Chocolate Buns - Fresh From The Oven

This month's Fresh From The Oven Challenge fell to me. I just couldn't decide what recipe to make, do I go for tried and trusted or something new? Simple and tasty or a little more challenging and extravagant? Oh the delima! I ended up picking something I had never made before and that was a bit more 'technical' than I would normally opt for. The Chocolate Buns from Richard Bertinet's 'Dough' had been staring out from the page at me for so long that I ended up picking that. I confess to my utter disappointment ;0(

The dough was dry and pretty much tasteless - except for that hop like taste that yeast can sometimes have. I'm not sure if it was me and the fact that the recipe was a bit more challenging or if it was just the recipe. Richard makes a Creme Patissiere to go in the centre of his version, I used Nutella for no other reason that I needed to use it up and I thought it would be roughly the same kind of thing. I had slightly less than I thought I did though so the layer was a bit on the thin side, I'm wondering if using the Creme Patissiere would have helped the dough stay moist? That will teach me to take a shortcut!

All up though, fresh from the oven (ahem!) they had the potential to be very yummy. When I have a spare afternoon one weekend I'm going to give this recipe another go and see how it goes.

Chocolate Buns

250g full fat milk (250ml - weighing is more accurate)

15g yeast (fresh if possible)

500g strong bread flour

60g unsalted butter at room temp

40g caster sugar

10g salt

2 large eggs

25g good quality cocoa powder

200g chocolate chips, milk, plain, white or a mixture

2 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt for an egg wash

Nutella or Creme Patissiere to fill

Pour the milk into a pan and warm gently until it is about body temp - it should feel neither warm nor cold when you dip your finger into it.

Put the flour into your mixer bowl and rub in the yeast. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips. Switch the mixer onto the slowest speed, add the sugar, cocoa and salt, then the eggs and milk and mix for 2 mins, then turn up to the next slowest speed and mix for a further 6-7 mins until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Remove the dough from the bowl, transfer to a lightly floured surface to mould into a ball before placing in a tea towel to prove for 45 mins.

Use the round end of a scraper to transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and, with a rolling pin, gently flatten it into a rough rectangle. Spread the chocolate creme patissiere (nutella!!) evenly over the dough and sprinkle on the chocolate chips. Starting with one of the longer edges, roll the dough up until it resembles a Swiss roll. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 2cm slices and place them on their sides on a baking tray. Glaze with a little egg wash and leave to prove for 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 hours until the buns have roughly doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 250C.

Glaze again and put into the preheated oven, turning the heat down to 180C. bake for 10-15 mins. As the chocolate dough is quite dark it can be difficult to tell when the buns are properly baked, and you need to take care not to under bake them- the best way to tell when they are ready is to lift one gently with a spatula and check that it is firm underneath.

If you don't want to bake the buns all in one go, you can freeze some. When they are cut, just before proving, put them on a small tray in the freezer and when they are hard put them into a freezer bag. To use, take them out, leave to prove overnight and bake in the same way.

Makes 24 buns

'Dough' Richard Bertinet