Ablo (rice-based steamed bread)
Soft, lightly tangy steamed cereal bread documented across Benin and Togo. This page gives one measured rice-flour research method; maize-based Ablo and mixed-grain versions remain distinct traditions.
Chocolate babka
Babka
A yeasted enriched dough is rolled with cocoa, chocolate, nuts and cinnamon, twisted into two loaf pans, topped with streusel and baked.
History
ANU Museum's Foodish account associates babka with Jewish communities in Poland and Ukraine, describes its use of challah dough for Shabbat and holidays, and notes fillings evolving from jam or cinnamon to chocolate. It reports popularity in New York in the middle of the twentieth century. These are the museum's claims about a varied food, not proof of a single origin or universal formula. This recipe is King Arthur Baking's contemporary chocolate version with enriched yeast dough, cocoa, chocolate, nuts, cinnamon and streusel.
Ingredients
Yield 2 loaves · Scaling: source batch only
Amount not stated
1 to 1 1/4 cups (227–283 g); start with the lower amount and add only as needed.2 eggs
For dough.750 g
For dough.37 g
Or the baker's dry milk named by the source.30 mL2 tbsp as recorded
7.4 mL1½ tsp as recorded
Divided: 1/2 teaspoon each in dough, filling and topping.198 g
Divided: 99 g in dough and 99 g in filling.15 g
For dough; source advises 2 1/4 teaspoons with salted butter.256 g
Divided: 142 g softened for dough, 57 g melted for filling and 57 g melted for topping.Vanilla extract
14 g
1 tablespoon.Unsweetened cocoa
28 g
Dutch-process or natural.Espresso powder
2.5 mL½ tsp as recorded
Semisweet chocolateFinely chopped, or use chocolate chips.
170 g
Pecans (optional)Dice; toasting is optional.
113 g
Choose pecans or walnuts; 1 cup total.Walnuts (optional)Dice; toasting is optional.
113 g
Choose walnuts or pecans; 1 cup total.Large eggBeaten with a pinch of salt for glaze.
1 egg
60 g
For streusel topping.Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour in uncooked dough
Raw flour may carry harmful bacteria; do not taste dough and bake before eating.
Hazard sourceRaw eggs in dough and glaze
The recipe handles eggs before baking; avoid tasting raw dough and clean surfaces and tools afterward.
Hazard sourceDo not taste raw dough; wash hands and clean bowls, tools, work surfaces and pans after handling flour and eggs.
Control sourceUse the full bake and follow the recipe's center-temperature check. Its 190°F number is recorded as a publisher baking endpoint, not a separately validated safety limit.
Control sourceContains wheat, milk, eggs and tree nuts; check ingredient labels for additional allergens.
The source's advice to wrap leftovers and store them at room temperature for several days is publisher guidance, not an independently validated shelf-life study.
- Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Weigh the flour, or measure it by spooning it into the cup and sweeping off the excess.
- Put the dough water, eggs, 750 g flour, dry milk, yeast, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 99 g sugar, salt, softened butter and vanilla in a large bowl or mixer bowl. Start with 227 g water and mix until moistened; add more only as needed. Cover and rest 20 minutes, then knead until soft and smooth.
- Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until quite puffy, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Gently deflate the dough and divide it in half. Cover the pieces while making the filling.
- Stir together the remaining 99 g sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, cocoa and espresso powder. Mix in 57 g melted butter.
- Shape each half into a rectangle about 9 x 18 inches and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough resists stretching, let it rest 10 minutes. Spread half the filling on each rectangle, leaving about a 1-inch border. Scatter half the chocolate and half the nuts over each.
- Starting from a short end, roll each rectangle into a log. Seal the seam and ends. Cut each log lengthwise in half with scissors or a sharp knife. With the filling sides up, twist the two strands together and tuck the ends underneath. Set each loaf in a prepared pan.
- Brush the loaves with beaten egg. Mix 57 g melted butter with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, confectioners' sugar and 60 g flour until crumbly; sprinkle half over each loaf.
- Cover pans loosely with plastic wrap. Let loaves rise until very puffy and about 1 inch above the rims, about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Near the end, heat oven to 300°F (about 149°C).
- Bake 35 minutes. Tent lightly with foil and bake another 15 to 25 minutes, for 50 to 60 minutes total. King Arthur Baking advises checking the center for at least 190°F (about 88°C).
- Loosen edges with a heatproof spatula or table knife. Cool in pans 10 minutes, turn loaves onto a rack and cool completely. Slice and serve at room temperature, or briefly rewarm a slice in a toaster. King Arthur Baking advises wrapping leftovers and keeping them at room temperature for several days, or freezing them longer; this is the publisher's storage guidance, not an independently validated shelf life.
Conditions
Yield2 loaves
Active time25 min
Fermentation3–4.5 h
Places
Eastern Europe
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceANU Museum associates babka with Jewish communities in Poland and Ukraine; this broad source attribution does not identify one birthplace or cover every babka.
North America
Documented use · Region evidenceKing Arthur Baking describes babka as a bestseller at Jewish bakeries in many North American cities; this is a documented-use association, not an origin claim.
Related
Related in the family
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Anpan
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Baghrir
Moroccan semolina pancakes made from a thin yeast batter, rested until foamy and cooked on one side until the surface sets with a honeycomb of holes. This source-specific batch makes sixteen 5-inch pancakes.
Belokranjska pogača
A round Slovenian flatbread scored in a grid and topped with caraway and coarse salt.
Biga
Biga is an Italian bread preferment of flour, water and a little yeast, usually a stiff unsalted mass of about 45 per cent water, fermented ahead and then mixed into the final dough.
Bo lo bao
Hong Kong-style pineapple buns have soft yeast dough beneath a crisp, sweet pastry topping.
Bolo do caco: pan-and-oven version
Sweet-potato wheat breads with fresh yeast, browned in a pan and finished in the oven. This is the bread component of Teleculinária's scrambled-egg dish.
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Sources
King Arthur BakingInspiration · Method · History · Safety
Chocolate BabkaThe formula yields two loaves with dough, chocolate-cinnamon filling, egg glaze and streusel topping.
The sequence gives a 20-minute rest, a 1 1/2–2-hour first rise, shaping, a 1 1/2–2 1/2-hour final rise and a 300°F bake of 50–60 minutes.
The source advises checking the loaf center at 190°F and gives storage directions attributed to the publisher.
The page describes a traditional Eastern European influence and babka's popularity at North American Jewish bakeries.
ANU Museum of the Jewish People, FoodishHistory
BabkaThe museum associates babka with Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine and discusses challah dough, Shabbat and holiday contexts, fillings, forms and popularity in New York.
The article gives differing explanations for the name and shape; this record does not resolve them or assert one birthplace.
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowRaw flour may carry harmful bacteria; do not taste raw flour or dough, and clean after handling.
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
What You Need to Know About Egg SafetyFresh eggs may contain Salmonella; cook egg-containing foods thoroughly and wash hands, utensils and surfaces after contact with raw eggs.