Babka

Vegan Chocolate Babka with Caramelised Pears

Sasha GillJanuary 28, 2018

Holy BABKA-moly. This vegan chocolate babka is the real deal. It’s got everything a good babka has.

1.  Dough that is very rich, very tender, very buttery
2. A luscious dark chocolate ganache (that, by the way, is impossible to not cause a mess with)
3. Juicy little nuggets of cinnamon-dusted, syrupy pears

Mmmm hmmm

So, in case you aren’t familiar with this swirly-whirly-twisty-wisty loaf, or in case you aren’t a fan of the great British bake off (where babkas often feature during bread week), let me introduce you…

What is a babka?

Why, I am so glad you asked. Because I have a lot to say about babkas. Quite a lot. They are melt-in-the-mouth loaves that are intensely chocolatey and insanely twisty. Babka means ‘little grandmother’ and was actually something that was made on Shabbat with leftover bits of challah dough. If you fancy learning a bit more about the rich history of this rich bread, here is a great little article about it.

While babkas have risen to fame in recent years and can be now seen adoring the shelves in trader joes (which I really wish would just come to the UKalready!), back when I attempted my first babka, they weren’t so mainstream. Yes, I am that cool.

Note my use of the word ‘attempted’. Because my first babka was a bab-nahhhh. It didn’t work. I was in Singapore and everything was way too hot and way too melty.

I have since made a few really pretty babkas, a few kinda alright-looking ones, and a few that are downright horrific. But they all had some great personalities. And, damn, they were all delicious.

Vegan?!?!?

I set out to make the perfect vegan chocolate babka. But, how does one replicate this enriched, brioche-like dough that is usually made with a cup of butter? Now, I am a big fan of stork. I think it’s the best vegan butter that you can get in the UK, and it is very inexpensive. I bake with it all the time, from fluffy persimmon streusel cakes to crispy, flaky shortcrust.

But I needed to add something to this dough to give it that fluffy, brioche-like texture so characteristic of a babka. And so I used, you guessed it, aquafaba. Hey, I run the aquafaba feed on the ‘feedfeed’. I clearly love this stuff.

Aquafaba?!?

(I took this text from what I wrote over on the aquafaba feed)

What on earth is aquafaba? Aquafaba translates to bean water, and it is just that. I don’t know who was the first person to add their chickpea water to their genoise sponge, but boy, I am thankful they did. Because it worked, and egg-free baking got a whole lot sexier. Dainty french macarons, cloud-like swiss meringue buttercream and fluffy enriched dough are back on the menu. It’s absolutely incredible what aquafaba can do. So, the next time you are draining a can of chickpeas, save that bean water. It will make a delightful pavlova.

And, I was right to add aquafaba to this dough. In fact, I add aquafaba to all my doughs (except sourdough, of course), because it makes it soft, cloud-like and oh-so-fluffy. Just replace about a quarter cup of liquid (such as water or plant milk) from your recipe with this chickpea juice.

You can also use the liquid from any can of beans! Butter, cannellini, kidney, black. Although the latter two work better in brownie/chocolate cake recipes because of the colour they give the final dough.

Caramelised pears

Now if you know me, I don’t just do a classic. I didn’t want to make a vegan chocolate babka that was JUST chocolate. I wanted mine to be a little different and a little fruitier. Usually, babkas are laced with cinnamon, or have fillings stuffed with cookie crumbs. Many are topped with a delightful streusel.

So I filled mine with pears fried in a cinnamon-laced caramel-like sauce. The pears do interrupt the concentric pattern of the swirls, so your siwrlage may not be as neat. But they also create little crevices in the loaf where ganache can pool, and give you little pockets of intense, chocolatey perfection. That and the pears give a lovely little pop of juice to an otherwise quite luscious bread.

The ULTIMATE vegan chocolate babka

I forgot to mention! I created this babka as a part 2 of my vegan valentinesseries. I’ve given you a main and so here is a dessert/snack. I’ve used cinnamon, chocolate and vanilla here, which are three so-called ‘aphrodisiac foods’. Which, for the record, I don’t believe are a thing. It was just a fun way to think of a ‘mystery box’ type challenge.

This vegan chocolate babka is perfect alongside your afternoon coffee or–hey!–even your breakfast coffee. We all need a little chocolate in the AM.

*Ingredients in this recipe are seperated out according to the order you will need to use them in. So if you see butter being listed several times, just follow the order the ingredient appears in when reading the recipe!

Vegan Chocolate Babka with Caramelised Pears

The ultimate vegan chocolate babka! Studded with juicy morsels of cinnamon-spiced pears, it makes the perfect companion to a cup of coffee or tea.

Recipe type: Vegan

Serves: 12-14 slices

Instructions

1. First, make the dough. Place the warm water and yeast in a large bowl and stir well. Leave until frothy, about 5 minutes.
2. Now, stir in the coconut milk, aquafaba, sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and salt.
3. Add the flour, and mix with your hands until a shaggy dough forms, Continue to knead until it comes together in a smooth, elastic ball. Place this back in the large bowl and cover with a damp towel. Place this in a warm place until it is doubled in size, about 1 hour.
4. Now, fry the pears! Place the diced pears, butter, cinnamon, sugar and pinch of salt in a pan or saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, until the pears are soft and reduced. This usually takes me about 6-7 minutes on a medium-high heat. Leave this aside to cool.
5. To make the ganache, chop the chocolate up into small shards or pieces. Microwave the soy cream until bubbling (or heat it up over medium heat in a saucepan), pour in the chopped chocolate, and cover. Let this sit for 5-6 minutes, then uncover and stir well to distribute the melted chocolate. Add the butter and stir it in. Leave this in the fridge until you use it, as you want it to be more solid to prevent making too much of a mess!
6. Grease and line a large bread loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inches). If you only have the smaller size (8 x 4 x 2½ in), make two loves with this recipe. Preheat the oven to 180C. When the dough is ready, knock it back down and pour it out onto a well-floured countertop.
7. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle about ½-1/4-inches thick.This is the ideal thickness if you don’t want to struggle to roll it up! My rectangle is usually about 12 by 19 inches. Roll it out so the longer side is facing you.
8. **If you are making two loaves, just use half of the dough, ganache, and pears.
9. Spread out the COMPLETELY COOL ganache evenly over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch border so it doesn’t get too close to the edge of the dough. It should be a slightly thicker consistency than Nutella. Sprinkle the pears over the ganache evenly, then roll the dough up away from you into a tight log, like you would when making cinnamon rolls.
10. Take a very sharp knife and cut the log in half lengthwise, then flip each piece so the cut sides, with the layers of dough and ganache, face upwards. Cross the strands over each other into an X, then twist the strands over each other on either side of the X, until all the dough is twisted.
11. Squidge the twisted log so that it is the same length as your bread pan, Then lift it up gently and pop it into the loaf pan. Cover and proof for 30min-1hour, until it has risen a bit and looks fluffy.
12. Bake the babka, rotating the loaf pan halfway through, until golden brown, 50–60 minutes. If it starts to brown too much, just pop a bit of foil on top of the loaf. Transfer the loaf in the pan to a wire rack and let babka cool in pan 1 hour, before removing it. If you are making two loaves, bake for 35-40 minutes. To check if the loaf is done, insert a skewer and it should not come out looking sticky or doughy (try to avoid a chocolate-rich spot when doing this test!)
13. Optional step: Many babkas have a syrup poured on top of them. If you like your desserts sweet, just warm up about ¼ cup of agave/rice syrup and brush over the cooling loaf.

Notes

*I use Stork, it’s a great vegan alternative to butter and is the closest thing I have found that you can bake with!
** You can also use all-purpose flour or a mix of both

If you’re struggling with visualizing exactly how a babka is rolled, this videohelps!