Chocolate & Walnut Babka

Chocolate & Walnut Babka

Babka is an Eastern European brioche sweet yeast bread. Kinda similar to the Cinnamon Bread I knew from growing up in Denmark. Same but different.
Every slice reveals pockets of molten chocolate with crunchy walnut bites in the soft and sweet brioche bread. The intense chocolate filling makes this loaf a really great cake. As a not that chocolaty girl, all I can say is YUM, YUM, YUM.
 

Makes 2 loafs

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1½ cup (3 dl) whole milk

• 113 g butter, salted

• 100 g live yeast, or 8 teaspoons dry yeast

• ¼ teaspoon vanilla paste

• ¼ teaspoon cardamom

• 100 g sugar

• 1 large pinch salt

• 750 g all-purpose flour

Filling:

• 185 g dark chocolate

• 125 g butter, salted

• 100 g confectionary sugar (powder sugar)

• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

• ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• ½ teaspoon strong coffee

• 125-150 g walnuts
  
  Glaze:

• Honey

• lemon juice

• hot water

Directions:

Dough:

Heat the milk until warm and melt the butter in it. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Make sure the milk is only finger warm before adding the yeast.

Add yeast, sugar, salt and vanilla paste and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add all the flour, and finally the eggs. The dough is very wet, but keep stirring, it will form a dough.

 Let the dough rise until it's doubled in size, for about 1 hour. 

Melt butter and chocolate, and mix in sugar, cocoa, coffee and vanilla. Let the mixture cool down, set aside.

Pour the dough out onto a flour dusted workspace, and fold the dough 4 times, to deflate it. Divide the dough in 3. Roll out each part so they are twice as long as your loaf pans and about four times as wide.

Spread the filling evenly on the dough, leaving a strip along the short side free of filling. Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts. Roll up the dough, like you would cinnamon rolls, ending with the part that is free of filling.

My rolls were a bit soft, so I chilled them in the freezer for no longer than 20 minutes, just to firm them up.

Cut all 3 the rolls in half lengthwise, so you end up with 6 half circles, and braid 3 of the halves, with the filling "lines" facing upwards. Fold the end in under the braid, and place it in a parchment paper lined loaf pan. Repeat with the other 3 of the halves for the second loaf. 

Let the loafs rise for about 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven for 375℉ (190℃).

Bake the loafs for 45-60 minutes, covering the loafs with aluminum foil the second half of the bake time, to prevent burning the crust.

Brush a little glaze on the loafs after letting them cool for a while.

Enjoy!

Sifted Rye Bread - Sigtebrød

Sifted Rye Bread - Sigtebrød.

This is a very old type of Danish bread. When I worked at a Bakery in Denmark, we only sold a few, if non, sifted rye breads a day. And the customer would most likely be an old person. I think younger people wanted the fancy seeded breads. But quite frankly the sifted rye bread is very tasty. The crumb is a little more compact, without being dense. The recipe calls for "sigtemel" which is a sifted flour made from 30% rye and 70% wheat.

Makes 2 breads.

Ingredients:

• 50 g live yeast (4 teaspoons dry yeast)
• 400 ml tempered water
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 300 ml (1¼ cup) buttermilk
• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 700 g sigtemel (210 g dark rye flour + 490 g all-purpose flour)
• ½ teaspoon ground caraway seeds
• 5 teaspoons salt

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water. If you use dry yeast add a few pinches of sugar. 

Add buttermilk, flours, ground caraway seeds, salt and honey, and knead the dough for 5-8 minutes to build up the gluten. Let the dough rise for about 60 minutes in a warm spot.

Knead the dough for a few minutes, and divide the dough in two.

Use the heels of your hands to gently flatten the dough into a rough rectangle. Fold the bottom third up, like a letter fold. Fold the bottom third of the dough over on itself. Press the folds with the heels of your hands, to seal. Fold the dough once more, building up the surface tension. This will help the loaf rise evenly and keep its shape. 

Place the loaf in a greased pan with the seam facing down. Repeat with the second loaf. I have a large pan that will hold both loafs, letting them “grow” together.

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Let the loaf rise for another 40 minutes. Poke the top with a fork, and brush it with some milk. Bake loaf for 30-40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Cloud Eggs

Cloud Egg

Cloud eggs is the new kale/black or whatever the new trend is. So I had to try it. Normally I'm not a big fa of baked eggs. The rubbery texture of baked eggs do not agree with me. So the fluffiness of the cloud eggs could be the solution for a baked egg in my world. Plus adding cheese and ham to the egg, makes it a home run in my book.

Makes 4

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, divided in yolks and whites
• ½ cup (1 dl) grated parmesan
• 4 thinly slices of ham, diced
• chives
• salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (230℃) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

When I divide the eggs, I place each yolk in its own little prep bowl, making it easier to place the yolks on their own little cloud.

Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks. Gently fold in cheese, ham, and season with a little bit salt and pepper. 

Place the 4 mounds of the egg whites, making the mounds so they look like little nests (clouds), with an indentation in the center.

Bake for 3 minutes, and remove from oven. 

Carefully place a yolk in each cloud, sprinkle with a little pepper. Bake for another 3 minutes, until the yolks are just about to set.

Serve immediately with a sprinkle of chives on top.

Enjoy!

Homemade Sandwich Bread

Homemade Sandwich Bread

I have missed a great sandwich bread. One with seeds, and some bite to it. Most sandwich bread in stores around here are plain white bread, not worth the calories. 
With all my baking experience, I should have taken the regular bread I bake, into a loaf pan. But apparently I needed another Dane to make this connection for me. Thank you very much Charlotte.

Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredients:

• 500 ml lukewarm water

• 5 g yeast (1 teaspoon dry yeast)

• 50 g flaxseeds

• 50 g rolled oats

• 70 g sunflower seeds

• 3 teaspoons salt

• 100 g whole wheat flour

• 425 g all-purpose flour

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix in the rest of the ingredients, the dough should be on the wetter side. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 4-6 hours. Pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough into it self and shape a loaf. Place the loaf in a greased dish, sprinkle with flour and let it raise covered for another 90 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500℉ (250℃), with your loaf pan inside.

Gently pour the dough into the hot loaf pan, put a lid (made of foil) on the pan, and bake the loaf covered for about 30 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake the bread for another 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Let the loaf cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls or snegle are a classic in many countries. And for good reason. They taste fantastic. Sweet, soft with the right amount of  cinnamon, Yum yum yum.

In Denmark this type of cinnamon rolls are called Onsdagssnegle (Wednesday Snails) if they are made in size XXL. Acutely they are often bigger than a DVD. Personally I like the smaller ones, they have a better cinnamon to bread ratio.  The snail part might not sound particularly delicious, but it is referring to the shape of the cake, the swirl of the snails shell. 

Makes 20-24.

Ingredients:

• 50 g live yeast ( 4 teaspoons dry yeast)

• 175 g butter, salted

• 500 ml milk

• 175 g sugar

• 2 teaspoons cardamom

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 200 g whole wheat flour

• 600-650 g all-purpose flour

filling:

• 150 g butter, salted, room temperature

• 100 g brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Frosting:

• confectionary sugar

• water or lemon juice

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Warm the milk in a saucepan until finger-warm, remove pan from the heat. Melt the butter in the warm milk. Crumble the yeast into the warm milk and stir to dissolve. 

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, and knead the dough for 3 minutes, to form an elastic dough. 

Let the dough rise for 30-40 minutes until doubled in size. . 

Mix the filling and set aside.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll it to a large rectangle (16x16 inches/40x40 cm).

Spread the filling in a thin layer onto the dough, leaving a thin edge closest to your self, without filling.

Roll the dough into a large log, pinching edges together to seal. Cut the log into 20-24 slices. Grease sides and bottom of a baking pan.

Place the slices fairly close together. Cover and leave to rise for another 40-50 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 425℉ (220℃). 

Bake the rolls for 10-14 minutes until golden brown. 

Leave them to cool in the pan. 

Frost the cinnamon rolls before serving.

Enjoy!