World’s Best Chocolate Babka

Instructions

Instructions for the Filling 

Step 1

Melt 1 cup of butter. Add pudding mix, sugar, cocoa, water, and egg. Mix together until well combined. Try not to eat it all. You’ll need it for later. 

Instructions for the Dough 

Step 1

Melt the butter in the microwave, and let it cool a bit. While it’s cooling, add the yeast and the sugar to a large bowl, and gently stir twice to combine. Add the warm water to the bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Set a timer for 5 minutes and let the yeast activate. 

Step 2

After 5 minutes, sprinkle the salt over the mixture and add the melted butter which has now cooled slightly. Mix together, being gentle. You don’t want to anger the yeast. Easy does it! 

Step 3

Add the egg and the egg yolk to a small bowl and whisk together. Add this to your yeast/butter mixture along with two cups of flour. Mix together until well incorporated.

Step 4

Add the rest of the four 1/2 cup at a time. Knead between each addition until a smooth dough forms. It should be soft but not sticky. Continue to add flour until you press a wooden spoon into the dough and it comes out clean. But the dough in a bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest until it doubles in size. It took my dough two hours. 

Step 5

Prep your bundt pan with non-stick spray.

Step 6

Divide the dough into two sections that are as equal as possible. Starting with one section, roll into a very thin rectangle. It should cover a large surface area. Your goal is thin! Spread half of the chocolate filling over the dough rectangle, trying to avoid the edges as much as possible. Now you’re going to want to roll this rectangle into a long, snake. Starting from the longest end, roll it up. Again, it should be a long snake. But it’s a bad snake, and you want to cut it in half horizontally. You should now have two long snakes. Pinch two snakes together at their heads, and braid them. Braiding them should give your babka that signature look when you slice into it. 

Step 7

Repeat what you just did to the other section of dough. You should now have two braids made up of four snakes. 

Step 8

Repeat what you just did to the other section of dough. You should now have two separate braids made up of four snakes. Move one braid into your bundt pan, and twist it making it as decorative as you’d like. Take your second braid and try as hard as you can to eave the open end of your braid into the open end of the braid you just put in. You want these two braids to be as connected and intertwined as possible. No worries if it doesn’t look picture perfect, it’s going to be delicious either way. 

Step 9

Let it rest in the pan for another 30 minutes. It won’t double, but it will fill out more. Now is a good time to pre-heat your oven.

Step 9

Bake for 40 minutes and check to see if it needs a little more time. It should be golden brown. Remove from oven and let it sit for 15 minutes. The invert onto your serving plate. Enjoy!