Snowflake Chocolate Bread
Do you ever get that feeling when you eat something so good you don’t want to share it? Well, I feel that all the time, but this Christmas, I made this rummy, chocolate-y snowflake-shaped bread that’s so big and hefty it’s really best shared!
I started off with a buttery babka bread base, kneaded it into a smooth, sweet, buttery, brioche-y dough. Then I made a luxuriously festive filling with cream, sugar, salt, butter, chocolate, cinnamon, and rum-soaked raisins.
I split the dough in three, rolled them all out into wide discs, then layered them on top of each other with the filling in between. I then cut and twisted them into a snowflake shape. Ngl, it did look really sloppy and messy at this stage, but this was a whole ‘trust the process’ moment. Because once it went into the oven for a bake and it was given a blizzard of icing sugar on top, it was g l o r i o u s!
It tasted so Christmassy and chocolate-y that I was very very tempted to have this all on my own, but I promise I did share it out. So, make this, and have a very merry Christmas!
Snowflake Chocolate Bread
Serves: 4-8
Total Cook Time: 3 hours
Ingredients
Dough:
⅓ cup (80ml) warm milk
2 tsp (7g) active dry yeast
⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
4 cups (480g) all-purpose flour
1½ tsp (5g) salt
4 eggs
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
½ cup (120g) unsalted butter, softened
Chocolate Rum & Raisin Filling:
⅓ cup (80ml) heavy cream
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1g) salt
5 oz. (142g) good dark chocolate, roughly chopped
⅓ cup (80g) unsalted butter, cubed
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
80g (~1/2 cup) raisins, soaked in ¼ cup (60ml) rum
Rum-syrup:
50g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
¼ cup (60ml) rum
2 tbsp (10g) icing sugar, to dust
Method
Start with the dough. Activate the yeast in the warm milk and half the sugar for 5 minutes until bubbly. Then, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the all-purpose flour, the rest of the sugar, and the salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients, then pour in the activated yeast, eggs, and vanilla extract. Knead with a dough hook for 3 minutes, until a shaggy dough forms. Then, add in the softened butter, and knead for a further 10 minutes, until it passes the window test.
When the dough is done, shape it into a smooth ball and let it proof in a covered bowl until it doubles in size, which should take roughly 1 hour.
While the dough is proofing, make the filling by heating the heavy cream, sugar, and salt in a pan until just steaming. Add in the chocolate, butter, and stir until completely melted and glossy smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and rum-soaked raisins, and give it a final stir, then chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Heat an oven to 350°F (177°C). Then line a baking tray with baking paper or a silicon mat.
When the dough is done proofing, divide it into three even pieces and roll them into balls. With a rolling pin, roll one piece out into a large disc 12-14 inches in diameter and place it on the lined baking tray. Pour half of the filling onto the centre of the disc, then spread it out around the dough until 1-inch from the edge of the dough. Roll out another piece of dough to the same size as the first, and place it on top of the chocolate filling. Spread the remaining filling on top, then roll out the final piece of dough and place it on top.
Cut the circular dough into 16 slices, leaving the middle connected in a small 3-inch circle. Then, pleat each adjacent pair of dough tendrils together, rolling the edges away from each other, then pinching the ends together. When you repeat this across the 8 pairs, it’ll form a snowflake/star-like shape. (Watch here for a video tutorial of the technique.)
Bake the bread for approximately 45 minutes, until the dough is a deep golden brown.
While the bread is baking, make the rum syrup by combining the sugar and rum in a small pot, and bringing it to a boil then stir until the sugar has dissolved.
When the bread is done, take it out of the oven and brush the syrup on top of the bread to make it shiny, the let the bread rest for 10 minutes
Dust icing sugar on top of the snowflake bread, and share it around for Christmas!
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