Cinnamon Babka

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018045-chocolate-babka

I adapted the chocolate babka recipe and just used the dough and put on butter, cinnamon and sugar to make Cinnamon Babka.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE DOUGH:
½ cup/118 milliliters whole milk
1 package (1/4 ounce/7 grams)active dry yeast
⅓ cup/67 grams granulated sugar, plus a pinch
4 ¼ cups/531 grams all-purpose flour, more as needed
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest(optional)
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
10 tablespoons/140 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing bowls and pans

FOR THE CINNAMON FILLING-  for each loaf:
3 Tbls  granulated sugar

2 Tsp cinnamon


PREPARATION
Prepare the dough: In a small saucepan or a bowl in the microwave, warm the milk until it’s lukewarm but not hot (about 110 degrees). Add yeast and a pinch of sugar and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until slightly foamy.

In an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, or in a food processor, mix together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, the salt, the vanilla, the lemon zest (if using) and the nutmeg. (If you don't have a mixer or processor, use a large bowl and a wooden spoon.) Beat or process in the yeast mixture and eggs until the dough comes together in a soft mass, about 2 minutes. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl and doesn’t come together, add a tablespoon more flour at a time until it does, beating very well in between additions.

Add half the butter and beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Beat in the rest of the butter and continue to beat or pulse until the dough is smooth and stretchy, another 5 to 7 minutes. Again, if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Butter a clean bowl, form the dough into a ball and roll it around in the bowl so all sides are buttered. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place (inside of a turned-off oven with the oven light on is good) until it puffs and rises, about 1 to 2 hours. It may not double in bulk but it should rise.

Press the dough down with your hands, re-cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight (or, in a pinch, for at least 4 hours, but the flavor won't be as developed).

Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. On a floured surface, roll one piece into a 9-by-17-inch rectangle. Spread 2 Tbls of melted butter on the dough. Then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the entire surface. (add more or less - cinnamon or sugar depending on taste) Starting with a long side, roll into a tight coil. Transfer the coil onto a dish towel or piece of plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Repeat with the other piece of dough.

Slice one of the dough coils in half lengthwise to expose the filling. Twist the halves together as if you were braiding them, then fold the braid in half so it’s about 9 inches long. Place into a prepared pan, letting it curl around itself if it’s a little too long for the pan. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy (it won’t quite double). 

Alternatively, you can cover the pans with plastic wrap and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight; bring them back to room temperature for an hour before baking.

When you're ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use your fingers to clump streusel together and scatter all over the tops of the cakes. Transfer to oven and bake until a tester goes into the cakes without any rubbery resistance and comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. The cakes will also sound hollow if you unmold them and tap on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer will read between 185 and 210 degrees.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.