description

If you are a chocolate lover, this is the morning pastry for you – basically it is a croissant wrapped around the best-quality chocolate you can find. At the bakery we use chocolate sticks that been specially create for this purpose, which are available from speciality provedores.

method

Remove the rested dough from the fridge and roll it into a rectangle of about 35 x 100 cm and 5 mm thick. You might find the dough springs back during rolling; if so, chill it again for 10 minutes and continue. Repeat the chilling as necessary. If it becomes too large for the fridge, simply fold it, and place it on a tray before refrigerating.

Slice the dough into 24 rectangles, each measuring about 8 x 16 cm. Arrange them on trays lined with baking paper and refrigerate for another 10 minutes. Then, at the narrower end of each rectangle closest to you, place a line of 10g of chopped chocolate and fold the dough over to enclose it. Add another line of 10g of chocolate next to the first and roll the dough into a log. Repeat with all the dough and chocolate.

Preheat the oven to 240°C. Place the Pain au Chocolat back on the lined trays, seam side down, spacing them well apart. Cover with a damp tea towel and let them rise in a warm room (about 25°C-27°C) for 1½-2 hours or until they have almost doubled in size. Keep the tea towel moist by spraying it with water if it dries out.

Before baking, remove the tea towel and lightly brush each pain au Chocolat with egg wash. Put them in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 190°C. Bake for about 15 minutes or until they turn a deep golden brown.

Allow the pastries to cool slightly on the trays before serving.