered sugar, and optionally flavored with vanilla. That’s it. And then you drizzle that over top. It’s very easy!
Wait… was that not enough for you? Okay, fine. You can then proceed to stud little marshmallows all over if that gets you jazzed. Need I remind you this is your bake, and you can decorate it however you see fit?
I did not do this because… well, frankly, I think it’s pretty without all the extras, but maybe next time I refresh photos.
The important thing is that you enjoy your stress bake, that your loved ones enjoy eating this with you, and that you stay safe over the holidays.
Tools You’ll Need for Your Hot Chocolate Babka
- Stand Mixer with Hook Attachment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Meat thermometer
- Kitchen Scale
- Rolling pin
- Sharp Knife
- Loaf Pan
- Saucepan
- Pastry brush
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Hot Chocolate Babka with Marshmallow Icing
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Hook Attachment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Sharp Knife
- Loaf Pan
- Saucepan
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
Chocolate Dough
- 400 g all purpose flour plus up to ½ cup if it's too sticky
- 100 g pure cane sugar
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 5 g active dry yeast
- 5 g pink himalayan sea salt
- ¾ cup filtered water 110ºF
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 3 Tbsp butter melted
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ cup pure cane sugar
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Glaze *optional
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup pure cane sugar
Marshmallow Icing *optional
- 2 Tbsp marshmallow fluff
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- To form the dough, start by weighing all the dry ingredients in your stand mixer's bowl.
- Mix the yeast into your warm water, and let it bloom for 5 minutes. Add in the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Pour this into your dry ingredients, and run the mixer on low until fully combined.
- Turn the mixer up to medium to knead. After 5 minutes, if it's very loose add in up to ½ cup more flour. The dough should be soft, but it should also come away from the sides of the bowl. Knead on medium speed for 10 minutes.
- Lightly coat your proofing bowl with oil. Remove your dough from the stand mixer bowl, and coax it into a ball. Place in the oiled bowl and cover to rise in a warm spot for 1 hour. It should double in size.
- Prepare your loaf pan by buttering the sides and bottom well.
- Lightly flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Roll it into an 18×12 rectangle.
- In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon, cocoa powder, and sugar.
- Brush melted butter over the entire surface. Sprinkle the cocoa cinnamon mixture over the butter. Follow with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips.
- From the long side, begin rolling the dough. Once your dough is rolled into a tube, pinch the seam down to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough in half lengthwise.
- Carefully place one half of the dough across the other. Then, rope up one end with 3 crossovers, and do the same on the other end. This will make all the dough look like a twist.
- With one hand on either end, gently press the dough in like an accordion until it's the length of your pan. Set your loaf in that buttered loaf pan. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.
- Make sure there's an oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350ºF.
- Place your loaf on the center rack and bake for 20 minutes. At the 20 minute mark, cover the loaf with a tent of aluminum foil to reduce browning. Bake an additional 20 minutes for a metal pan or 40 minutes for a glass pan.
- Your babka is done when a thermometer reads 190ºF when inserted into the center.
- When there are 10 minutes left, add equal parts water and sugar (the ingredients for the optional glaze) to your saucepan and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes or until it's syrupy.
- When your babka comes out, brush the top and sides with the glaze for a shiny finish.
- For the marshmallow icing, beat together the fluff and milk until the fluff mostly dissolves. Then add in the powdered sugar as needed to thicken the icing (it should flow off the whisk, not drip). You can also flavor with vanilla if you want. Drizzle the icing over your cooled babka.
