Modern Baker: Chocolate Babka Loaf (Bundt)

      The eighth recipe I made from the Yeast-Risen Breads section of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Chocolate Babka Loaf, on pages 100-101.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      The ingredient list for the dough:  all-purpose flour, yeast, milk, salt, butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla.  The ingredient list for the chocolate filling:  chocolate, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and pecans. 

      The dough comes together very quickly in the mixer.  It is rather a wet, sticky dough, and very soft, so that was fun, not to mention the aroma of all of those ingredients whirling about together. 

      The dough then sits in the refrigerator for 90 minutes, after which time it comes out and is rolled into a rectangle, sprinkled with the chocolate nut filling, rolled like you would roll for making cinnamon rolls, placed into the pan.  You can either put it into loaf pans or a bundt pan.  I figured I would put it in a bundt pan for something different and to encourage eating of such by "on the go" guys who will grab a slice of anything that is made to be eaten on the run to swim practice or work...try as I might, that is just how it goes here in the mornings.  It looks very pretty in a bundt, don't you think?
      I made half a recipe, so this would be a much larger bundt if using the whole recipe amount.  The taste was apparently worthy of praise, you will need to take my taste tester's word for that on all things chocolate, she dropped by to return a book, just in time for a sample.  Fun and easy to make, and definitely a repeat for a special treat.

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.