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Tried a chocolate babka with tangzhong, got a weird gummy ring around the middle
I swear I followed the recipe from a food blog that swore it was foolproof, used King Arthur bread flour and weighed everything in grams from my coffee scale in Portland. The outside looked amazing, crusty and shiny, but when I sliced it, there was this dense, almost sticky band right around the swirl. Could that be from overproofing, or did the tangzhong mess with how the chocolate filling melted? Anyone else hit this kind of texture split with enriched doughs?
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the_mason4d ago
This is the same thing that happens with cinnamon rolls when the filling is too wet, the middle steams instead of bakes and you get that gummy band right at the swirl. I've noticed it with jelly donuts too, the jam sinks and the dough around it never sets right, and even with meatloaf where the middle stays mushy if you pack it too tight. It's always the same story, wet stuff trapped inside dough keeps the heat from getting through. Tangzhong makes the dough hold more water so it's probably worse, and if the chocolate filling had butter or cream in it that just adds more steam. Next time try a thinner layer of filling or proof it a bit less, the middle needs a chance to cook.
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