Babka

When I was growing up in New York City, we lived twenty-two blocks from Lichtman’s Bakery, which was famous for its babka. Many a Sunday my dad would drive over to pick one up for breakfast. I’ve tried for years to produce the babka of my memory and finally discovered that the secrets to achieving a beautiful spiral of filling that does not burst through the top or separate into wide gaps inside are to make a very sticky dough and to add egg white to the filling, which expands along with th