Chocolate & Cinnamon Kokosh Cake

When I go to Toronto, there is a dessert called Kokosh Cake that I love. I usually buy it at a place called Hermes on Bathurst Street, the address is 2885 Bathurst Street, North York. Layers of dough surrounded by a delicious chocolate filling…and sometimes I find it with a cinnamon filling which is hard to find…Since I live in Edmonton & I am pretty sure that no one make Kokosh Cake here, I have to make it myself. The recipe I decided to make is from Truffles & Trends…I made 4 small ones from one recipe…2 with 1/2 of the recipe for the chocolate filling on that page & the other one with a cinnamon filing. The recipe calls for butter, but I like to have most of my desserts non-dairy so I use Becel Vegan margarine..you can use any vegan margaine you like.. Earth Balance… whatever, or use the butter….

A Kokosh Cake is similar in some ways to a Babka… the similarities are that there is a delicious filling around dough… a Babka has a more bread like dough & a Kokosh has thinner dough around the filling…. both equally delicious.

The Kodosh Cake is very simple to make…. Takes less time than a Bapka..as the dough for the Bapka has to rise & the dough for the Kokosh does not. So it is quicker to make.

I set this out on my island one day when we had some people drop by & it was gone before I knew it!

Here is the recipe

Dough

2 1/4 tsp INSTANT yeast (1 packet)

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup orange juice

1 1/2 sticks of butter *** I used parve/ vegan Becel margarine so this is non-dairy

3 – 4 cups flour. Start with 4 cups of flour then add more as needed to make a soft, not sticky dough

1/4 tsp salt

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some oil for  spreading….

1 egg, beaten  for brushing on before baking

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Chocolate Filling ***NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ONLY CHOCOLATE KOKOSH CAKE, THEN DOUBLE THIS RECIPE & DO NOT MAKE THE CINNAMON FILLING

1/4 cup butter, melted & cooled slightly *** again I used Becel vegan margarine

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/8 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1 large egg white

Cinnamon Filling *** IF YOU ONLY WANT TO MAKE CINNAMON KOKOSH…DOUBLE THIS RECIPE & DO NOT MAKE THE CHOCOLATE FILLING

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, melted  *** I used Becel Vegan Margarine

Method 

Preheat oven to 350f            LIne 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

*** I made the fillings before making the dough… even though I wrote the recipe out dough first…the order you make the dough & teh fillings is up to you. This dough does not need to rise so it does not really matter which order this is done in

Chocolate Filling

1. Mix the butter/margarine, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla and egg white until well combined….set aside

Cinnamon Filling

1. Mix the sugar, cinnamon & butter/margarine together until well combines… set asaide

Dough

1. Use the bowl of a mixer & put the yeast & 1 tsp sugar in the bowl. Add the warm water & let the mixture stand for 5-10 minutes until it foams...*** my mixing bowl is metal so it is cold… Put some hot water in the metal bowl, swirl it around to watm the metal…then put the yeast/sugar/water in… I set the bowl on a towel to keep it warm…my counter is cold….
2. Once the yeast mixture has foamed, give it a stir
3. Now, add the 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, orange juice, butter, flour & salt to the bowl
4. Beat on medium speed for a couple of minutes until the ingredients come together….if the dough is too sticky add a bit of flour *** this dough is ready to use at this point…do not let it rise
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface

To Assemble

1. Divide the dough into as many balls as you would like to make loaves… I made 4 smaller ones
2. Roll out one ball of dough very thinly..into a rectangle…
3. Spread it with a light coating of oil on top of the dough
4. Spread with filling of your choice onto the rolled piece of dough, leaving about a 1 inch boarder around the edges*** divide the filling into equal portions so that the Kokosh Cakes will have the same amount of filling in each…
5. Roll up the dough from the shorter side, flattening the dough slightly between each roll… forming a flattish log…
6. Brush the top of the rolled dough with the beaten egg
7. Repeat this process with the other balls of dough…
8. Place the logs on the prepared baking sheets & bake for about 25-30 minutes or until they are a nice deep brown colour… the time will depend on the size of the logs..***my cinnamon logs were a bit under-baked
9. Let cool before cutting them…. if you can wait!!

Enjoy!