It’s not as complicated as it sounds, but the recipe the Pinterest image linked to was entirely in Spanish and when I put it into google translate it didn’t make the most sense. So, I found this recipe in English and started to work on that a couple weeks ago. The first time I made it, the chocolate layer came out pudding-like in texture, even after chilling overnight, and when I tried to slice the cylinder after rolling it up it just smeared gooey chocolate everywhere instead of leaving me with nice lines of contained chocolate, and the brioche part was a little too savory for me.
So, I made the brioche buns again, adjusting the chocolate filling to add more dark chocolate and less milk, which ended up making the chocolate layer the consistency of a refrigerated buttercream after a night in the fridge, which was exactly perfect. You want it soft enough to still be pliable and flexible, but firm enough that it can be sliced without oozing out everywhere when it’s all wrapped up in the dough.
I added a bit more sugar, and used satsuma juice and buddha’s hand zest in the dough for a nice citrus flavor, satsumas are like a very sweet tangerine, and buddhas hand is an incredibly floral citrus that is used entirely for its ridiculously flavorful zest and pith. You can feel free to substitute oranges for the satsumas and buddhas hand, though, if you can’t find any. That little bit of citrus mixed into the custardy rich dough of brioche with a smear of chocolate filling…well, it’s a great way to start the new year. I hope you’ll join me with these delicious brioche buns 🙂
Citrus and Chocolate Brioche Buns
Ingredients
Citrus Brioche
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/2 cup lukewarm whole milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 eggs beaten until combined
- 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed satsuma or orange juice
- 2 tablespoons finely grated buddhas hand or orange zest
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
Chocolate Filling
- 4 ounces dark 70% or 80% baker’s chocolate
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 egg whites whisked
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
Instructions
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First, make the pre-ferment. Mix together 1/2 cup flour with the yeast and warm milk until just combined. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 30 to 45 minutes.
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In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Set aside.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the pre-ferment, eggs satsuma juice, and buddhas hand zest at medium low speed until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, allowing the flour to become absorbed after each addition. Turn the mixer off, cover the bowl, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
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Switch out the paddle attachment for a dough hook and turn the mixer on to medium low speed. Add the butter, 1/4 cup at a time, allowing the butter to become absorbed into the dough before each following addition.
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Once combined, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, knead in a bit more flour. Once the dough is smooth and supple, pat it out into a rough fat rectangle shape and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate it for at least 4 hours or overnight.
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For the filling, heat the chocolate, milk, and butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water placed over low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth. Remove the top pot of the double boiler from heat. Whisk in the egg whites and sugar until smooth. Add the flour and cocoa powder and stir until smooth and combined.
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Line a rectangle baking dish roughly 9 by 6-inches with plastic wrap, and empty the chocolate mixture into the pan, spreading it out with a spatula to smooth it. Place another sheet of plastic wrap over the top, and place the pan in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
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Thoroughly grease two muffin pans and set aside.
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When the dough has thoroughly chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into large rectangle about 20 by 10-inches. Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap from the chocolate slab and flip the chocolate over onto the center of the dough rectangle, so that there’s about 2 inches of dough on either side width-wise and 5 and 1/2- inches of dough on either side lengthwise. Remove the plastic wrap from the top of the chocolate slab so that it is completely exposed. Fold the two longer dough ends over the chocolate until they overlap about 1 inch. Press down firmly along the edges of the dough around the chocolate slab to seal it in.
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Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 20″ long and 14″ wide, then fold the two ends so that they meet in the middle. Press down firmly to seal, and then roll the dough out again to another rectangle about 20″ long and 14″ wide. Fold the two ends so that they meet in the middle. Press down firmly to seal, and this time roll the dough out to a very long and skinny rectangle that is about 26″ long and 12″ wide. (The chocolate should start to show through parts of the dough since the brioche layers have become so thin, and that’s totally normal).
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Roll the dough width-wise into a cylinder, so the cylinder should be about 26″ long after it is rolled. Using a very sharp knife, cut the dough into roughy 2-inch thick slices and place each slice spiral side up in a well-greased muffin tin. If you find that the dough is getting soft and the chocolate is starting to smear, cover the entire cylinder in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
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Once all of the dough has been sliced and placed in muffin pans, cover the pans with plastic wrap and allow to proof out of direct sunlight for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how warm it is.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once risen, remove the plastic wrap from the pans and place in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the buns are lightly golden on top.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from C Mom Cook
These are beautiful, Eva!
Awww thanks Michelle!! <3
Holy Moly! These are just amazing looking. Nice Job Eva.
Thank you Jessica!!
These are stunning and I loved reading about how you've tweaked the recipe. It's a cruel fact about the internet – the way a picture will draw you in, only for the recipe to be in another language. I have it a lot with patisserie recipes.
I love the photographs of your kitchen in use in this blog post.
Thanks so much Angela, it is always tough when you find something that looks amazing but can't read the recipe. I'm so happy I was able to track down an English version, though!
These scratch sessions sound like a great way to connect with cooking and baking. And these buns are an awesome way to begin the year! So delicious.
Thanks Katrina!! I'm very excited about 2016 😀
So much beauty captured here in your citrus chocolate brioche buns and lovely kitchen! I'm always so curious and so I loved reading about your experience developing your recipe! I can't wait to try my hand at baking these! Your scratch sessions sound amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed reading about the journey to make these guys, it was a bit tricky but well worth the effort 🙂
Wow, these look fantastic and I really want to make them! Never used Buddha's hand for anything though I've long been intrigued by that curious fruit. I've been looking at the Scratch session and am drawn to the Fermentation session. Question – Would I have the opportunity to take pictures during the class as well?
Thanks Carol!! You can definitely bring your camera to take pictures at any of the sessions, I'd love to have you! The fermentation one is going to be especially fun (I love fermented foods so getting to try different ones and make several during the day is going to be a blast!)
These are beautiful!
Thank you Anna!
this is heaven :)))))
and very beautiful!
eva this is so so beautiful! love it.
-marcella
This is such a great idea!
Nomnomnommmnnnommmm these are killin' me! It's gorgeous and man, I've been loving brioche lately thanks to 85 Degree Bakery (Taiwanese) and can't get enough of it. Great job with the photos and execution of the recipe, Eva. 😉
These. These are insanely beautiful. I adore the aesthetic of your blog/Instagram/work, by the way. Just lovely. Also, the workshops sound amazing! I loved that you mentioned the Korean cousin of kombucha – my sister brews kombucha and though I still (slightly) wrinkle my nose at the fermented taste among the glorious bubbles, I think I'm going to send her on a mission to find out how to make this version from the Far East! 🙂
Cheers!
Rachel (www.lipstickandgelato.com)
My 4-almost-5-year-old and I have been watching The Great British Bake-Off on Netflix. We just watched the bread episode and he wanted to make ALL of them. I think we may have to tackle this first. They look heavenly!
Beautiful! I love the photos of how the rolls come together–it makes the recipe more approachable to me 🙂 Brioche is intimidating! I'm so excited about your new in-home workshops. Makes me wish I didn't live near the other Portland! Mad props for living your passions and sharing them with others. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you do this year! Oh my gosh. Eva, is this BOOK year?!?!? Definitely can't wait for that! Happy 2016!
These look too pretty to eat!!! Pinning!! =)
Melanie | Blog: Toots + Dill
I love the sound of those workshops! There's a huge sense of satisfaction in making your own bread, brewing your own kombucha, and fermenting your own vegetables. It's a set of skills that I am slowly picking up on my own! These brioche buns are gorgeous, they just look so warm and inviting. Beautiful as always! <3
These are SO stunning Eva! I can't stop staring at those glorious chocolate pinwheels.
wow your photos are incredible I could look at them all day xxx
Eva, you have truly become a master of your art. Everything about it is just perfect, from the composition + lighting of your photographs, to your engaging writing, to those divine, meticulous chocolate swirls in that brioche. I wish I could join you on one of your workshops!
WOW. amazing.
I made this and they came out well! I had to add extra flour to the dough because it was super sticky. I also used standard sized muffin tins and realized that I should probably have used giant muffin tins or some other round vessel kind of like making cinnamon rolls. The sell as they were baking was amazing and rolling them out was really fun. I will definitely make them again!
My daughter loves Chocolate very much.. I am gonna make this for her. She will become your fan very soon.
Thanks for the recipe Eva 🙂
I just tried a half recipe of this and carefully measured everything out before starting, but when it came to the kneading I had to add a ton of flour to even get it to a sticky dough consistency. Almost an extra cups worth. Is that right, or did I do something wrong? I am a total brioche newbie, so I feel like I may be missing something. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
I’ve seen another version of these and I just LOVE the way they look. My brain is buzzing with all the variations you could do for fillings. Thanks for the great recipe! And beautiful pictures!
Please do not kill me for asking this,
but could this brioche recipe work with a food processor instead of a dough hook?
Sorry,
Thank you
Thanks for the great recipe! And beautiful pictures!
wow i need to try these they look wonderful and elegant too.
These look amazing! I need to try these.
oops i didn’t realize the first comment posted ha ha
There’s no indication of the number of muffins this is supposed to make. So how many muffins should this make?
Is there by any chance a possibility that the amount of flour is incorrect in this recipe? Followed to the letter and after adding the flour or was still very fluid. I stayed hopeful that the rest period might change that, it didn’t. In the end I put a second batch of flour in which was greater than the first. I did use bread flour. They are proving at the moment so maybe mine will go terribly wrong now.
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