a chocolate what-ka?

so the other day, i pulled out a recipe i'd been wanting to try for a while. i'd ripped it out of my december issue of cooking light magazine, and the original plan was to make it for valentine's day breakfast. but when the teen ended up at her dad's that weekend, i scrapped it.

anyway, i'd never heard of a chocolate babka before. as i tweeted about making it, several folks responded with a seinfeld reference - but since i never got into that show and really can't stand jerry seinfeld, it didn't help to enlighten me. all i knew was, sweet bread dough + chocolate + cinnamon = tasty.

i mixed up the bread dough, using my trusty packets of "rapid rise" yeast (because i'm an impatient mofo), rolled it out and spread the filling on top.

following the instructions, i worked it like a jelly roll and then did my best to pinch the seams closed. after adding the extra flour called for in the recipe, though, it was a little dry and didn't want to stick together.

i twisted it and stuffed it into my loaf pan, let it rise for about an hour (it didn't rise much - i wonder if my liquids weren't the right temperature despite checking it with my candy thermometer), and tossed it in the oven. about 40 minutes later, it was done.

i waited till the next morning to slice into it, so it wouldn't be super duper gooey and the chocolate filling had a chance to solidify. i obviously didn't twist the dough nearly enough, or maybe i should've rolled it out a little more so that the filling would have made prettier swirls, but it still looks good, huh?

all in all, it was a good recipe. the teen seemed to like it, and it does make for a lovely breakfast. looks like the wan house likes the babka!