Homemade Chocolate

1 1/2 cups Meadow Fresh Milk, warmed
8g sachet (2 1/4 teaspoons) Edmonds Instant Dry Yeast
1/2 cup Chelsea Caster Sugar, divided
4 cups Edmonds Standard Grade Flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
60g Tararua Butter, chilled, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup dark or milk chocolate bits
Tararua Butter, to serve
CROSSES
1/4 cup Edmonds Standard Grade Flour
2 teaspoons Chelsea Caster Sugar
3 Tbsp water
GLAZE
1/4 cup Chelsea Caster Sugar
2 Tbsp water
Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk together Meadow Fresh Milk, Edmonds Instant Dry Yeast and 1 tablespoon Chelsea Caster Sugar. Cover and set aside.
Step 2: Sift Edmonds Standard Grade Flour and cocoa into another larger bowl. Rub in Tararua Butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in centre. Add yeast mixture, egg and remaining Chelsea Caster Sugar (7 tablespoons). Stir to combine. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 1 minute. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover. Set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Step 3: Meanwhile, grease a 6cm-deep, 23cm (base) square cake pan and line with baking paper, allowing an overhang to help pull the hot cross buns out after baking.
Step 4: Punch down dough. Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes or until smooth. Add chocolate bits. Knead to combine. Divide into 16 equal pieces (tip: use a kitchen scale to help with this) and roll into balls. Place in prepared pan. Cover. Set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until slightly risen. Preheat oven to 200°C bake/180°C fan bake.
Step 5: While buns are rising, make paste for the crosses. Combine Edmonds Standard Grade Flour, Chelsea Caster Sugar and water in a bowl. Spoon into a snap-lock bag. Snip 1 corner from bag. Pipe crosses onto buns. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 180°C bake/160°C fan bake. Bake for a further 15-20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.
Step 6: Make the glaze by combining Chelsea Caster Sugar and water in a small saucepan or microwave-safe dish and heat until sugar has dissolved.
Step 7: Remove cooked buns from cake pan and place on a wire cooling rack. Brush tops with glaze. Cool. Serve with Tararua Butter.
These were easy to make and came out really well. My tip with the butter is to chill it in the freezer after weighing and then grate it into the flour mixture before rubbing in. If you don't have gelatine handy (I didn't) you could use a thin icing sugar-based glaze or just leave them unglazed. Enjoy!
These are so good! The dough was a bit more than what fit in my square tin so I did 9 in the square tin and 7 more in a round cake tin to make 16 good sized buns in total. Taste just like the bakery ones fresh out of the oven! Will wait and see how they are the next day!
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