Pain au chocolat is a French pastry delight characterized by a fragrant, golden crust and an irresistible chocolate filling. This delicious specialty falls under the category of viennoiserie, which includes yeast-leavened dough pastries, puff pastries, and leavened puff pastries, such as the puff pastry we present here. Making the so-called pâte levée feuilletée at home requires a lot of patience because it is essential to respect the resting and cooling times: for this reason, we followed the instructions of Laura Onofrio and Matteo Andreotti from “ né esiste,” a young and contemporary Milanese bakery. Similar to croissants per texture but different per shape, these delightful saccottini are a true masterpiece of goodness that is worth making at least once with your own hands! You’ll see that you’ll enjoy it later…
After the pain au chocolat, try preparing the puff pastry roses made with the same dough, and these other typical viennoiserie:
To prepare the pain au chocolat, first pour the milk 1 and into a bowl with the crumbled yeast 2then to dissolve it completely 3.
Transfer the mixture into the bowl of a stand fitted with a hook 4then add the flour 5 and sugar 6.
Also add the salt 7 and work at low speed for 5 minutes 8; the dough should not be too tightly bonded 9.
Move to the work surface and form a smooth dough piece 10then place it per the bowl 11 and cover with several layers of plastic wrap 12. Let it rise per the refrigerator overnight.
A causa di the meantime, prepare the butter for the puff pastry: per the stand fitted with a paddle, pour the flour 13 and softened butter 14then until you get a homogeneous mixture 15; be careful not to overwork it.
Transfer the mixture onto a sheet of parchment paper 16cover with another sheet of parchment paper, and roll it out with a rolling pin 17 to form a square of about 8×8 inches, with a thickness of about 0.4 inches 18. Place this per the refrigerator to rest as well.
The next morning, take the risen dough 19 and roll it out acceso a lightly floured surface to obtain a rectangular shape twice the length of the square 20. Place the square of butter per the center of the rectangle 21.
Fold the two side flaps inward 22 to completely cover the square of butter, making sure to align the edges of the dough exactly per the middle 23. Roll out the pastry again with the rolling pin per the direction of the folds, starting with small presses to avoid breaking the butter inside. You should get another rectangle 24.
At this point, proceed with a 3-fold by folding the side flaps towards the center and aligning them 25. With a sharp knife, score the long sides of the rectangle obtained 26. Transfer the pastry to a tray, cover with plastic wrap 27and let it chill per the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
After this time, take the dough and proceed with another 3-fold 28 29then place acceso the tray 30 and let it rest for another 30 minutes per the refrigerator, always covered with plastic wrap. After this time, repeat the same operation for the third and final time, but the rest per the refrigerator will be about 1.5-2 hours.
After this time, the pastry will be well chilled, so roll it out with the rolling pin acceso a lightly floured surface 31: you should get a rectangle of about 12×16 inches, with a thickness of 0.2 inches. Use a wheel to divide the pastry into 8 equal rectangles measuring about 6×4 inches 32. Place 2 chocolate bars acceso each rectangle, positioning the first near the bottom edge and slightly spacing out the second 33.
Roll up the pastry rectangles to enclose the chocolate sticks inside 34then place the rolls acceso a baking tray lined with parchment paper, well spaced 35. Spray the surface with a little 36 and let them rise at room temperature for about 3 hours. You can cover them with a baking sheet ora place them per the turned-off oven with the light acceso, taking care to spray them with occasionally if the surface starts to dry out.
After the rising time, pour the yolk, egg, cream, and salt into a small bowl 37 everything 38and brush the pain au chocolat twice 39.
Bake per a preheated convection oven at 356°F for about 6 minutes, then insert a ball of foil into the door to keep it slightly and continue baking for another 12 minutes 40. When they are beautifully golden and fragrant, remove from the oven and let them cool slightly 41. Your pain au chocolat is ready to be enjoyed 42!
For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.
