Black Sesame Babka

This Black Sesame Babka is an indulgent holiday treat with an unexpected twist. It has a rich and nutty dark chocolate filling braided into layers of fluffy, cakey dough. It’s not super sweet, but the gooey texture and irresistible flavor will hook you right away. {Vegetarian}

I’m not usually a huge fan of sweets, but since moving to New York a few years ago, I have enjoyed my share of the local babka. If you’re not familiar with babka, you’re missing out! It’s yeasted and braided, similarly to challah, then sweetened and intermingled with a filling, often chocolate or cinnamon sugar, and baked into a loaf. The texture is both gooey and fluffy, kind of like a cinnamon roll.

The version I’m sharing with you today is a variation on chocolate babka. It has some black sesame paste and toasted sesame oil mixed in with the dark chocolate. That way, you still have that striking color contrast, but the chocolatey goodness is accented with the nuttiness of the sesame. I loved it even more than the classic chocolate babka and am excited to share it with you!

A quick introduction to my pastry chef

Here I want to quickly introduce my new team member, Emily Drucker (@_embrulee). Emily has been a Pastry Chef for over a decade in some of NYC’s best restaurants and was featured on Chopped: Sweets Showdown. She also runs an Instagram based micro-bakery, (@dirtybirdsweetsnyc), where you can order customized cakes delivered to your doorstep. She is currently in school for neuropsychology. 

Emily helps me develop and test sweets and bakery recipes. For this Christmas, we decided to make this black sesame babka to celebrate the holiday. 

Black sesame babka ingredients

The black sesame babka includes three parts: the dough, the filling, and the syrup. 

Dough ingredients

For the dough, you will need:

• All-purpose flour 
• Yeast
• Whole milk
• Dry milk powder 
• Butter
• Sugar 
• Salt
• Lemon zest
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract 

We used the dry milk powder here because it extends the shelf life of the babka, and you can store it at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. 

Filling ingredients

The black sesame and chocolate filling is what makes this babka stand out! It uses:

• Black sesame seeds
• Honey
• Sesame oil
• Dark chocolate
• Heavy cream
• Sugar 
• Butter
• Salt
• Vanilla extract 

The sesame seeds and sesame oil add a very fragrant and nutty flavor, which goes perfectly with the dark chocolate. In fact, the filling was so good that we snacked a ton while shooting the recipe. And we planned to make some more baked goods and sweets using the same ingredients, because they’re too good to only be used once!

The syrup

The syrup contains four simple ingredients:

• Sugar
• Water
• Vanilla extract
• Sesame oil 

It might look like a lot at the beginning, but it’s very important and is what gives the black sesame babka that irresistible gooey texture. 

How to make black sesame babka

Making black sesame babka involves three stages:

Prepare the dough

1. Mix the lemon and sugar
2. Activate the yeast in warm milk
3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients in the mixing bowl
4. Mix until the dough forms
5. Add butter and keep kneading
6. The dough is ready once it passes the windowpane test (does not break apart when stretched out into a thin layer)

Once the dough is made, you should let it rise twice.

The first time, the dough will rise about 30%. Then you will punch it down and briefly knead it. It will double during the second rise. (You can see how the dough changes in the pictures below.)

Make the sesame filling

1. Grind the sesame seeds (toast them before grinding)
2. Add the honey and sesame oil, blend again
3. Add the sesame paste to the chocolate 
4. Heat up the cream mixture then mix everything together
5. Melt the butter into the chocolate mixture
6. Chill the mixture in the fridge

Assemble the black sesame babka

1. Roll out the dough into a large rectangular sheet
2. Spread the black sesame chocolate filling over the sheet
3. Roll up the sheet to form a coil
4. Seal the edge of the rolled up coil 
5. Divide the dough into two pieces, and refrigerate the dough to solidify the filling
6. Slice the dough into two pieces lengthwise 
7. Place one piece of dough over the other
8. Twist and braid the dough, both the top and bottom
9. Once braided, immediately transfer the dough to the loaf pan
10. Sprinkle sesame seeds to garnish 

This step is the messiest part of the recipe, because the filling will spill all over your workspace. 

When we were shooting this recipe in my home studio, we were running short on time and didn’t take the time to chill the filled dough before shaping it into babka. So we got a pretty messy counter and a lot of filling spilled over. 

I highly recommend you chill the dough (once you fill it) until it firms up, which will make the braiding process a lot easier.

But, do not worry even if the filling spills out a bit. The babka will be totally OK once it’s in the loaf pan. The exposed / spilled filling will caramelize in the oven and taste even more divine!

Bake the babka

Once you assemble the babka, you need to let it rest again before baking.

After baking, finish it up by drizzling the syrup into the loaf pan. It will look like a lot of syrup at first, but it will give the babka that heavenly moist, gooey texture. 

Afterthought

Making black sesame babka definitely requires a big chunk of time and it’s a nice weekend project. However, the result is so rewarding. It is hard to resist not eating the whole loaf of babka with just the two of us once it’s finished. It is also the perfect holiday sweet to share with family and friends. 

I hope you give this one a try! 

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Black Sesame Babka

This Black Sesame Babka is an indulgent holiday treat with an unexpected twist. It has a rich and nutty dark chocolate filling braided into layers of fluffy, cakey dough. It’s not super sweet, but the gooey texture and irresistible flavor will hook you right away. {Vegetarian}

Author: Maggie Zhu

Course: Bakery

Cuisine: Chinese Fusion

Keyword: holiday cooking

Prep Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Inactive time: 6 hours hours

Total Time: 8 hours hours

Servings: 2 loaves (16 servings)

Ingredients

Dough

• 530 g (about 4 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 packet (7 g) active dry yeast (or instant yeast, see footnote 1)
• 2/3 cup (180 ml) whole milk
• 25 g (2 tablespoons) dry milk powder
• 150 g (10 1/2 tablespoons) butter , cut to 1/2” (1 cm) pieces (room temp)
• 70 g (5 2/3 tablespoons) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 lemon’s zest
• 4 large eggs (room temp)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Black sesame & chocolate filling

• 1/2 cup black sesame seeds (and extra for garnish)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 4 tablespoons sesame oil
• 125 g dark chocolate , chopped (at least 60% cacao)
• 175 g (3/4 cup) heavy cream
• 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
• 170 g (12 tablespoons) room temp butter , cut to 1/2” (5 cm) pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Syrup

• 75 g (3/4 cup) sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

Instructions

Make the dough & 1st rise

• Heat milk in the microwave until 100°F (38°C) and no more than 110°F (43°C). Add the yeast with a pinch of the sugar. Wait for 10 minutes to let the yeast activate.

• In a stand mixer bowl, add the remaining sugar and lemon zest. Rub together with fingertips until sugar looks like wet sand, to release lemon oils.

• Add in flour, salt, and milk powder. Stir by hand to combine. Add the milk and yeast mixture and eggs. Mix with dough hook on medium speed (4 out of 10) until dough releases from sides of bowl, about 2 to 4 minutes.

• With the mixer running, add in butter gradually, one small piece at a time, waiting until previous pieces are mostly incorporated before adding more. Stop the mixer and scrape down the dough hook and the bowl in between. Once all butter has been added, continue mixing on speed 6 to 8 out of 10 to build gluten, about 7 to 10 minutes. Once done, the dough should be smooth and elastic. You can use your fingers to stretch out the dough and it should form a thin semi-transparent sheet (see the picture in the blog post above).

• Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter or workspace. Knead briefly by hand to bring it together, and form into a tight ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temp (or a warm spot in winter) until the size increases about 30%, 1 to 2 hours.

Prepare the black sesame filling

• While the dough is resting, prepare the black sesame filling. Add the sesame seeds into a medium-sized pan and heat over medium heat until hot, then turn to low heat. Lightly toast seeds until fragrant, then transfer to a small blender. Blend until finely crushed, but not into a paste that releases oil.

• Add the honey and sesame oil. Continue blending until mixture comes together and is smooth, scraping down sides between pulses. Place the sesame paste in a medium-sized bowl. Add the chocolate and vanilla, and set aside.

• Add the cream, salt and sugar into a small bowl. Heat in the microwave until hot. Stir to dissolve sugar, then pour the hot cream over chocolate and sesame paste. Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk to combine. Add the softened butter and keep whisking until smooth.

• Transfer the bowl into the fridge to chill. Stir the mixture occasionally. The paste should be the texture of peanut butter when ready to use.

2nd rise of the dough

• Once the dough rises, punch down the dough and knead briefly again. Then place it back into the same bowl. Cover and let proof until the size doubles, 2 hours at a warm spot or in a lukewarm oven, 3 to 4 hours at room temp, or overnight in the fridge, for better flavor (if proofing in the fridge, bring dough back to room temp 1 to 2 hours before proceeding with the next step).

Assemble and bake

• Coat 2 loaf pans with nonstick spray. Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 176°C).

• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, gently press it into a rectangle shaped dough. Roll the dough into a 24x 20” (60 cm x 50 cm) thin rectangular sheet, with the long side facing you. Spread evenly with the filling. Roll up the sheet along the long side into a tight coil, starting with the bottom and rolling up. Gently pinch the closed up edge of the dough to seal the filling in.

• With a sharp knife, divide the dough into two even pieces crosswise.

• Place the rolled up dough in a tray and cover with plastic wrap. Place the tray in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours until the logs turn firm before continuing.

• When the dough is ready, work on one at a time. Place the dough on the working surface. Divide it into two even pieces lengthwise. It’s ok if it gets messy, it will be unnoticeable once baked.

• Wrap the two dough pieces around themselves starting in the center, for 3 to 4 times, until the length of dough is twisted and braided. Immediately transfer it to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle more sesame seeds onto the top for garnishing. Repeat with the other half of the dough using the same method.

• (If baking later) The assembled loaves can be refrigerated at this point, up to overnight, and then brought back to room temp and proof before baking.

• Cover the pans and let rise for 1 to 1.5 hours. The dough may not appear to rise significantly, but that’s okay.

• Bake at 350°F (or 176°C) for 30 to 40 minutes, rotating halfway through, until deeply golden brown on top and internal temperature registers 185°F (85°C).

Make and drizzle the syrup

• Add the sugar and water into a bowl and heat in the microwave until turning hot. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Then add the vanilla extract and sesame oil. Stir to combine.

• Once the babka is baked, transfer to a cooling rack. Immediately stab the loaves all over with a knife to detach it from the pan, going all the way to the bottom of the pan. Pour half of the syrup over the tops of each loaf. It looks like a lot, but it’s just the right amount.

• Let cool completely. Then flip the loaf pan to remove the babka.

Notes

1. If using instant yeast instead of active dry, use the same measurement (1 packet), but skip the step of combining with warm milk. Instead, add yeast in with dry ingredients, mix, and continue to add milk with eggs afterwards.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 486kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 7.8g, Fat: 28.6g, Saturated Fat: 14.7g, Cholesterol: 147mg, Sodium: 345mg, Potassium: 109mg, Fiber: 1.8g, Sugar: 24g, Calcium: 87mg, Iron: 3mg

The dough in this recipe is adapted from a Melissa Clark recipe.