The minute I contemplate making chocolate babka, I recognize that I’m at risk of making my whole baking life an homage to Seinfeld. First, I discuss with Dan, another die-hard fan, and we conclude that there’s no need to make cinnamon babka unless someone specifically requests it, since it is universally recognized, as Elaine put it, as “the lesser babka.” Then I make the chocolate babka, thinking the whole time about Jerry mugging the old lady who had bought the last babka from the bakery, then George reeling it up to the apartment where he was having dinner with his inlaws with a fishing pole. (Did I get those details right?) Next, I contemplate making black and white cookies, but I stop myself there: they’re not a favorite of mine, and I’m not a tribute band.

Filled, split, and folded sweet breads from Eastern Europe are so beautiful, and they’re surprisingly fun to make. They are very like cinnamon rolls in terms of ingredients, but the final technique is slightly different. Instead of slicing your rolled dough into rounds and proofing/baking them side-by-side, you slice the whole roll lengthwise down the middle and twist it before proofing and baking in a loaf pan. In this recipe, the filling, half extra-dark chocolate, half cocoa powder, plus powdered sugar and butter, is to die for if you are a dark chocolate fan.

Like cinnamon rolls, babka is finished with a glaze, in this case a clear simple syrup that disappears into it. Its appearance is so shiny and appealing after this. And amazingly, it tastes even better than it looks.

There are not many breads I don’t think are improved by butter, but chocolate babka is so full of chocolate swirl, even I couldn’t contemplate adding butter. I suppose I worry the butter will compete with the chocolate. And let’s be real, there’s certainly a goodly quantity of butter in both the dough and the filling, though, as is so often the case with enriched doughs, you don’t notice it.

Tips for making babka:

• When you’re making the dough, room temperature ingredients are helpful. Leave everything, butter and eggs included, out overnight to make the dough come together more quickly.
• When you’re filling, rolling, cutting, and braiding the babka, cold dough is your friend. Refrigerate between each step to help yourself out.
• Slightly warm your chocolate mixture to help it spread a little easier on the chilled dough.
• Don’t roll the dough too thin! This will make the spreading of chocolate much harder and it might even tear. Ultimately, your twisted babka needs to fit in your loaf pan, so aiming to have it only slightly longer than the pan once twisted is ideal. You can tuck the ends of the twisted roll around in the pan, but this can be awkward if the middle of the pan winds up being less full of dough than the ends.