Pandemic Baking - All the Chocolate!!

 

Maybe not ALL the ingredients I have tried . . .  but there is a lot that I have tried and will try!  

These ingredients include dark chocolate sticks aka batons from Callebaut.  

Also, potato flour, dry milk, espresso powder, two kinds of fancy cocoa powder and a chocolate mix. I have spent entirely too much time on King Arthur's website.

Pie and some bread and rolls. . . so far.  

This is the Chocolate Midnight Pie for which I found the recipe on King Artur's website.   chocolate-midnight-pie-recipe

Rolling out the pie dough using a circular bag which helps to gauge the proper size and helps to control the mess.  This recipe used the espresso powder in the crust and filling.

I have bought some other baker's helpers during the pandemic which includes this bag, the pastry rolling out guide underneath, a long narrow wooden French rolling pin and a heavy pie pan.   Hard to believe I didn't have a pie pan . . .  only the aluminum ones that come with the prepared crusts you buy in the store.

The crust needs work.  It was the right size but appears to have shrunk up a bit.  It tasted fine.   I think the pie filling is a bit under baked while the crust baked too fast . . .  looks almost burnt.  Covering didn't seem to help.

Bread and Chocolate

Chocolate Filled Braided  dark-chocolate-filled-braid-recipe . . . It didn't rise enough but it still tasted good.

These Dark Chocolate rolls were sort of a run-up test and chocolate tasting of those fancy chocolate sticks.  They are tasty.   dark-chocolate-filled-soft-rolls-recipe

It didn't take me too long to get to the next phase though.

Pain au Chocolat!

I ended up resurrecting one of my  older tools (a marble board) to make "Pain au chocolate"  . . .  one of my favorite pastries.  This meant I had to attempt that flaky croissant dough after not trying for over 20 years.   Hmmmm, maybe I can make plain ones again now that I have made this chocolate ones.

pain-au-chocolat-recipe from King Arthur

My big blob of buttery dough after laminating and leaving in the fridge overnight.  It's a bit intense to get all the folding and rolling done.  The recipe calls for it to be cut in half, working with one half while the 2nd half returns to the fridge.   I might split it in thirds the next time I make it.   

 I have space limitations so it was hard to roll out to the 8" by 20".  Also, I don't think I got it thin enough so the rolls didn't show layers as much as they should.

They did rise nicely but I am inconsistent in my sizes.   I would never make Star Baker.

Not too bad looking when baked.

Then there is the second half of the dough which I thought the sizes were better . .  but I still didn't get them thin enough during the rollout.   I even had one that unrolled during baking.  They still taste as good as the first half.

Is there more chocolate baking on the horizon?  YES!!  Lots of recipes to try.

Chocolate Babka . .  kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/chocolate-babka-recipe

Chocolate Cherry Brioche . . .   chocolate-cherry-brioche-recipe

Chocolate Cinnamon Star . . . cinnamon-star-bread-recipe

Chocolate Biscotti . . . chocolate biscotti recipe