Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Soft Buns (65℃汤种 method)

Yes, I baked bread again. It is indeed a never ending quest for me, because eating bread is a daily affair for me, whether its breakfast or just dough craving. And to be able to have fresh baked bread (made by myself) is really a true satisfaction. ;) But it's not all "sweet endings" if you know what I mean. There are always occasional mishaps, especially when trying out new recipes. But surprisingly, trying new recipes is actually the fun of it all for me, lol! :P It's funny how Happy Home Baker was telling us her "obsession" with bread baking and I see myself sharing the same sentiments. :D Whatever chemistry bread making has me hooked is really hard to explain. :) Regardless, I'm loving it and not stopping anytime soon, heehee. ;)
Although this is not my first time making bread using 65℃汤种 method, but I can safely say this Chocolate Chocolate Chip soft bread buns are one of the best ones I've made so far. :) It is really soft and fluffy and the strong chocolate aroma was very inviting!
This recipe is actually adapted from Cafe Corner's Japanese-Style Sweet Bun Dough . Had bookmarked this recipe for awhile now and I saw Gert made it the other day, it just made me want to bake it even more. Today I finally got to it and I modified it to what I like best....Chocolate buns! How did I do it, check it out:

Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Chocolate Buns (65℃汤种 method)

340g bread flour

100g plain flour
30g Valrohna Cocoa powder (use any kind you prefer)
30g milk powder
80g caster sugar
3/4 tsp salt
7g instant dry yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
150ml lukewarm water
40g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Water Roux:
25g bread flour
125ml water
*Please refer to Cafe Corner's site to see the detail explanation and steps on making water roux.

Method:

  • In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients (including all of the water roux mixture) except the butter and chocolate chips. Mix everything well and knead it till it comes together to form a soft dough.
  • Continue to knead the dough till it is not sticky and it's pulling away from the sides of the working area of bowl.
  • Add in the room temperature butter and continue to knead till it is very elastic and pass the window test. For this case, the dark brown color of the dough is harder to see through. So, as long as it doesn't tear, it should be good to go. But knead time would be around 20 to 25 minutes with hand and 10 to 15 minutes with mixer.
  • Place well knead dough into a oiled bowl and let proof in the switched off oven alongside a bowl of hot water for at least 1hr to 1.5hrs till it double in size.
  • Remove from oven and punch out the air. Weigh out the dough and divide it equally into 12 portions. If you prefer smaller buns, go for 16 portions. Roll round the portions and let rest for 10 mins, covered, before shaping.
  • Using a rolling pin, roll out one of the portions into a flat oval shape, sprinkle some chocolate chips on top and roll it up like a swiss roll. Seal and roll it out again into a flat oval. This timeroll it up into a swiss roll once again and seal nicely into a round dough ball. Place into a well greased baking square pan (I used 22cmx22cm) Repeat with the rest of the dough portions till all has been rolled and placed in pan.
  • Let the shaped dough rest covered for 10 minutes before baking. Meantime, preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Bake the buns in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes till the top is dark brown and when you pat on it, it sounds hollow. If the top browns too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil and let it continue to finish baking.
  • Once it is done, remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing it from the pan. Let the freshly baked bread cool completely on rack before storing it in airtight containers. This delicious bread should stay good and soft for at least 3 days.
Proved to baked. When these fluffy buns baked up in the oven, the whole house smells like chocolate heaven! When it came out from the oven, me and my kids can't wait to tear one out to eat! And we did just that, lol!
To think that my last bread post was also a chocolate bread recipe, you can imagine how much I love chocolate, lol! And I definitely didn't see anyone complaining about that in my family. :)
Actually, how do you know if your bread is baked to perfection? This is a method I want to show you...check out the video:




A well knead and nicely baked loaf will usually spring back even after you give it a good squeeze. :) Don't worry, I don't usually "torture" my bread this way, lol! Just wanted to show you guys that's all. :)
Overall I am really satisfied with this chocolate bread recipe. I know I will be making this again and again for my family and myself of course. ;) You guys should give this delicious bread recipe a try too. Got to run now....have a good week guys!



29 comments:

Passionate About Baking said...

Wow! I was waiting for this after I saw your FB pic. Heehee...Thanks very much for sharing the recipe, HBS. It looks so nice. I can tell you like bread making and chocolates! Me too! I can't agree more that I love homemade bread too! Daily dosage will be good. Unfortunately, I don't have such luxury! :p

MaryMoh said...

Beautiful chocolate buns. The texture looks so soft and fine. I can just eat that without anything spread on it.

Bakericious said...

Bee Bee, I love the video clip! the buns are so spongy, I did tat to my chocolate sponge cake, I just cant stop pressing it hahaha... I love this bread, I am drooling now.

Happy Homebaker said...

I only squeeze my chiffon cake, but have never tried squeezing bread buns, next time I shall torture my bread too, thanks for sharing the tip :)

ICook4Fun said...

I too like making bread using water roux. I think they give the best soft texture bread without add chemical to it. I can imagine the wonderful taste of chocolate in the bread.

WendyinKK said...

Hahaha, I was laughing when u said you were torturing your bread.
I made a video like this too, for a bread I made.
My hubby won't complain too, if it's chocolate for everything everyday.

busygran said...

I am so amused by the way you squeezed the buns! Great soft buns and all that choc chips! Whoopee!

Pei-Lin said...

Bee Bee, I love how you "tortured" the buns! HAHA! I enjoying doing the same to mine, too! HAHA!

Yup, same here. I'm a really bread person. Have to make bread almost every week. (Except you know I have gobs of backlogs on bread to clear. But, I'm taking my time. HAHA!) Nothing can go wrong with chocolate! Very sexy buns you've got here!

Angie's Recipes said...

I could finish at least half of it at one go! :-)

Bakertan said...

hey Bee Bee,

this looks very fluffy and chocolatey, something I wont resist. plus there are choc chips to intensify the choc flavour.. good stuff!

btw, cornercafe's seadragon is a guy. You mentioned him as a her...

DG said...

I love everything in chocolate too. From the video clip, I convinced it is very very soft :) and wish I could have some.

Esther said...

I wish I could it your bread. :) It looks so yummy. I can't wait to try out your bread recipes. I only tried out one of them before, the pork floss with mashed potato and it turned out pretty well. So can't wait to try out this recipe. I love the video, they look so squishy.

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi Bee,
haha.. I keep laughing when see the video clip. That's interesting to see how soft the bun is. I like 65℃汤种 method and believe that this is good one! I've not try out chocolate flavor yet but this really make my hand itchy feeling to try it out soon. Ok, I've bookmarked it. Thanks for sharing!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

@Jane: You are welcome, hope you will like this chocolate bread recipe asuch as the last one. :) Yeah actually I don't have the luxury to bake fresh bread everyday too...but making water roux recipes will allow the bread to stay nice & soft for at least 3 days! Just ate one in the morning and it's still so good. :)

@MaryMoh: Thanks so much! Actually this is a sweet dough recipe and plus the chocolate chips, it is ment to be eaten on it's own. Try it!

@Jess: hahaha, glad that you enjoyed the video clip. :) Actually this recipe is not too hard to handle, you might want to give it a try? No need to drool, make it today, sure no regrets one.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

@HHB: Actually I read this somewhere too and was totally amused when I saw it too. Sure, give yours a good squish next time...:)

@Gert: Agree!! I find water roux an excellent recipe. The other one would be direct method using boiled starch like potatoes or any root vegetables. It too yields excellent soft bread. :)

@Wendy: Yeah lorr, they rise up nicely and you press them down...abit "torturous" no? You have chocolate lovers at home then make more chocolaty buns for them....very satisfying. :)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

@busygran: Heehee, glad that the mini clip can bring some amusement to you. Try it out if you like, no regrets. :)

@Pei-Lin: Hahaha, I also like torturing my bread too!! Funny how you describe the buns...sexy, lol! No worries on the backlog larr, who doesn't have it? The most important is to make something at your own conveience & at your own enjoyment. :)

@Angie: Half of it is 6 buns woh....think I can too, lol!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

@Zhou Yuan: Ai ya! You don't say! My goodness... To think I always thought the author of Cafe Corner is a lady! Silly me can't relate the name SeaDragon should usually be a guy. :P But thanks pal, for the alert....don't want to continue to be oblivious about this. :) Btw, thanks for the conpliments. :)

@DG: thank you! I am sure you can bake this delicious bread buns too. :) try it & let me know how it goes yah?

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Esther, thanks! Actually the potato dough recipe is one of my favorite bread recipe too. It always yield soft texture. :) Ler me know how you like this too if you try it out. :)

Thanks Grace! Glad the video clip can entertain you today, lol! Yes, agree that water roux is one of the most trusted recipe for soft bread. Let me know how you like it after u try ok? Happy baking!!

Irmina Díaz-Frois Martín said...

Delicioso!!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Gracias Irmina!

ReeseKitchen said...

The bread is so nicely done! NICE NICE!! I still have not try any water roux recipe. The truth is I dare not. Worry may fail leh..;p I think I should try one day horr? Wish me luck then..haha!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Reese, actually water roux method is not difficult leh. It is just adding a so call 'wet dough' into the main dough mixture so that it helps retain the moisture. The kneading everything is same, so no need to worry, it's not too complicated. Must try, because this water roux is very soft and stays that way for 3 days.

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

from the picture, i know this buns must be good and soft, immediate bookmark this recipe, I know my kids will love this. Thanks for sharing.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

You are most welcome Sonia! So good to have you back and blogging with the gang of us again! ;)

FunInKitchenLab said...

Hi Honey Bee, I tried making these buns today. It tasted really good. I tried doing the squeeze as well after watching your clip, it was fun doing it. However, I am not too sure about the part of shaping the dough when the chocolate chips are added. You mentioned doing a swiss roll to the dough, but I find it difficult to roll out into an oval shape to begin with. Any illustration to show please? Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

HiBeebee, i tried the breads today but the dough is so wet and impossible to knead till not sticky! Can I check what went wrong? =(

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Anonymous, pls kindly leave a name so that I can address u properly.

Angie said...

Hi Honey Bee Sweets, I've been reading your blog for some time now and have made a few of your 17 hr fermentation bread, really great recipes! Thx so much for sharing.

I tried this recipe today and found that the dough is quite tough but it did yield nice buns. Just wondering if this is what it should be?

Thanks,
Angie

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Angie, actually it's suppose to be soft not tough. Not too sure how come yours turned out different. As you van see from the video, its very soft and not tough at all. Perhaps you can reduce the coco powder or bread flour by 5g to 10g next time. Glad that you have success and made the 17hr pre dough method.  happy baking!