Chocolate Baba

Chocolate baba is a yeasted brioche with chocolate. What makes this recipe particularly interesting is that, unlike what we are used to, there is no milk in the dough. To make this brioche, we used the Italian starter known as biga — a pre-ferment made with a very small amount of yeast, water, and flour, left to ferment at quite a low temperature. This type of starter is mostly used for pizza dough, and less commonly for brioche and bread. Its name comes from horse-drawn carts that had the strength to pull very heavy loads.

Be sure to try this wonderfully fragrant baba!

Makes 4 small loaves in 8×11 cm moulds

Starter (biga):

1. 80 g flour
2. 40 g water
3. 1 g fresh yeast

Mix all the ingredients, knead into a small ball of dough, cover with cling film, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Dough:

1. 200 g flour
2. 14 g fresh yeast
3. 100 g butter
4. 3 eggs
5. 7 egg yolks
6. 30 g sugar
7. 30 g honey
8. 25 g cocoa powder
9. 50 g melted dark chocolate
10. a pinch of salt
11. 200 g assorted candied fruits
12. 80 g dark chocolate, chopped into pieces
13. Spices: zest of two oranges, vanilla, 1 Tonka bean*

All ingredients should be cold.

1. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour and cocoa, then add the eggs, sugar, honey, yeast, salt, and the starter torn into pieces.
2. Mix, adding 5 of the egg yolks one at a time. Knead at medium speed for 10 minutes.
3. Add the cold butter cut into small cubes in three stages (each portion of butter must be fully incorporated before adding the next).
4. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In the meantime, melt the chocolate.
5. Add the grated zest, Tonka bean, vanilla, and the remaining two egg yolks to the dough, mix well, then pour in the cooled melted chocolate. Knead for 10 minutes.
6. Cover the dough with cling film and leave to rest for one hour at room temperature.
7. Add all the candied fruits and chopped chocolate, and knead to combine.
8. Cover the dough with cling film and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
9. Remove from the fridge, wait half an hour, then divide the dough into 4 portions, shape into balls, and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
10. Transfer into the moulds (filling each one to one-third), cover with cling film, and leave to prove until tripled in size.
11. Bake at 170° for 40 minutes.
12. As soon as they come out of the oven, pierce the babas at the bottom with a skewer and hang them upside down until completely cooled.

* Tonka bean – an aromatic spice