Pain au Chocolat

Dough

• strong white flour500 g
• milk150 ml
• water140 ml
• caster sugar55 g
• dried yeast10 g
• salt10 g
• butter40 g

Lamination and filling

• butter280 g
• dark chocolate150 g
• eggs1

Dough and lamination

1. 01

   Cut the 40 g of butter into small pieces and leave it to soften. Mix the strong white flour, 140 ml of the milk and the water, both cold, with the caster sugar, dried yeast and salt, then work in the softened butter and knead briefly into a firm dough. Wrap and chill it overnight.

2. 02

   The next day, put the 280 g of butter between two sheets of baking paper, beat it flat with a rolling pin and roll it into an 18 cm square about 1 cm thick. Chill it for 20 minutes, until firm but still pliable.

3. 03

   Roll the chilled dough into a rectangle about 36 by 20 cm. Lay the 280 g butter square on one half, fold the other half over it and pinch the edges together to seal it in.

4. 04

   Roll it out into a strip about 60 by 20 cm and fold it in three like a letter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Give it two more folds the same way, turning the dough a quarter turn before each and chilling it for 30 minutes after each.

5. 05

   Keep everything cold throughout. The layers only form while the 280 g of butter stays a separate sheet inside the dough.

Shaping and baking

6. 06

   Cut the dark chocolate into 24 batons about 8 cm long, or use 24 bakers’ chocolate sticks.

7. 07

   Roll the dough to about 5 mm thick, roughly 40 by 45 cm, trim the edges straight and cut into 12 rectangles, about 10 by 15 cm.

8. 08

   Lay a baton of chocolate across one short end, fold the dough over it, add a second baton, and roll up.

9. 09

   Place seam side down on lined trays.

10. 10

    Prove at cool room temperature for about 2 hours, until wobbly and nearly doubled. Too warm and the butter leaks out. Heat the oven to 200°C for the last 20 minutes.

11. 11

    Beat the egg with the remaining milk, brush it over the pastries and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until deep golden.

12. 12

    Cool for 10 minutes before eating, so the chocolate is melted but not scalding.