Just made the babkas today and I am thrilled that I produced something this wonderful as a novice baker. I made two loaves, one with the simple shaping and one with the more complex shaping. I actually had more trouble with the "simple" because I didn't quite understand how to twist the horseshoe, but I figured it out. I used a parchment sling in my bread pans which made it very easy to get the bread out. I did proof it both times in the oven using the oven light only and it really rose a lot (perhaps a bit over-proofed?) but that didn't seem to affect the quality and it held together well. Next time I'll try just proofing at room temp. The only thing that didn't work out so well for me was the topping. It was more like a lumpy paste than struesel and was kind of in bigger clumps that didn't stick that well to the bobka. Otherwise, terrific.

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