Several years ago wine lovers rejoiced to find out that red wine actually promotes a healthy heart. Last year carnivores were thrilled when a report claimed that fats do not necessarily make you fat. And recently chocoholics reveled over scientific findings that dark chocolate boosts antioxidant levels and is good for your heart.
This last piece of news pleased me to no end because it stirred memories of Bubbe Yochevet. Her apron pockets were always filled with those cute miniature bars of Hershey’s dark chocolate. She would dispense them like pills anytime she felt that I was on the verge of tears, a scraped knee, a runny nose or when things just got a little rough that day.
She was a superb Viennese baker and managed to slip an ounce or two of chocolate into almost every babka, torte and cookie she made. Milk chocolate was totally alien to her because you could never eat it after a fleishik (meat) meal and besides, she would say, “it isn’t echte” (real) chocolate. To this very day, I still believe the only authentic chocolate worth eating is bittersweet.
So, Bubbe was on to something way before it was fashionable. She lived until her late 90s with a very healthy heart … and pockets filled with chocolates.
Chocolate Walnut Babka | Serves 16
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast
5 Tbs. butter or margarine, melted
6 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
5 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
Generously grease the bottom, middle and sides of a 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Place water in a large bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let sit until foamy about 8 minutes. Add the butter or margarine to the yeast mixture; then add sugar and salt.
Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. After all the flour is mixed in, knead for 5 to 10 minutes on a floured surface. Add more flour, if necessary to keep the dough from getting too sticky to handle.
Clean and grease the bowl. Add kneaded dough, then oil or butter the top surface. Place it in a warm place to rise until doubled; this will take approximately 1-2 hours.
Place chocolate chips in food processor with steel blade or a blender. Grind until it resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a small bowl and add cocoa. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of this mixture into bottom of the greased pan and then sprinkle in the chopped nuts.
When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and then knead it for 5 to 10 minutes on the floured surface. Roll the dough into a large oval with a rolling pin: 9-10 inches wide at the middle, and 16-17 inches long.
Leaving a 1/2-inch rim around the outer edge, sprinkle the remaining chocolate filling as evenly as possible over the dough. Roll it tightly along the long edge, pinching edges to seal them. Carefully lift the babka and ease it into the pan, making as even a circle as possible. Pat it firmly into place, and seal the two ends together with a bit of water and a good pinch. Let rise at room temperature 45 minutes and then bake, or wrap airtight in a plastic bag and refrigerate (up to two days) until ready to bake.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 45-50 minutes. Remove from pan and invert onto a plate, so the chocolate-nut coating ends up on top. Cool at least 30 minutes.
Viennese Chocolate Torte | Serves 12
1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, grated
2 cups finely ground almonds
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in grated chocolate. Combine almonds with cinnamon and add 1/4 of this mixture to creamed mixture. Beat the egg whites until frothy; then fold them and the remaining almonds into the batter. Pour the batter into springform pan.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes, remove sides, then cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Louise Fiszer is a Palo Alto cooking teacher, author and the co-author of “Jewish Holiday Cooking.” Her columns alternate with those of Rebecca Ets-Hokin. Questions and recipe ideas can be sent to j. or to [email protected].