Are you ready for the most amazing loaf you've ever eaten in your life!? I hope so, because today we're making one of my favourite sweet treats: chocolate babka! This recipe may look a little tricky, but I promise you'll be fine. The hardest part is letting it cool while resisting the urge to cut yourself a slice!

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R E C I P E
100 g whole milk
80 g caster sugar
1 level Tbsp dry active yeast or 30g fresh yeast
80 g unsalted butter in small chunks
500 g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
100g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
100g unsalted butter, in small chunks
150g caster sugar
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
75g pecan nuts, toasted

Place the milk, sugar and yeast to the mixing bowl and heat 2 Min. / 37°C / Speed 2.
Add the butter, flour, salt and eggs and knead 2 Min. / Kneading Function. Transfer the dough into a medium Thermi servebowl and cover with the silicone lid. You can also leave it in the mixing bowl covered with a silicone lid or cling film. Leave to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, clean the mixing bowl. To make the filling, place the chocolate in the mixing bowl. Chop 5 Sec. / Speed 9. Add the butter and sugar and melt 3 Min. / 60C / Speed 3. Add the cocoa powder and cinnamon and combine 10 Sec. / Speed 4.
Transfer into a small bowl and set aside.
Once the dough is risen, transfer it onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a large rectangle about 30x50cm. Spread the filling all over the rolled out dough and decorate the nuts all over. Then, roll up the dough, starting at the end closest to you tightly into a long log.
Using a sharp knife, slice the dough in half lengthways and with the cut side facing up overlap each strand until you have a long rope with the cut sides always up.
Line a large 23x9cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper and lift the babka into the pan, you might have to squeeze it a little, that’s ok. Cover and leave to prove for anther hour.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C / 180C Fan / Gas Mark 6. Once proved, uncover and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. If it browns too much, simply add a little foil to the top to avoid any burning.
Remove the babka from the oven and leave to cool for at least 45 minutes before slicing. Try to resist, I know it is hard.