TWD: Chocolate Babka

 

 

My final bake for 2022 is the Chocolate Babka.  It’s a delicious brioche dough with a chocolate filling and a yummy streusel on top.  Did I mention how much I love streusel toppings?  Best to plan ahead with this dough, but once it’s ready, it’s has multiple uses.  For instance, I just made one babka, and formed the remaining dough into a simple loaf.  (It’s in the oven now, and the house smells divine.)

Although the babka looks complicated, it’s really quite straightforward.  The filling was nice and thick, which meant it didn’t squish out when rolling.  Plus, letting it air dry for several minutes helps.  Before slicing it, I put the roll back into the refrigerator so it would firm up a bit, and that helped as well.  All in all, it was a very successful bake.  (I did play around with an alternate method of making the brioche dough, and that seemed to work out just fine.)

Looking forward to the 2023 baking selections!  It should be another wonderful year for the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group.

 

 

Not the usual corn bread

 

The Kitchen of the Month for December was Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories.  

All the babes made Corn Bread, but not the usual kind. This was a yeasted bread using corn flour, not corn meal, so it had a more bread-like texture even though it tasted like corn bread.  My efforts started out promising.  The initial proofing was near-perfect -- high rise and lots of bubble action.  However, that all disappeared when I formed it into a  loaf.  I was concerned about over proofing the dough, so, quite possibly, it was under proofed, even though the second rise went over an hour.  Needless to say, the end result was disappointing.  Tasty, but not what I wanted.  Since I invested in the corn flour (thank you, Amazon), I will probably try baking it again, and proof it for a longer time.  For comparison.  I does make delicious toast, so it won't go to waste.

 

For the recipe and instructions, go to Karen's website.  And then, visit the other Babes, who all made beautiful loaves!!

Check out the other Bread Baking Babes:

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen (Kitchen of the Month)
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly  
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna 
• Bread Experience – Cathy                                           
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups – Tanna  
• Feeding My Enthusiasms – Elle

 

BWD: Coffee-Anise Stars

 A bit late posting these delicious cookies for our Tuesdays with Dorie baking group.  Original post appeared, on time, on my Instagram account.

I've been wanting to bake these cookies since the day I got the cookbook, Baking with Dorie.  They didn't disappoint!

I have both powdered star anise and espresso in my pantry, so they were quick to make.  I decided to decorate simply, using both dark and white chocolate, melted.  The chocolate seemed to bring out the flavor of the coffee, and, honestly, they are good either decorated or plain.  They will definitely go into the cookie rotation.