Elizabeth Belkind’s Nutella babka with hazelnut brittle

Note: At Cake Monkey Bakery, pastry chef and co-owner Elizabeth Belkind makes house-made “Nutella” by combining dark chocolate ganache, pastry cream and pulverized hazelnut brittle. For the purpose of simplicity here, she’s substituted it with store-bought Nutella. 

RECIPE COMPONENTS

1. Brioche dough
2. Hazelnut brittle
3. Nutella filling
4. Simple syrup

BRIOCHE

• Slightly less than 2 cups high-protein bread flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 heaping tablespoons sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons cold, yet pliable, butter

Combine the two flours, the yeast and the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Using a hand-held whisk, whisk for just a few seconds to distribute the yeast evenly.

Add the eggs and the salt, and with the dough hook attachment of the mixer, mix on low speed for up to 10 minutes, or increase to medium until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough seems dry, sprinkle a few drops of water into the bowl, one at a time.

Begin to add the butter, a few small pieces at a time, until the butter is incorporated and the dough becomes smooth and uniform again, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be very buttery and very unwieldy at this point. 

Turn the dough out into a greased bowl or cookie sheet. Chill the dough in the refrigerator overnight, or for a minimum of six hours.

[READ: CAKE MONKEY BAKERY STEALS THE SHOW]

HAZELNUT BRITTLE

For this recipe, you will need to have all your equipment ready and within reach. It comes together quickly, and requires that you are ready to act and responsively follow the steps. You will need a half-sheet tray or cookie sheet; two silicone tray liners/baking mats, or two pieces of parchment paper with nonstick vegetable cooking spray, sized as big as or slightly bigger than the tray; and a rolling pin.

• Nonstick vegetable cooking spray
• 1 heaping cup raw (not blanched) hazelnuts
• 7/10 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 

Cover a half-sheet pan or a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper, or ideally, a silicone pad (such as a Silpat nonstick baking mat). Spray the pad or parchment sheets lightly with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

Place the hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and roast for 9 to 10 minutes, or until aromatic. Remove from the oven and set aside. 

Place sugar in a medium, heavy-bottomed, stainless steel pot. Melt the sugar over high heat, stirring occasionally with a tempered rubber spatula to ensure even heat throughout. When the sugar darkens to a rich, dark, caramel brown, add the warm hazelnuts and stir them in with the spatula. Coat all the hazelnuts in the caramelized sugar, then turn them out onto the parchment- or baking mat-lined tray. 

Being careful not to touch any part of the hot, sugar-coated nuts, cover them with another silicone mat or piece of sprayed parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, gently roll out the mixture to flatten it as much as possible. This will make it easier to crush the candy into small pieces to use for topping on the babka.

Allow the hazelnut brittle to cool completely. Once it has, use a rolling pin again to crush it by hitting it, or pressing down on it until you are left with some powdery bits and some bits that are about 1/4-inch (this helps prevent any accidental teeth breakage). 

ASSEMBLE AND BAKE THE BABKA

Spray the inside of an approximately 9-by-4 loaf pan that is about 3 inches deep, then line it with a strip of parchment paper that is the same width as the pan and comes up over the sides just a little. Spray the parchment.

Set aside three cups of the dough. This is best done with a kitchen scale; if you have one, weigh 600 grams of the dough. (You will have a small nub of dough left over, which you can shape into a mini free-form babka to snack on right out of the oven.)

Measure 1 1/4 cup (11 ounces) of Nutella for assembly; this leaves 2 ounces in the smaller standard jar to use on your snack babka.

Measure 1 to 1 1/2 cups crushed hazelnut brittle.

Working quickly, and preferably in a comfortably chilly room, roll the dough into a 9-by-16 rectangle. Spread the Nutella over the dough as close to the edge as possible, but allowing a small strip of dough to remain bare on all sides.

Roll the dough tightly lengthwise. Seal the ends of the roll. Chill the roll for about 10 minutes if it becomes soft and sticky. Otherwise, using a sharp chef’s knife, cut the roll in half down the middle. Seal the ends of both pieces again. Braid both pieces together. Seal the end again.

Place the roll in the loaf pan and tuck it in as needed. Place the pan in a temperate area of your home to rise — not too warm, not too cold. Too much warmth will cause the butter to bleed out of the dough. Allow the dough to rise until it is almost, but not quite, doubles in size. It should not rise so much that it comes out over the edges of the baking pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or 325 with a convection oven). 

When the dough has risen enough, place the loaf pan in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes (maybe a little less, about 30 minutes in a convection oven).

While the babka bakes, prepare the simple syrup.

SIMPLE SYRUP

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Set aside.

Remove the loaf pan from the oven and set it on a heat-resistant surface.

Using a pastry brush, generously brush simple syrup all over the top of the babka.

Top the babka with your crushed hazelnut brittle. Be very generous with it. The crunchy topping steals the show!

Place the loaf pan back in the oven and bake for another 10 to 12 minutes. Test the doneness of the babka by tapping the side of the loaf pan. It should sound hollow. 

Remove babka from the oven and allow it to cool, undisturbed, for 25 minutes. Run a knife or small offset spatula along the sides of the pan (not the sides of the babka) to release it from the pan. Invert the loaf pan onto a plate if needed to release the babka completely. Then rest it, right side up, on the plate for a few minutes. 

Serve warm if you like, or, after the babka cools completely, cover and serve it at room temperature. If properly covered and stored, the babka will stay fresh for about two days.