I first tried this chocolate tahini babka in Dublin (Ireland). The addition of tahini gives it a complex, nutty flavor profile!
While I’m no stranger to chocolate babka, the first time I tried a chocolate tahini one was on our recent trip to Dublin. My husband booked a food tour for our extended family, and one of the stops was to a little restaurant called Tang. While we were there, we got to taste both the chocolate tahini babka and some almond butter-stuffed dates (drizzled with chocolate!).
Although I wasn’t as big of a fan of the dates (since I don’t eat nuts or nut butter), I absolutely loved the babka. After taking a few pictures of the treats at this stop, I made a mental note to recreate it when I got home.
I read the comments section of the original recipe, and several people noted that the filling was too liquidy. The author said that one option was to cut the butter in half, so that is what I did (and it is reflected as such in the recipe card below). I made my filling a day in advance to allow the filling to set so that it would be ready once the dough had finished proofing overnight.
I was worried that the simple syrup would make too much, but it turned out to be just right. The bread, while it’s hot, soaks in all of the liquidy goodness pretty quickly, and that syrup helped prevent the babka from drying out. Our babka lasted several days on the counter at room temperature, and my husband and I happily gobbled it up for snacks and for breakfast.
My hope is to tackle another Irish recipe in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
Husband’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4 out of 5
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Chocolate tahini babka
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 and ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour divided
Filling
- ¼ cup (½ stick or 4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 ounces dark chocolate chopped (I used Trader Joe's Pound Plus)
- ½ cup tahini
- 1 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder dark preferred
Syrup
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- pinch ground cinnamon
Instructions
Make the dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer or if mixing by hand, add the yeast, milk, sugar, and ⅓ cup of the flour. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon and allow to rest for about 10-15 minutes. You should see some small bubbles creating holes in the flour.
- Add the butter, egg, and the salt. Then slowly add the flour while you turn the mixer on low. After the flour slowly starts to incorporate into the mixture, turn the mixer to medium speed. Mix for 5-7 minutes. Your dough should be smooth but not sticky. If the dough is too sticky, add a little bit of flour at a time.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap (you can transfer it to another bowl if you want) and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
Make the filling (can do this in advance)
- In a medium sized saucepan set over medium low heat, melt the butter. Then add the sugar and keep stirring until most of the sugar has melted.
- Remove the saucepan from your stovetop (turn off the stove) and stir in the chopped chocolate. Mix until smooth, then add in the tahini and the cocoa powder. Mix well until the filling looks uniform.
- If needed, you can refrigerate the filling so it firms up. I made this a day ahead of time and covered it and let it set on the counter overnight. It should be thick like a paste.
Assemble the babka
- Generously grease or line a standard 9" x 5" loaf pan and set aside.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to an approximate 12" x 16" rectangle (no need to be exact).
- Using an offset spatula or a spoon, spread the filling on top of the dough, leaving a 1 inch perimeter untouched.
- Start on the long end, roll the dough up, jelly-roll style, so you form one long log. Make sure the seam side is down.
- Using a sharp paring knife, cut the dough in half, lengthwise. Turn each half of the log up, so the filling side is facing up. Place both halves close together so they are almost touching.
- Pinch one end of the two dough halves together. Then take one strand of the dough log and twist the two pieces together (I took one strand and put it under the other one and kept repeating the process). Pinch the other end of the dough together. Tuck both ends under so you can't see them.
- Gently pick up the bread and place it into your prepared baking pan, making sure the tucked ends are down.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow the bread to rise, about 1-2 hours.
Make the syrup and bake the babka
- Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 375℉.
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, mix together the water, sugar, honey, and cardamom and allow it to boil. Keep boiling for about 4 minutes (you may need to turn down the heat so it doesn't bubble over).
- Remove the saucepan from the stove and allow it to cool slightly.
- Place the babka in the oven and bake it for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center (without the filling part) comes out clean. If you get some chocolate filling on your toothpick that's ok. We just don't want raw dough!
- Immediately pour the syrup over the baked babka, making sure you hit all the nooks and crannies.
- Allow the bread to cool before slicing and serving.