Chocolate Babka | Saveur

Ingredients

• 2 (7-gram) packages active dry yeast
• 1⁄2 cup milk
• 1 3⁄4 cups plus 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 Tbsp. plus a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. each finely grated orange zest and lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 7 egg yolks plus 1 egg white and 1 egg
• 15 1⁄2 Tbsp. butter (11 1/2 Tbsp. melted, 4 tbsp. chilled and diced)
• 3 oz. almond paste (about 1/3 cup), broken into pieces
• 2 cups sponge cake crumbs
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3⁄4 cup seedless raisins, plumped in boiling water and drained
• 1 1⁄2 Tbsp. dark rum
• 1⁄2 lb. chocolate (preferably 55–72 percent cocoa), melted and kept warm