A Beautiful Mess - Chocolate-filled Brioche Rolls, YBR and Awards

On, there are so many lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human life is a beautiful mess.

~ Gabrielle Zevin, Elsewhere

I was supposed to do a pasta post today, but I've done a bread one instead. It's the first day of the week and truthfully speaking, I think I'm experiencing the Monday blues. Just home alone by myself. Yep, the boredom can get pretty stressful. 

So a bit of kneading therapy was required today. I tossed away the pasta idea and replaced it with this slice-pinch-squeeze brioche one. Oh, and I made a video for it, my very first one. Okay, a pretty crappy one too since I'm the most technologically-challenged person living in this house. But it was a giggle to do, and relieved the boredom of the day somewhat.

Using a standard buttery bread recipe, I basically adapted the steps for making cinnamon rolls but instead of slicing them into 1-inch thick rolls, I divided the cylindrically-rolled dough into 4 parts and sliced each of them thinly. The ends were given a good pinch and then squeezed/folded together backwards into a ball, fanning out the thin slices. Oh...just refer to the video I painstakingly made below, won't you? 

You have the option of leaving the bread rolls plain, but I chose to grate some dark chocolate as a filling for mine. And topped them up with poppy seeds to finish off. So simple, yet so unusually lovely to look at. I must make these again for when guests come around, and maybe try different fillings.

Here, enjoy the laughable first video :-).

This post will be sent right through to that bread-heaven on earth, Yeastspotting!

Here are a couple of quickies:


YBR

My friend Nancy of Spicie Foodie blog has posted a fantastic round-up of nearly 40 blogger's best recipes for September. The collection of dishes is fit for a King's feast, and if you haven't already checked it out, you can do so here. Thanks once again for hosting this, Nancy!

Awards:

I don't receive awards too often, so when I get them, it's really exciting! And just when I thought the blogosphere had forgotten all about me, I received these from two very lovely blogger friends:

Thanks so much, Sandra of Sandra's Easy Cooking!

Thank you, Reem of Simply Reem!

These two ladies have the most enticing blogs, filled with the most magnificent recipes and photographs. If you haven't checked them out yet, you really don't know what you're missing out on.

So, I'm supposed to be passing these awards on to fellow bloggers. I want to honor newer blogs that I've discovered so if you don't mind, I'm going to have a bit of a think on this one and will do the forwarding in another post. 

Right, enough distractions and let's get right on to the recipe!

Beautifully Messy Chocolate-Filled Brioche Rolls
Ingredients:
250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
250 g (2 cups) bread flour
2 eggs
2 teaspoons dried instant yeast
50 g (1.8 oz) butter, melted and cooled
120 g (little more than 1/2 cup) sugar
200 ml (about 3/4 cup) lukewarm milk
1 tablespoon rose water (optional)
50g dark chocolate
Milk, for brushing
Poppy seeds
Melted butter, for brushing

Method:

1. In a large bowl mix the flour, the sugar and the butter. Mix for 5 minutes by hand or with a mixer.

2. Add the eggs and mix for a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile, turn on the oven to 50C/122F and turn it off as soon as it has reached the temperature.

3. Let the yeast dissolve in the warm milk in a small bowl. Add the rosewater to the milk/yeast mixture and then incorporate the mixture, little by little, to the flour/sugar bowl and mix for other 5 minutes. The dough should be now smooth and even. If not, place on a board and mix by hand, eventually adding a little flour. Shape it into a ball.

4. Place the ball back into the big bowl (oil it) and place it uncovered in the oven. Let rest for at least an hour up to a couple of hours. Take the ball out of the oven and divide into 2 equal parts.

5. Roll each portion flat into a rectangular shape, grate some chocolate filling on top and finally roll into a cylinder. Divide each cylinder into 4 parts. Take each part and slice thinly about 1/2cm wide. Pinch the ends together and fold backwards to form a ball shape (refer to video above).

6. Place on parchment paper and leave to rise for another 30 minutes, cover with a clean, damp cloth. Preheat the oven to 180C/375F.

7. Brush milk on top and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until tops are golden brown. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush rolls all over with melted butter. Best eaten on the day they are made.

Bread