Last time I went home I transferred in Paris. My flight from shanghai landed at 5 am and I was STARVING since I was on China time, which was 12 pm...LUNCH!
The airport at CDG was filled with the seductive smell of fresh baked cakes and I could not resist from buying some of the famous French chocolate breakfast pastry.
My favorite was this braid made with brioche and puff pastry and chocolate chucks...After the first bite I went back to the store and bought 3 more...I did not eat them all, but I brought them home for my mom to try. Needless to say she loved them too.
Just last weekend, on Saturday morning, I woke up early and decided to make them at home...It took a few hours and some had work, but it all paid off in the end.
Here is the recipe if you want to get your hand at it!
Ingredients (makes 6):
for the dough- 300 gr. all purpose flour
- 125 ml whole fat milk
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 110 gr granulated white sugar
- 1 whole egg
- 2 gr dry yeast
- 50 gr. unsalted butter (room temperature, soft)
- 100 gr unsalted butter (cold)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 15 gr cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 10 gr flour
Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp of sugar into lukewarm milk and let it rest for 5 minutes until it gets all bubbling
Add flour, vanilla bean paste, sugar and egg and mix on slow speed until you get a soft and smooth dough.
Add the softened butter, 1 tbsp at the time, waiting for the first piece to be absorbed before adding the second one.
Place the dough into a greased ball, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 1.5-2 hours or until doubled in size.
For the cocoa butter, mix flour, cocoa, butter and vanilla
until all ingredient are combined
Wrap up the butter into plastic and with a rolling pin, roll it out into a rectangular shape (10*15 cm, 5 mm thick). Refrigerate for at least 30 min.
Roll out the dough into a 22*15 cm rectangular shape. Please the cocoa butter in the center and fold the 2 edges on top
Twist the dough clockwise of 15 degree and roll it out again into a rectangular (25*30 cm). Fold it now in 4.
Wrap it up in plastic, flatten it slightly and refrigerate for at least 30 min.
Roll out the dough very thin and slice it into 3cm thick strips.
Use 3 of them to make a braid, while you stuck in between some chocolate chips.
Brush the braid with the egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp of milk) and bake at 180 C for about 30 min
This is best served warm (not hot)...but also cold is not bad at all!
Love
- LittleDani
