Images
Additional Information
- 310g Strong White Flour
- 6g Salt
- 30g Caster sugar
- 7g Instant dried yeast
- 4 Eggs
- 160g Butter, cut into small cubes, plus extra for greasing
- 20ml Milk to glaze
For the Brioche
- 150g chocolate spread of your choice
- Extra chocolate chips or broken pieces of chocolate for added indulgence (optional)
For the filling
1.
Weigh out the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl of a free-standing mixer. Add in the eggs and mix on a medium speed using a dough hook. The dough will be sticky at first but keep on mixing to develop the gluten; this will take around 10 minutes. You may need to stop the mixer or scrape down the bowl.
2.
Once the dough is ready it will look smooth and will not get stuck to the sides of the mixing bowl.
3.
Add the butter gradually making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding in more. The mixture might start to look greasy at this stage, don’t worry it will eventually form a smooth, soft dough.
4.
When the butter has been added, continue to mix for a few minutes until the dough is smooth and uniform in consistency.
5.
Remove the dough from the machine and place it in a clean bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rest and prove- it should double in size after 30-60 minutes, depending on the room temperature.
6.
Knock the dough back by flipping it over 2 or 3 times with your hands to remove the air and then place back in the bowl, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, preferably overnight.
7.
A special note about handling brioche: the high butter content of brioche and its delicate texture mean you need to work quickly and gently in the next steps, or the dough will become soft and sticky. If this happens don’t panic; put it back in the fridge to cool down and then carry on.
8.
When you are ready to cook the brioche, preheat the oven to 200 degrees/gas mark 6 and grease 10 holes in a muffin tin with plenty of butter
9.
Take the brioche out of the bridge and knock it back. Roll the dough into a rectangle measuring roughly 20 x 40cm. Spread a thick layer of chocolate spread onto the dough, leaving a spall space around the edges. Scatter over the chocolate chips of chocolate pieces evening, if using.
10.
Starting from one end, roll the dough up to create a tight log.
11.
Slice into 5cm pieces and place in the muffin tin with the swirl pattern facing upwards.
12.
Lightly brush the surfaces with milk to glaze.
13.
Leave in a warm place to prove for 60-90 minutes or until they have doubled in size.
14.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, lowering the temperature to 180 degrees/gas mark 4 after 15 mins. The brioche should be golden brown on all sides.
15.
Leave to cool a little in the tray before serving.
The Character of Cocoa
The flavour of cocoa and the chocolate it produces varies depending on where the cocoa is grown. Different growing regions have different personalities, each pairing well with other ingredients.
Madagascar, Vietnam
Fruit-led flavours, refreshing in the mouth – perfect with fruits, dark meats and game.
Saint Lucia, Trinidad, Java
Complex and multi-layered flavours jostling for position. Goes with pork, chicken and wines.
Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador
Roasted flavours, led by mellow notes of roasted nuts. Ideal with fish, eggs and desserts.
Demystifying Cocoa Percentages
The percentages used on chocolate labels can sometimes seem a bit confusing. A 40% milk chocolate, for example, is not made with 40% milk. The percentage always refers to the amount of cocoa used in the recipe, and the rest will either be all sugar (darks) or milk and sugar (milks/whites).
You’ll find higher percentages in dark chocolate recipes, with less in milk, and least in white. Surprisingly, one of the UK’s most famous dark chocolates contains just 39% cocoa, and its milk counterpart only 23%. That means the largest ingredient overall is sugar. We believe this is wrong. We always prefer to use more cocoa in our chocolate for an authentic and satisfying cocoa hit. We put 40 – 70% cocoa in our milk and Supermilk chocolate, and 70-100% in our dark.
Our white chocolate has a much higher cocoa percentage than average, at 36%.
Sugar only costs a tenth of the price of even the cheapest cocoa beans, so it’s no wonder that it is tempting for low – quality makers to use so much of it. But in the world of fine chocolate, deciding on whether to use, say 73% or 75% cocoa in a recipe is the chocolatier’s choice and depends on the quality, character and flavour profile of the bean harvest. In many ways, deciding the cocoa percentage is like deciding the alcohol level in a good wine.
How To Melt Your Chocolate
In a Bain-Marie (recommended)
This traditional method offers a great deal of control. Put your chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t actually touch the hot water (or it can burn the chocolate). Heat in the steam for about 2 minutes until fully melted, stirring occasionally.
In a Microwave
Put your chocolate in the microwave on high power for a total of 40-50 seconds, but only in 10 second bursts, stirring in between to ensure it doesn’t burn. Stop when fully melted.
Essential Cocoa Nib Know-How
Knowing how to extract the best flavours from your cocoa nibs is essential to many of our recipes. It’s easy to buy cocoa nibs these days, but they can be of variable quality. Follow our tips below to make sure you get the most flavour possible from your nibs.
Awakening your Nibs
Often your nibs will have a silver grey hue to them as they have oxidised around the outside. This is harmless, but we recommend you grind them vigorously in a pestle and mortar for 30 seconds. You’ll see the nibs turn a gorgeous mahogany brown, their amazing flavour and aroma awoken at the same time.
Soak them in Water
After awakening, the nibs may still be hard and flinty. Soak them in a little hot water (just enough to cover them) for about 20 minutes which will soften them, the soaking liquid can be set aside as a flavoursome stock.
Storing your Nibs
Just like coffee, roasted nibs should be kept in an airtight container. If you are able to source ‘just roasted’ nibs or have made your own, you can freeze them in an airtight container until needed, retaining maximum flavour.
Chocolate Brioche
Perfect for a lazy Sunday with a mug of hot chocolate. You can do most of the preparation in the evening before and bake in the morning. Mellow flavours work best here, so pick a good house blend for your chocolate chunks.
- total time: 20-25 mins
- makes: 10
