Chocolate babka

A swirly brioche-y loaf cake that’s sure to be a family favourite. Make it part of brunch in those lazy days between Christmas and New Year, or enjoy mid-walk on Boxing Day. 290g strong white bread flour 1½ tsp dried yeast 40g caster sugar 1 generous pinch of salt 2 eggs 60ml lukewarm milk 70g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing Plain flour, for dusting for the filling 50g hazelnuts, blanched and coarsely chopped 1 tbsp brown sugar 70g high-quality dark chocolate (70%) 50g butter 25g icing sugar 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 For the dough, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs, milk and butter and knead everything for about 10 mins to make a smooth, pliable dough. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the dough to rise for about an hour.

2 Meanwhile, for the filling, toast the hazelnuts in a frying pan. Add the brown sugar and caramelise lightly. Combine the semi-sweet chocolate and butter and melt in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of boiling water. Set aside to cool, then stir in the icing sugar and cocoa powder.

3 Butter the loaf tin. Dust worktop with flour and roll dough out to a rectangle of 35x25cm. Spread the chocolate filling evenly across the dough, leaving a margin of about 1.5cm. Sprinkle with the nuts, then roll up the dough tightly and evenly, starting from the shorter side.

4 Halve the rolled-up dough lengthwise with a sharp knife, keeping 2cm intact at one end, allowing the layers of dough and filling to fan out decoratively. Starting at the intact end, carefully intertwine the two strands, placing one over and under the other exposing the cut, chocolatey surfaces, and creating a rope effect.

5 Transfer the intertwined dough roll to the loaf tin, cover and set aside to rise for another hour.

6 Preheat the oven to 175C/Fan 155C/350F. Bake the babka for 30–35 mins. If the surface starts getting too dark, cover the loaf with foil after about half of the baking time. If you like your babka very sweet and moist, brush with a sugar syrup* as soon as it comes out of the oven. Allow the babka to cool before removing from the tin.

Recipe from New York Christmas by Lisa Nieschlag and Lars Wentrup (Murdoch Books). Photography: Lisa Nieschlag and Julia Cawley (see My City, page 68).