Pain Au Chocolat

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Season :
Summer
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Chance Of Rain
Temp : 30°C | 17°C
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Light Breeze
Temp : 18°C

Salam, Kia Ora...

Ohhh my gosh ;( without even realising, we are almost approaching half of February.  I still haven't decide what I want to do this year.  I thought of taking up a part time course at the uni but I wonder why I am getting lazy nowadays.  This thought of furthering my studies was planned since Jannah was born.  If I wasn't wishy-washy or procrastinating a lot, I would have completed my course by now....haiiissshhh.

I seemed to have lost my mojo to update my blog too boohooo.  Only 3 months into blogging and I am already lazy to put up new entries.  There's a saying in Malay "hangat2 tahi ayam."  Duuuhhh I was so eager to start a blog after 2 yrs and promised myself to update it regularly but look at what is going on now.  Issshhh no words to describe.  Upsetttttt lahhhhh.....

Anyway, I tried this Pain Au Chocolat a few days back.  It was a pain alright ahaakkkss.  The layering of the pastry took hours and the outcome of mine isn't as good looking as Julie's pastry.  The pastry is soft but a little heavy, I must have rolled it a bit too thick.  I guess practice makes perfect lorr...will attempt again when the temperature gets cooler bcos its hard to manage the pastry when the butter melts too quickly while I was trying to roll it.

Source Dinner With Julie.  Take a peek at her blog for the step by step to make the pastry.  Thank you Julie for sharing this recipe ;)

Pain au Chocolat 

Danish Dough:
3/4 cup milk, warmed
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter, cold
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup(ish) good-quality chocolate (chopped, chips or squares, halved)

Method :
In a large bowl, stir together the milk and yeast. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add a cup of the flour and the salt, then add the rest of the flour gradually, stirring until it’s incorporated. Knead the dough on a lightly floured countertop for about 5 minutes, until smooth. Transfer to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap; chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the butter and flour with an electric mixer for a couple minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until smooth. Set aside (don’t refrigerate).

When the dough has chilled, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle that is about 13″x18″ and 1/4″ thick. Spread the butter evenly over the right two-thirds of the dough. Fold the left third of the dough over, covering half the butter, then fold the right side over, as if you were folding a letter in thirds. (Unlike a letter, the dough ends should line up, so that it’s folded in three.) Cover the dough in plastic wrap and put it back into the fridge for 30 minutes.

Put the dough back on the floured surface lengthwise, with the open sides to the left and right. Roll it out into another 13″x18″ rectangle, 1/4″ thick. Fold the left third over the middle, then the right third over the middle. (This is referred to as “turns”. To keep track of each fold -or turn- press your finger into the dough at the edge to make two marks – you can do this each time you roll and fold so that you know how many times you’ve done it.) Chill the dough for another 30 minutes.

Roll, fold and refrigerate the dough two more times, so that you’ve done it four times total. Cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, or overnight. It can also be frozen at this point for up to 4 months.

To assemble the pain au chocolat, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4″ thick. You can cut the dough into rectangles as large or as small as you like – we made them on the small side, cutting the dough into strips and then crosswise so that each piece was about the size of a business card. Put a little pile of chocolate, or a chunk of it, along the middle of the pastry, roll the sides up and place each one seam-side down on an ungreased baking sheet. If you have time, cover loosely with plastic or a tea towel and let them proof for an hour or two. (This is not absolutely necessary- we did ours in a rush!)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Bake the pain au chocolat for 15 minutes, until golden. (If they are larger, they may need more time.) Try to be a good person and share with your family and friends. Makes about 3 dozen.

Ok lah take care everyone TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

Me Te Aroha...With Love,
Anie ;)