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 flour100g plain flour30g 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.
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!
Hope you all had a wonderful and fruitful week. Especially with Hari Raya holiday, everyone gets to spend some quality time with family and perhaps a little quiet time too. How did you spend your holiday? Since its a school term break as well, I get to spend lots of time with my kids, literally 24-7, lol! Although we didn't do any holiday trip this time, we were already contented that we still get to spend more time with family here. :D But of course I still get to bake as often as I can when my kids are playing or doing things on their own. And I happened to bake this lovely Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Marble Cake that was very well received by my children. In fact I have already baked it twice and they are still asking for more! Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Marble Cake: (makes a 12 cup bundt cake)
Chocolate Paste
3 tbsp cocoa powder (I used Valrohna, feel free to use any brand you prefer)
3 tbsp hot water
Cake Batter
1 cup (250g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (450g) caster sugar (I reduced it to 350g)
4 large eggs
2 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 & 1/2 cups (210g) sour cream
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
2 & 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips (I used 100g chocolate bar, chopped into small chunks)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180C. The generously grease a 12 cup bundt pan.
- In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and the hot water together to make a smooth paste.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Blend in the eggs and then vanilla. Then add in the sour cream, and scraping the bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure it is evenly combined.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and blend well. Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks into the batter and mix well.
- Remove 1/3 of the batter and mix in the chocolate paste in to it.
- Spoon in big scoops of vanilla batter into the bundt pan and alternating with some spoons on chocolate batter as well to create the marble effect. Repeat till all the batter has been put in.
- Place in the oven to bake for 40 to 50 minutes, depending on your oven. Bake till golden brown and the tester comes out clean. If the top of the cake browns too quickly, cover with foil first until done.
- Once baked, remove from oven and let cool on rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool completely. Enjoy!!
The 2nd time I made this cake, I used Madeline mould and also my Nordicware seashell pan which I got during one of my trips back to California . ;)Unfortunately due to the marble "effect" the seashells' shapes were not very obvious. However my kids loved it! They would pick their favorite shell shape and slowly savor it, lol!Anyway, hope you will try this out and you will know what I mean. Definitely a delicious cake to share with your love ones. Okay, last but not least, Selamat Hari Raya to our fellow Muslims (hope I am not too late for that) and happy holidays to everyone!
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. ;)
