Halvah and Nutella Babka Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Sheet Pan

by: Yossy Arefi

July14,2015

4.8

4 Ratings

  • Makes 2 loaves

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Author Notes

This sweet, nutty, and rich yeast bread is adapted from the chocolate krantz cakes in Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. —Yossy Arefi

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • For the dough:
  • 4 cupsall-purpose flour, plus more as needed
  • 1/2 cupsuperfine sugar
  • 2 teaspoonsinstant yeast
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cupwater
  • 1 teaspoonsalt
  • 2/3 cupunsalted butter, softened
  • For the filling and the syrup:
  • Filling
  • 2/3 cupNutella
  • 2 cupscrumbled plain sesame halvah
  • Syrup
  • 1/3 cupwater
  • 6 tablespoonsgranulated sugar
Directions
  1. For the dough, add the flour, sugar, and yeast to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs and water and mix on low speed for a few seconds, then increase the speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes, until the dough comes together. Add the salt and then start adding the butter, a few cubes at a time, mixing until it is incorporated into the dough. Continue mixing for about 10 minutes on medium speed, until the dough is completely smooth, elastic, and shiny. During the mixing, you will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times and add a small amount of flour onto the sides so that all of the dough doesn't stick too much.
  2. Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Grease two 9- by 4-inch loaf pans with butter and line the bottom of each pan with a piece of parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and keep one half covered in the fridge.
  4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle measuring about 15- by 11-inches. Trim the sides to make them more or less even. Use an offset spatula to spread half the Nutella on the dough, leaving a 3⁄4-inch border all around. Sprinkle half of the halvah over the top.
  5. Brush a little bit of water along the long end farthest away from you. Use both hands to roll up the dough into a long log. Press to seal the dampened end. Transfer the dough to a sheet pan, seam side down, and freeze for 15 minutes to make the next step a bit easier. Repeat the rolling, filling, and re-rolling with the other half of the dough and filling.
  6. Working with one roll at a time, use a serrated knife to trim about 1/2 inch off both ends of the roll. Use the knife to gently saw the roll into half lengthwise. With the cut sides facing up, gently pinch one end of each half together, and then lift the right half over the left half. Repeat this process, but this time lift the left half over the right so that you're making a twist. Try to keep the cut sides facing outward. When you get to the end, gently squeeze the two halves together. Carefully lift the cake into one of the prepared loaf pans. Cover the pan with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The loaf will rise and get puffy but will not double in size. Repeat the process to make the second loaf.
  7. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Remove the tea towels, place the cakes on the middle rack of the oven, and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. While the cakes are in the oven, make the syrup. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar dissolves, then remove the pan from the heat. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, brush them liberally with the syrup. Use all of it. Let the loaves cool for about 30 minutes, then remove them from the pans to cool completely.

Tags:

  • Bread
  • Cake
  • Sheet Pan
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Breakfast

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Mona Preeti

  • eleni.benetatos

Recipe by: Yossy Arefi

Yossy Arefi is a photographer and stylist with a passion for food. During her stint working in restaurant kitchens, Yossy started the blog Apt. 2B Baking Co. where, with her trusty Pentax film camera, she photographs and writes about seasonal desserts and preserves. She currently lives in Brooklyn but will always love her native city of Seattle. Follow her work at apt2bbakingco.blogspot.com & yossyarefi.com.

Popular on Food52

2 Reviews

Mona P. December 24, 2016

Can this be made ahead and frozen?

eleni.benetatos August 22, 2015

I made this yesterday for the first time all I can say my adult kids loved it thank you!!!

Halvah and Nutella Babka Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What is another name for babka? ›

Babka (sometimes also called “krantz cake”) is a traditional Jewish sweet bread with fillings that can include things such as: Chocolate. Cinnamon.

Why is babka so good? ›

Simply put, babka is delicious. It of course tastes of the buttery dough, but it also tastes like the filling. The most popular babka filling is chocolate, either in the form of melted chocolate, chocolate chips, or chocolate-hazelnut spread like Nutella.

How do you know when babka is done? ›

To be extra sure that your babka loaf has finished baking, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check if the internal temperature has reached 190°F. This method is also great if you don't have a long enough toothpick to get to the middle of the loaf. Don't skip the sugar syrup at the end.

Why is my babka dry? ›

Too much flour can create a very DRY yeast bread. Now if you really need a bit of flour go for it, but use as little as possible. The dough is so silky that it rolls out beautifully and I don't get need any flour at all!

Why do Jews eat babka? ›

Jewish Babka is thought to have first come about during the early 1800s. Housewives making dough for challah bread, braided bread eaten on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays, would have prepared extra dough, to be filled with cinnamon or jam, which was then rolled up and baked as a special treat.

What does babka mean in hebrew? ›

Baka' Definition

NAS Word Usage - Total: 1. Baca = "weeping"

What flavor is traditional babka? ›

Babka Recipe Variations

Cinnamon, poppy seeds, almond paste and cheese are all traditional companions for the cake with the challah-like crumb. But it doesn't get more popular than chocolate babka nowadays, which adds an element of decadence to the dense loaf.

What does babka mean in Yiddish? ›

borrowed from Yiddish & Polish; Yiddish babke (in sense a), borrowed from Polish babka (in sense b), literally, "old woman, grandmother," diminutive of baba "grandmother, midwife, old woman"

Is babka served warm or cold? ›

Chocolate babka tastes like a sweet, tender brioche bread loaf with swirls of chocolatey goodness inside. A cinnamon babka kind of tastes like a cinnamon roll, but a little less dense. It can be served warm or at room temperature. Either is delicious!

What do you serve with babka? ›

It's always a great time for a slice of some Chocolate Babka. However, you can also add some greatness to your Chocolate Babka with serving it with a decadent hot chocolate, some ice cream or use it as a side to a savory breakfast. There are so many ways to enjoy this treat.

What holiday do you eat babka? ›

Its name (though not necessarily the dish itself) may be related to a type of Easter cake popular in Poland and Ukraine known as baba or the diminutive babka, which means "grandmother", related to the Yiddish bubbe.

Why has my babka sunk in the middle? ›

Do NOT underbake your loaves. I recommend checking them with a thermometer to make sure they're done. If you pull them out too early, the babka will sink in the middle and be doughy (it's happened to me before and it's a total bummer).

What nationality is babka bread? ›

Babka originated in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe in the early 19th century. Part bread, part cake, the name is thought to derive from a popular Easter cake made in Poland called “baba” which means “grandmother” in Polish.

How do you get more layers in babka? ›

Roll it up: starting with the rectangle closest to you, roll it up from the bottom along the longer edge, working evenly side to side and pulling back with your fingertips to make the roulade as tight as possible. Repeat for the second rectangle. The tighter the roulade, the more layers of chocolate you'll have.

Should you refrigerate babka? ›

Store your babka at room temperature in the provided packaging using the reseal tab on the back if opened; do not refrigerate. Our babkas are baked daily and, if you can resist eating them, will stay delicious for up to 5 days after purchase.

What is the pastry called babka? ›

Hailing from Eastern Europe, babka is a yeasted cake typically filled with chocolate, cinnamon, or fruit (though we find it lends itself well to almost any filling, sweet or savory).

Are challah and babka the same? ›

Babka is another braided white bread that is usually served with a cinnamon filling and syrup. But unlike challah, which includes eggs and oil, babka dough contains eggs, butter and milk, making it more airy, shiny and smooth.

What is babka in Yiddish? ›

“Babka”, Yiddish for “little grandmother”, is one of the most iconic Jewish sweets there.

Is babka the same as kugelhopf? ›

in my bread book i have recipes for brioche and for kugelhopf, both of which are similar to babka but not the same thing. babka is somewhere between a rich coffee cake and a brioche.

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