Espresso Chocolate Babka

Espresso Chocolate Babka is made with super-soft brioche dough, spiked with a wee bit of rye flour for the most beautiful toasty flavour, then a rich chocolate and espresso filling, and a sneaky wee sugar syrup to give a beautiful glossy finish. I love making babka so much - it is super easy once you get the hang of it, and the filling options really are endless.

Chocolate Espresso and Rye Babka

Hi hi! Sorry things have been a bit quiet around here the last wee while - it’s been a weird year for sure! I am just popping in to share this chocolate, espresso and rye babka! I made this a few weeks ago and never got around to sharing the recipe but here we are - it’s so good!

Using Rye for Brioche Dough

There’s not too many tips and tricks for making this one. The dough is super simple - it is my go-to brioche, but I just subbed in a wee bit of rye. I got a grain mill a while back so have been playing around with adding different flours into my baking, and it’s so fun to play with! I love spelt and rye in things - I often just switch out 15% or so of the all-purpose flour to see how I go, and it makes such a huge difference in the flavour! The rye flour in this is pretty subtle, but I loved it for a wee variation on the traditional brioche. I got theis rye flour from King Arthur.

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How to store Espresso Rye Babka

This recipe makes two loaves, which is perfect for having one for you and sharing, or not sharing at all and keeping them all for you - you can tightly wrap them in plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer, then thaw and briefly refresh in the oven for warm babka whenever you need! The dimensions that I roll my cinnamon rolls to are actually the same as my babka, so if you really wanted to you could divide the log in half, turn half into a babka, and the other half into rolls! I have done this before, and baked both off, then froze the babka and had the rolls that day. It works great. You do you here. Hope you’re having a great week! x

Steps for Making Babka

Babka has a few steps, but they are very similar to the process of making cinnamon rolls right up to where you form the log of dough. This is where it differs - for babka you split the log vertically and twist into babka. For cinnamon rolls you would cut into rolls. The fun part about that is that you can cut half into rolls and half into a babka if you like - do what you want here!

• Roll out your dough. Take your time here. See the tips below for rolling out a nice even rectangle of dough.
• Spread with filling. The chocolate espresso babka filling goes on nice and smooth and works perfectly with the rye.
• Roll up. Roll the dough up tightly into a log of dough.
• Chill. I like to cut the dough into two here and then chill down - this makes the cutting and twisting process much easier with chilled dough.
• Cut and Twist. To twist a babka you cut the log vertically down the middle and open to expose the layers. Then you twist up into a babka loaf and pop into the pan. It is ok if you need to give it a bit of a wiggle to get into the pan. Don't worry if it looks messy - rising fixes that.
• Rise and bake. Leave the dough to rise until it is puffy and doubled in size. Bake the babka, then finish with sugar syrup.

How to roll out dough into an even rectangle

Rolling out a nice even rectangle of dough can be really tricky. I've been there. There are a few wee tricks though that can make it a little easier.

1. Shape your dough into a rough rectangle. The dough will probably have somewhat of a round shape from being in a bowl. This is fine if you want round dough. However, if you start with a rectangle you are more likely to have a more even rectangle of dough when you roll out. Squish the dough into a rectangle shape. I like to use a bench scraper to make the sides nice and straight.
2. Flatten your dough slightly with your rolling pin. If you start rolling straight away, the dough will roll out unevenly. Instead, flatten it lightly with your rolling pin. Press down on it a few times to flatten it, starting at the bottom and working your way up, then turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat the process again. What this does is gives you a larger flatter piece of dough to start rolling out, which is easier to keep an even thickness.
3. Square off your rectangle as you go. As you are rolling out, pause a few times to square off the edges of your dough. Again, I like to use a bench scraper for this. It is easier to stop a few times and see what is happening than roll out all in one go and then try and fix any unevenness.

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Other Frequently Asked Questions for Chocolate Espresso Babka

Can I use regular flour?
If you don’t want to use rye flour and just want to do full all-purpose, go ahead! use 565g all-purpose insteadAdd image

Can I make this all in one day?
I like to give my brioche dough a fridge rise as it makes rolling it out much easier. I do a minimum of 2 ½ to 3 hours but it can also be made the day before and chilled overnight. You can do the whole thing in one day if you like - it will need 45 minutes to an hour or so at room temp until it has doubled in size

Is the chilling step necessary?
The chilling step is also optional here but I find that it makes shaping the babka a bit less messy. You can skip that too if you like. A wee note on that for this specific recipe - the chilling step causes the chocolate to harden, so it may crack a wee bit as you are cutting the log in half and making into a babka. This isn’t a big deal at all, I just wanted to give you a heads up!

What can I use instead of espresso powder?
Leave out the espresso if you like too! If you don't have espresso, fine instant coffee would work too. This would likely work well with milk chocolate too. The chocolate is quite bitter so feel free to sub in some milk chocolate if you like.

Can I add other things to the filling?
You could also add chopped nuts here if you like - that would be so yum!

What pan did you use?
I use a 1lb loaf pan here - an 8"x4". Something slightly larger will work too the babka will just fill it differently.

For more Brioche Recipes:

• Apple and Cardamom Babka 
• Mixed Nut and Dulce de Leche Brioche Knot
• Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls
• Brioche Doughnuts with roasted strawberry and vanilla bean pastry cream

Recipe For Chocolate Espresso Rye Babka

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