Chocolate and Marmalade Babka

Put the flour, yeast, salt, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix well. Add the milk, vanilla paste, orange zest, and eggs and mix until it comes together. If the mix doesn’t come together, add more flour by the tablespoonful until it forms a soft dough.

Add knobs of the butter, beating well between each addition until you have a smooth dough (if necessary, add a little extra flour). Grease a bowl with butter, add the dough, cover, and leave to rise for 1½ hours (it won’t double in size but should rise at least ½ again). Deflate the dough, cover, and leave in the fridge overnight (this helps develop the flavour).

On a floured bench, roll the dough into a roughly 30x35cm rectangle, about 3-4mm thick.

Mix the nut butter with 3 tablespoons of the marmalade, then use a spatula to smear the mix all over the dough. With the longest length towards you, roll the dough up into a coil. Transfer to a baking paper-lined tray and chill for 30 minutes.

Grease a loaf tin and line it with baking paper. Cut the coil of dough lengthwise into two halves, then plait the two halves together with the cut side facing upwards. Put the braided dough into the tin, tucking the ends underneath so they fit in snugly. Leave to rise for 1-1½ hours until puffed up, or prove overnight in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. If it starts to brown too quickly on top, cover with a piece of baking paper.

While the babka bakes, squeeze the juice of the orange and put into a small saucepan with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, the remaining marmalade, and ¼ cup water. Bring to a simmer, cook for 2 minutes, and set aside.

Once the babka comes out of the oven, use a skewer to punch holes all over it and then pour over the marmalade syrup. Cool in the tin before slicing and serving.