Holy Child & St. Martin Episcopal Church

Cocoa Brioche Morning Buns

Monday, 4/11

Take a deep breath. This is our most complex recipe of the week. You can do it. One step at a time!

On Monday, we recall Jesus' entry into the Temple. The Gospel of John places this story at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and there is some thought that perhaps the account in John is a separate event from the one recorded as part of Holy Week in the synoptic Gospels. If that were the case, I can imagine how frustrated Jesus must have felt to return to see nothing changed.

Today, I focused on John's telling, in which Jesus braided a cord to drive out the corrupt* in the Temple. This tells me that it wasn't a spontaneous reaction. Rather, Jesus sat down and spent time preparing for his action. He worked with his hands as he meditated on what he was about to do.

I wanted to capture some of that meditation as I work with my hands so I chose a time-intensive braided bread. This let me spend most of the day coming in and out of thoughts on this story and connecting it to others. In other stories, we hear of sweet offerings being made to Heaven. I folded in cocoa to sweeten my bread and my meditations as well. Jesus also tells us about the coming destruction of the Temple as he prepares his disciples for his own death. I added in some cinnamon as I thought about the burial spices.

Finally, I sat and patiently braided together my bread and wondered what in my own life needs to be driven out.

*This story can often fall into anti-Semitism. I do not think Jesus meant to displace everyone from the Temple. Exchanging currency or selling animals would have allowed those who traveled a great distance to observe these rituals the ability to do so. I think the story is about those who were taking advantage of the space, of the people who traveled far and didn't have local currency or an animal. When he calls it a den of robbers, Jesus is referring back to Jeremiah in which the prophet condemns those who are not living into the Kingdom of God and yet seek refuge in God's house.

INGREDIENTS

Pre-ferment:

1⅓ cups (160 g) all-purpose flour

1¼ cups milk

1 Tbsp. instant yeast

Dough:

1 large egg

1¾ cups whole milk

1 Tbsp. instant yeast

⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar

½ cup (42 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. kosher salt

5½ cups (687 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, plus 2¼ cups unsalted butter, cool

Filling:

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for pan

White sugar for pan

⅓ cup (packed, 66 g) brown sugar

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. kosher salt

⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar, plus more for tossing

3 oz. dark chocolate, broken into small pieces (optional, I skipped)

1 large egg

METHOD

For the pre-ferment, mix flour, milk, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined to about thin batter consistency. Let rise, uncovered, in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

To begin making the dough, add egg, milk, and yeast to pre-ferment and attach to stand mixer. Fit with dough hook and beat on low speed until combined. Add granulated sugar, cocoa powder, salt, 5½ cups (687 g) all-purpose flour, and 2 Tbsp. room-temperature butter; mix on low speed until a smooth dough forms. Transfer dough to a large bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, mix 2¼ cups of cool butter in the clean bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth and spreadable but still cool. Turn out onto a sheet of parchment paper and shape butter into a small rectangle with an offset spatula. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and roll out butter to a 16x12" rectangle. Chill butter until dough is ready. Your butter should be cool but malleable.

Turn dough out onto a generously floured work surface and roll into a 24x12" rectangle; position with a short side facing you. Uncover butter and place on top of dough, lining it up along near edge and covering bottom two thirds of dough. Fold top third of dough up and over butter, then fold bottom third up and over (like a letter).

Quickly, but gently, roll out dough again to a 24x12" rectangle, flouring work surface and rolling pin as needed to avoid sticking. (If at any point dough gets too sticky to handle or butter is starting to melt, chill in the fridge for 20 minutes and let firm up before proceeding.) Fold dough into thirds again, wrap in wax paper or plastic, and chill for 1 hour.

Remove dough from the fridge and repeat rolling and folding as above, one more time. Cut folded dough into 3 equal rectangles and wrap each tightly in plastic. Chill until ready to use.

When you're ready to bake buns, generously butter the cups of a 6-cup muffin pan (jumbo is ideal but I use regular muffin tins for this recipe as well); sprinkle each cup generously with raw sugar.

Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar in a small bowl.

Working with 1 piece of dough, unwrap and roll to a 12x6" rectangle about ¾" thick. Cut into six 6x2" rectangles. Starting ¼" from top of a short side, cut 2 lengthwise slits in a rectangle of dough to create 3 equal strands. Braid strands and sprinkle generously with brown sugar mixture. Lay 2 or 3 small pieces of chocolate on braid and coil, stacking up onto itself.

Place bun, braid side up, in prepared muffin pan. Repeat with the remaining 5 rectangles. You will want to use a third of the brown sugar mixture and a third of the chocolate, reserving the remaining brown sugar mixture and chocolate for the remaining 2 pieces of dough.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Loosely cover buns with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise until a little less than doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Whisk egg and 2 tsp. water in a small bowl. Brush tops of buns with egg wash and bake until tops are puffed and have developed a crisp outer layer, about 35 minutes. They will sound slightly hollow when you tap the bottom of the bun. Let cool in the pan for 2 minutes, then gently lift out of the pan and transfer to a wire rack. Let sit until buns are cool enough to handle.

Place some granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Working one at a time, toss buns in sugar and return to the rack. Let cool completely.

*If you find you have more dough than the amount of buns you want, wrap the extra dough tightly in cling wrap and freeze for later use. It’s also a great opportunity to share. The last time I made these, they were coming out of the oven as our maintenance man was wrapping up and I was delighted to send him with a couple of buns.

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Recipe inspired from: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cocoa-brioche-morning-buns