CHOCOLATE BABKA...YOU CAN DO THIS AND YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD
Fun Fact: Long before I launched my family and newborn photography business I was a pastry chef and bread baker.
Sound fun? Well, in the beginning it was. Cakes, cookies, crème brûlée, gelato, and fondant-covered wedding cakes were my focus for several years. (Yes, I sampled everything I made.) Until I began feeling disconnected from my work. After thinking deeply about what was missing from my career I realized it wasn’t that I didn’t love to bake. Baking is still one of my favorite pastimes. The missing piece was that while I was in the kitchen plating decadent desserts, I wasn’t connecting with those I was baking for. I never even saw their happy faces as they devoured their last bite of chocolate mousse or peach cobbler a la mode.
What I find so energizing about photography is that I get to meet and connect with wonderful, interesting people, and learn something about who they are. People like you.
But…we still have to eat, right?
I’d never made babka until a few years ago when I saw this recipe on the beloved cooking blog, Smitten Kitchen. If you enjoy cooking and baking then you likely know Deb Perelman, the delightful cook who dreams up countless recipes from her tiny NYC kitchen.
While this isn’t a beginner recipe, you won’t be sorry if you try Better Chocolate Babka. The buttery layers and rich, chocolate swirl are simply addictive.
My apologies in advance if you wolf down the ENTIRE thing and need a long nap to digest all those carbs. If you ask me, it’s worth it.