One night before bed, I was paging through a borrowed copy of Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook when I stumbled upon a gorgeous loaf of what appeared to be a chocolate lover’s wonderland:  Chocolate Babka. My husband, seeing my wide eyes and the drool rolling down my chin, declared that it looked like something right up my alley – yeast bread, chocolate, rolled, twisted and in a loaf pan.

I’ve never had babka before, so making it was entirely new to me.  I live in a rural enough area that I have to drive 45 minutes to dine on anything that resembles Indian food, so you can only imagine that we don’t have any spectacular Jewish delis anyplace near.

Babka’s origins come from Eastern Europe, in countries like Poland and Belarus, and it is a popular sweet bread, especially at various holidays throughout the year.

The Recipe: (makes three loaves!)

• 1 and 1/2 cups warm milk (about 110 degrees)
• 2 envelopes active dry yeast (I used 4 1/2 tsp instant)
• 1 and 3/4 cups, plus a pinch, of sugar
• 3 whole egg, plus two yolks at room temperature
• 6 cups AP Flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 and 1/2 sticks butter at room temp
• 2 pounds semi-sweet chocolate, very finely chopped
• 1 T. plus 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used only 1 T.)
• 1 T.  heavy cream (2% or whole milk will suffice, also)
• Streusel Topping

Streusel Topping Recipe:

• 1 and 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 and 1/3 cups AP flour
• 1 and 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature

In a small bowl,sprinkle the yeast and the pinch of sugar over the warm milk.  Stir until dissolved and set it aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 2 of the eggs and the yolks.  Add the yeast mixture and whisk to combine.

In a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the flour and salt.  Add the yeast mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is mostly incorporated.  Switch to a dough hook and add two sticks of butter.  Beat until completely incorporated and a smooth, soft dough has formed, about 10 minutes.  The dough will be slightly sticky when squeezed.

*I don’t have a dough hook, so at this point, I turned the dough out on a floured surface to knead.  I kneaded the bread 8 minutes.  Make sure to knead quickly, so the bread doesn’t stick to your hands.  It takes at least 6 minutes of fast kneading for the dough to start to become smooth on its own.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few more times until smooth.  Place dough in a well greased bowl and turn to coat.  Cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

In a bowl, stir together the chocolate, remaining cup of sugar, and the cinnamon.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the remaining 1 1/2 sticks of butter until combined.  Set aside.

Generously butter three 9 by 5 by 2 3/4 loaf pans (I used three different loaf pans, whatever you have will work just fine) and line with parchment paper, leaving an inch and a half overhang.  Grease or butter the parchment paper and set aside.

Punch down the dough (don’t assault the dough, just turn it out on the counter) and transfer to a clean work surface.  Allow it to rest 5 minutes (I let mine rest for ten and it rolled beautifully!).

Meanwhile, beat the remaining egg with the cream.  Cut dough in three equal sections (Mine were just over one pound each).  Roll out one piece of dough to about 16 inches square.  Brush edges of the square with egg wash.  Crumble one-third of the chocolate mixture over the dough, leaving a half-inch border on all sides.  Roll up dough in a tight log, pinching the ends as you go.

Once rolled completely, twist the log a full five or six times.  This part kind of confused me at first, but what she wants you to do is gently wring the dough, as if it is a wet towel, to create twists in the dough.

Then, brush the twisted log with egg wash.  Crumble 2 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture down the center of the log, taking care to make sure it doesn’t slide off.

Fold the log in half, as if in a horseshoe shape, then cross the right half over the left to make a figure-8 shape.  Pinch ends together to seal the dough.  Twist a few more times, if possible, and fit into the prepared pan.

Repeat with the other two sections of dough.

Brush the tops of the loaves again with egg wash, and sprinkles each with one-third of the streusel topping.  Allow the loaves to rise for another 40-50 minutes, until the dough has nicely expanded and looks rather pillowy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes.  Then, reduce the temperature to 325 and continue to bake another 20-30 minutes until a deep golden color.   If they begin to brown too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.  Transfer pans to a cooling rack and cool completely before serving.

These can be stored up to three days in plastic.  They can also be shaped and frozen in the pan for up to a month before baking.  Just let it sit at room temperature for a few hours before baking.