Roasted Oolong Chocolate Babka

The dough

• 120 ml whole milk, warmed
• 100 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp instant dried yeast
• 450 g plain flour
• 3 eggs
• 115 g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
• zest of 1 orange
• 0.75 tsp fine salt

The filling

• 100 g dark chocolate
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 40 g icing sugar
• 6 tsp Roasted Oolong powderSuperboba

1. 1

   Stir the warm milk with a tablespoon of the sugar and the yeast, and leave it ten minutes until foamy. If nothing happens the yeast is dead and there is no point continuing.

2. 2

   Combine the flour and remaining sugar in a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and mix two minutes, then the eggs one at a time.

3. 3

   Add the butter a cube at a time on medium speed, then the orange zest and salt. Mix 6 to 8 minutes until the dough pulls away from the bowl and stretches thin without tearing.

4. 4

   Cover and rise about an hour until doubled, then knock it back and chill 30 minutes. Cold dough is far easier to roll and fill.

5. 5

   Melt the chocolate with the butter, stir in the icing sugar and the Roasted Oolong powder, and let it thicken to a spreadable paste.

6. 6

   Roll the dough to roughly 40 by 25 cm. Spread the filling to within a centimetre of the edges, then roll up tightly from the long side into a log.

7. 7

   Freeze the log ten minutes, then cut it in half lengthways so the layers are exposed. Lay the halves cut side up, cross them over each other twice, and lower the twist into a lined loaf tin.

8. 8

   Cover and rise 45 minutes, then bake at 180 C for 35 to 40 minutes. Cover with foil if the top darkens before the middle is done.

• Chill the dough before rolling and freeze the log before cutting. Both make the difference between a clean twist and a smeared mess.
• Orange zest in the dough is worth keeping. It lifts both the chocolate and the roasted tea.
• A skewer in the centre should come out clean. Babka is a rich dough and underbakes easily in the middle.