Chocolate babka. I said it. I'll do it again. Chocolate babka. I did it, I spoke of this insanely delicious dessert without running to my car and driving to Scratch Baking Company to satisfy my addiction. I am getting better. You see a few weekends ago I bought babka on Saturday and Sunday. Then the following Saturday and Sunday. And then again the following weekend. I asked the cashier if it was possible to put me on speed dial at the store and call me when the babka was coming out of the oven. He laughed, and said no. I think he also advised his coworkers that the store had its first stalker. Imagine that. A chocolate babka stalker.

Have you had the stuff. It's a yeasty cake with layers and swirls of chocolate. At Scratch, the dough is buttery and incredibly delicate. The best way to eat it is to pull it apart into buttery pieces. It melts in your mouth.

I remember eating a cake like it as a kid. It was Easter Cake. Eggy, doughy, no chocolate, usually with a white icing. It too was a pull-apart kind of cake. Not made for the knife and fork set. Instead designed for kids -- messy, overly sweet, great warm, great cold, memory making.

If you've read my other blogs, you know that I tend to hunt for good stuff. In this case however, Scratch has everything I need. It's nearby. The babka is stellar. I love going into the place. What else could a babka addict need. One thing I need is to try baking my own babka. Sadly the cookbook I am baking my way through, James Beard's "Beard on Bread," does not have a babka recipe. He does have a recipe called "Monkey Bread." Which looks like it could be redesigned into babka. I am going to head over to Aurora Provisions to buy some nice baking chocolate and have a go at crafting my own babka. I'll let you know how it goes.

If you have a babka that you'd like to let me know of, please do. This is one hankering that I can't seem to satisfy.

Cheers.

Babka disclaimer -- Scratch only bakes babka on weekends. Here's what I suggest. Arrive at Scratch around 9AM. That's when I have had the best luck finding warm babka. Also ask them to make babka more days of the week. If enough babka lovers add their voice, maybe they'll budge.