Chocolate Hazelnut Babka French Toast With Caramelized Bananas Recipes

CHOCOLATE BABKA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. In a small saucepan, heat water to 120°-130°; stir into dry ingredients. Stir in eggs and yolk, orange zest and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky)., Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight., Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each half into a 12x10-in. rectangle. For filling, in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and salt. Spread filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam and ends to seal., Using a sharp knife, cut each roll lengthwise in half; carefully turn each half cut side up. Loosely twist strips around each other, keeping cut surfaces facing up; pinch ends together to seal. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans, cut side up. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°., Bake until golden brown, 35-45 minutes, tenting with foil halfway through baking. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Brush over warm babka. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

CHOCOLATE BABKA

Steps:

• Warm the milk and melt 1/4 cup butter in a glass or ceramic bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, or on the stovetop in a saucepan. Combine the bread flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour, yeast, and 1/4 cup sugar. Add the water, the milk-butter mixture, the egg, and the salt to the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Use the dough hook in a stand mixer on low speed or knead the dough by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes. If the dough is too wet, add more bread flour, about 2 tablespoonfuls at a time (up to 8 tablespoons) to make a workable dough; too much flour can make the dough dry. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Make the chocolate filling and the streusel while the dough is rising. For the filling, stir together the finely chopped chocolate, the cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar. Cut in 1/4 cup chilled butter with a fork. To make the streusel, combine the confectioners' sugar and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; cut in 1/4 cup chilled butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• When the dough has doubled, punch the dough down and cut it into two equal pieces. Loosely shape each piece into a ball. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface to form a 15x4-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with half the chocolate filling, roll up to form a long log, and seal the seam. Attach the ends to form a circle and place the ring, seam-side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Use a serrated knife or kitchen shears to cut slits at 1-inch intervals around the rings. Cover the rings with damp kitchen towels and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Brush the loaves with the egg wash, if desired. Sprinkle streusel on top. Bake the loaves for about 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets to promote even browning, until the bread is a deep golden brown.

CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT FRENCH TOAST WITH CINNAMON CEREAL

Steps:

• Slice the brioche into 1 1/2-inch-thick slices (6 to 8 slices). Lay each slice on its side and cut a 2-inch slit into the bottom of each. Fill the slit with about 1 tablespoon of the chocolate-hazelnut spread.
• Whisk together the milk, vanilla, salt and eggs in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Place the crushed cereal in another baking dish. Dip a slice of the filled brioche into the egg mixture on both sides a few times, making sure the mixture has soaked in, then transfer to the cereal dish and coat with cereal on both sides. Place the bread on a cutting board or plate while finishing dredging the rest. Repeat with the remaining slices, egg mix and cereal.
• Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of the butter. Place as many slices as will fit in the skillet. Cook on one side until the coating is crisp and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and cook another 2 to 3 minutes on the other side. Transfer to a platter. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the skillet and then more slices. Repeat the process with the remaining butter and slices, reserving 2 tablespoons of butter for the bananas.
• Add the remaining butter to the skillet, let it melt and place the bananas in a single layer in the melted butter. Cook until caramelized, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Top the toast with the bananas and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.

BANANA CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT TART

Steps:

• Make the pastry:.
• In a food processor, combine the cold butter, flour and salt. Pulse together until you get a fine crumb with a few pea-sized lumps of butter. Drizzle in 2 tbsp of the cold water and pulse again. Pinch some of the mixture between your fingertips, if it holds together it's done. If it doesn't drizzle in another tablespoon or two of water and pulse again.
• Tip out onto a piece of plastic wrap, press together into a ball and press down into a disk. Wrap in the plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• Make the filling:.
• Meanwhile wipe out the food processor. Place the 2/3 cup of hazelnuts into the food processor with half of the sugar and blend until very fine in texture. Add the butter and blend again until smooth. Add the egg whites, flour, baking powder and salt. Blend again until smooth.
• Mix the mashed banana with the sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Blind bake the pastry:.
• Preheat the oven to 350oF.
• Roll the chilled pastry out between two pieces of baking paper to just slightly larger than an 8-inch tart tin. Peel off the top layer of baking paper, flip the pastry into the tin and remove the other layer of baking paper. Gently press the pastry down into the tin and cut off any excess around the edges.
• Crumple up one of the pieces of baking paper you were using, un crumple it and lay it into the lined tart tin. Fill with baking beans and bake for 10 minutes with the baking paper inside. Lift out the baking paper and baking beans and cook the pastry for a further 5 minutes.
• Fill and bake:.
• Remove the tart tin from the oven, spread with the mashed banana then cover with the hazelnut mixture you made earlier and top with chocolate chips and the extra hazelnuts. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the tart comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.