Chocolate Cinnamon Babkallah Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 and grease two loaf pans.
• To make chocolate filling:
• In the bowl of a food processor (I use a mini-prep for this), chop the broken up chocolate, cinnamon and sugar until the mixture looks coarse and sandy. If you do not have a food processor, simply chop the chocolate finely and mix with cinnamon and sugar.
• Cut in the butter or margarine with a fork.
• To make streusel:.
• In a medium bowl, combine the confectioner's sugar and flour, then cut in the butter or margarine until it resembles coarse crumbs.
• To assemble:.
• Roll out the dough as thinly as possible on a lightly floured surface to form a 15x4 inch rectangle (the thinner you roll out the dough, the greater the swirl effect inside).
• Sprinkle the dough evenly with the filling then roll up tightly lengthwise so that you are left with a long log. Seal the seam if you can.
• To create the swirl: fold the log in half (it should look like a squished letter 'U') and then twist the 'U' a few times so it looks like a twisted rope.
• Immediately place the shaped loaf into a greased loaf pan and set aside to rise for 30 min or so.
• Brush the loaves with the egg wash, then sprinkle heavily with the streusel topping.
• Place the loaves on a baking sheet (never bake without something underneath - as the cake rises, the streusel can tumble out of the pan onto the oven floor, creating a smoky mess) and bake for 30-40 min, depending on the size of your loaves. They should be a deep golden brown on top.

Steps:

• Dough:
• Heat milk in a small saucepan until warm. Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in yeast; let sit until foamy, 5-10 minutes.
• Whisk in egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/2 cup butter. Add sugar, salt, and 3 cups flour; mix until a shaggy dough forms. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until supple, smooth, and no longer shiny, 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a large buttered bowl. Cover and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
• Filling and assembly:
• Mix chocolate, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide into three portions. Shape each into a 12"-long rope. Roll out each rope to a 12x6" rectangle about 1/8" thick. Brush with butter and top with chocolate mixture, pressing gently. Roll up to form a log; pinch seam to seal.
• Place logs, seam side down, side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pinch logs together at one end; braid, then pinch ends together and tuck under. Cover loosely and let sit in a warm place until 1 1/2 times larger, 1-2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°. Beat egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Brush dough with egg wash; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until top is golden brown and "Babkallah" sounds hollow when bottom is tapped, 35-45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.