The babka I grew up with was bad. It was dry and crumbly and full of trans fat. It came from a grocery store in the same suburban strip mall as my orthodontist Dr. Diamond's office and, in our household, counted only my parents as fans. I never would've dreamt of sharing a photo of it—all stale and nubby next to the bagels on the top shelf our fridge—on Instagram.
Today's babkas, however, are runway models and pageview guarantors. They're one part buttery dough, one part chocolate chunks, and one part air. They're twisted, striated, and marbled; streusel-topped, syrup-soaked, and ice cream sandwich'd. They're plastered all over the Internet, the starlets of Smitten Kitchen (2007 and 2014), Bon Appétit (2016), Food and Wine (2016), The New York Times (2016), and our very own Food52 (also 2016).
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