Chocolate Babka

I don’t know what's more fun: saying “Babka” or eating it.

I made this chocolate swirl bread for my dad's birthday—it’s his favorite sweet. Like the beginning of most of my baking adventures, I started to research multiple cookbooks and blogs for chocolate babka recipes. I ended up combining 3 recipes to create my perfect Babka: Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, Jewish Cooking in America Cookbook, & Peggy Cullen on Foodnetwork.com. 

I made the bread in two parts: the dough one night, leaving it to rise overnight. And the filling of chocolate and streusel the following day. The inside filling is the same mixture you used on the top of loaf. I split the dough in half and made to smaller loaves instead of 1 large since I did not have an adequately sized pan.

This delicious desert bread is literally bursting with flavors of chocolate, cinnamon, and buttery sugar.

Serious perfection.

Cook Time: 10 hours
Servings: 2 small loaves

 Ingredients:
 Dough
1/3 cup of milk
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter
4 egg yolks
4 cups sifted flour
Pinch of salt

Streusel
3 tbl flour
3 tbl sugar
1 tbl butter, melted

Filling
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 of the streusel
2 tbl melted butter

Baking:
Dough
1. Heat milk to lukewarm temperature and add yeast with a tsp of sugar. Stir.
2. Let sit 10 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble (if it does not bubble you are using bad yeast, do not continue baking. Your bread will not rise.)
3. Cut the butter into small cubes and place in food processor or mixing bowl.
4. Add egg yolks, yeast mixture and mix well
5. Slowly add the flour, salt, and sugar
6. Cover dough and leave in refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight
7. The next morning remove the dough and let stand for 45 minutes before continuing 

Streuesl
1. Whisk together the flour and sugar
2. Gradually add the melted butter
3. Mix with your fingertips until the mixture is in small lumps.

Filling 
1. Mix together the chocolate, sugar and cinnamon

Assembly
1. Reserve 2 tbl of the chocolate mixture and 3 tbl of the streuesl mixture. (This is for the top of the loaf)
2. Pound dough into a rectangle on a floured surface
3. Fill with the chocolate mixture the streusel. Make sure to leave 1/2 inch border on the long side of the rectangle to brush butter for rolling.
4. Brush melted butter on 1/2 inch of length side of the rectangle
5. Roll the dough towards the buttered side, forming a log
6. Pinch ends together to close the log, and form a ring.
7. Twist the ring into a figure eight
8. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Place parchment paper and grease and flour again
9. Place the dough in the pan and brush with butter
10. Preheat oven to 350 
11. Cover with towel, place in warm area and let rise for 1 hour. (It will not double until baked, but you will know when it's ready if your finger leaves an indentation)
12. Brush with melted butter again and sprinkle reserved chocolate and streusel on top
13. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly cover with foil
14. Cool slightly before slicing