Learn how to make a dark chocolate babka with this recipe, including how to make the enriched dough from scratch, a dark chocolate filling, and rolling and shaping the babka to fit a loaf pan.
Warm milk to 38–40ºC (100ºF). Stir in ½ teaspoon granulated sugar and the yeast. Let stand 10 minutes. It should be foamy after resting.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Pour in the foamy milk, then add the egg and the vanilla. Beat to incorporate. When the dough is evenly mixed, switch to the dough hook.
Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then add the butter a little piece at a time as the mixer runs on low. Be sure to wait that the first piece of butter gets worked in before adding the next.
Knead the dough again for another 5 minutes. It will be tacky. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead a few more seconds to form the dough into a smooth ball.
Grease a large bowl and transfer the ball of dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
When you are ready to shape your babka, make the filling first. Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave on power level 5.
Stir in the icing sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Let cool slightly while you roll out the dough.
Roll out the cold dough into a rectangle of 16x12". Spread the melted chocolate mixture covering the surface almost entirely from edge to edge. Sprinkle the surface with the chopped chocolate.
Roll the babka into a 16" log, tightly. Slice the log lengthwise to reveal the layering.
Cross the two layered pieces to form an X, then continue crossing over the ends to form a long twist.
Carefully transfer the twist to the greased pan. Note you will have to gently squish the twist of dough to tightly fill the pan (see picture). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise 1.5 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175 °C). Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf and bake the babka in the center of the oven for about 40–45 minutes. You will know that the babka is baked when it is firm to touch, a deep golden brown on the outside, and also a thermometer inserted into a bready part of the swirl will read 90ºC (194ºF), see notes.
Remove the babka from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
For the dark chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate.
For the cocoa powder, I used Cacao Barry Plein Arôme.
Both of these products are available online at Vanilla Food Company, while the Ocoa can also be purchased at IGA grocery stores in Quebec. You can find many of Cacao Barry's chocolates at restaurant supply stores as well.
I used a standard light-coloured 9x5" loaf pan like this one on Amazon. If you use a darker pan, you may want to drop the oven temperature by 25ºF to make sure the outside doesn't overbake.
To measure the internal temperature of the babka, use an instant-read thermometer, like the Thermoworks Thermapen or the ChefAlarm.