Chocolate Brioche
This easy chocolate brioche recipe takes classic brioche bread and fills it with swirls of creamy chocolate and cocoa powder. For chocolate lovers who also enjoy the tender, fluffy texture of brioche bread, this is the best of both worlds!
Servings: 8
Calories: 504kcal
Ingredients
Brioche Bread
- 165 grams Whole milk lukewarm
- 67 grams Granulated sugar
- 17 grams Fresh yeast 7g (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 2 Egg at room temperature
- 375 grams Bread flour use high protein content flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 170 g Unsalted butter at room temperature
- egg with splash of water or milk for the egg wash
- small amount of melted butter for the glaze
Chocolate filling
- 85 g Semi-sweet chocolate use high quality eg. Callebaut or Lindt
- 57 g Unsalted butter
- 60 g Powdered sugar sifted
- 25 g Cocoa powder Dutched processed, unsweetened, sifted.
Instructions
Make the brioche dough
- Heat half of the sugar with the milk just until lukewarm (40F / 104 F), then remove from the heat and sprinkle the yeast on top. Leave it for 10 minutes and the yeast should foam.
- Place the yeast mixture into your stand mixer with the kneading hook on, then mix it with the eggs.
- Mix in the dry ingredients: bread flour, the rest of the sugar, and salt, and keep the mixer running to knead the dough until it comes together. This will take about 3 minutes.
- Slowly add in the softened butter piece by piece while the mixer is on, and once all the butter is in, knead for around another 10 minutes on medium-high speed. The dough will become elastic and shiny. Once you have achieved the 'gluten window', stop kneading.
- Move the dough into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size. Then punch it out, re-shape it into a bowl, and put it in the fridge to rise again for a minimum of 8 hours.
Assemble the Chocolate filling
- The next day, prepare the chocolate filling by gently melting the chocolate and butter over a double boiler, then mixing in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar until a smooth paste forms.
- Take the brioche dough out of the fridge, knock the air out and roll the dough out into a large, thin rectangle that is about 70x50cm / 27x20 inches.
- Spread the chocolate filling onto the dough in an even, thin layer using an offset spatula, then start rolling it up from the longer side.
- Move the ends of the log towards each other creating a U shape, then gently braid the two logs around each other.
- Grease a large (27x15cm / 11x6 inches) loaf pan tin then gently place the braided log into it.
- Mix an egg with a splash of water, and brush an egg wash over the surface of the dough. Allow the chocolate brioche to proof for a further 1-2 hours until the dough doubles in size and fills the tin.
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 356F towards the end of the proofing time.
- Place the chocolate brioche bread into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and brush a small amount of melted butter over the top of the brioche. Leave it to cool for a few minutes before turning it out onto a wire cooling rack.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Always weigh ingredients by the gram using a digital scale to use the correct amounts.
- If your yeast mixture does not foam after 10 minutes, start again. Make sure the milk is only lukewarm and not hot, as this can kill yeast.
- For best results, use flour with high protein content, often labeled as bread flour. All-purpose flour can be used instead, if necessary.
- The butter needs to be soft but not melted or runny. Learn here how to soften butter quickly.
- Use high-quality semi-sweet chocolate and cocoa powder to make the filling.
- The dough has proved sufficiently when you press it gently with your finger, and the indent stays there, or only half bounces back. If it bounces straight back, it needs more time to prove.
- Do not skip the long cold ferment in the fridge. This is essential for flavor and texture, plus it makes the dough easier to handle.
- Use an oven thermometer to always bake at the right temperature.
- If the chocolate brioche is browning too fast in the oven, cover it with aluminum foil after about 20 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 504kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 105mg | Sodium: 175mg | Potassium: 221mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 808IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 2mg
