Chocolate Sweet Rolls

If I ran a bed & breakfast, these might have to be on the menu. If the guests didn't care for them, I'd certainly finish them off. And probably weigh 400 pounds.

I'm actually having trouble concentrating after eating 1 1/2 of these warm out of the oven. I haven't rolled my eyes back in my head like a feeding frenzied shark like this in quite a while.

This was just a persistent little hallucination all week. I decided to do something about it. My usual strategy is to look on line to see what other people have done, or study any recipes floating out there before making something 'new'. To my surprise, I could not find anything out there like what I was dreaming up: soft, yielding, dark chocolate spirals, with a melty chocolate filling. I found it incredible that no one else had thought this up, or posted anything anywhere like it, or done it before. You know, cinnamon rolls without the cinnamon. I found stuff with peanut butter chips, or combos of cinnamon and chocolate (which I am funny about). I found individual crescent roll things with plain dough and chocolate tucked inside. I didn't want any adulteration or combinations of flavors. Nope. I wanted a giant solid pan of chocolate on chocolate action, baby.

So I decided I didn't need no stinkin' recipe and just went about a logical plan of action. I took mom's Sweet Orange Roll dough and added cocoa, plus a bit more liquid. I don't know what the hell it is when you add cocoa to yeast dough--the cocoa seems to suck up all the moisture, resulting in a stiff, heavy dough. And it seems to be more than just physical drying going on. I even cut back slightly on the flour as a precaution. Is it an acid/alkaline thing? This surely is someone's Food Science senior thesis or PhD project. I tried in vain to find something via Google discussing this, and I found nothing. It's curious that you don't see more chocolate yeast dough items. Quick breads and cakes galore, but why don't yeast and chocolate seem to be pals more often? It's a mystery worth delving into, IMHO. I should consult Baking Illustrated or a Harold McGee reference.

Anyway:

For the dough:

2 cups milk (I had no whole milk around, so I used a combo of heavy cream and skim milk, so it resulted in an even higher percentage of milk fat. Again, precautions--I wanted the additional fat to tenderize the dough)
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 tb sugar
2 packages dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
6 tb shortening (I always use butter)
5 scant cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dark dutch process cocoa

For the filling:

7 ounces Trader Joe's bittersweet chocolate (from a Pound Plus bar)
7 ounces Trader Joe's dark chocolate
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 tb butter
several grinds of sea salt

Break up chocolate into pieces, and place all ingredients in a food processor. Let 'er rip until the mixture looks like moist gravelly black dirt.

Make the dough by placing butter, sugar, milk and cocoa in saucepan and heat until butter melts and cocoa is completely dissolved (again, hydration. And I read somewhere about 'blooming' cocoa powder to enhance its flavor). When milk mixture cools to 105-110 F, pour into large bowl and add yeast. Allow to proof for 5-10 minutes. Add salt and slightly beaten eggs. Add enough of the flour to make a dough that can be easily handled. Knead for 5 minutes. Place dough in bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

At this point, I placed it in the fridge to proof overnight. I wanted everything good and hydrated and relaxed. That includes me. The next morning, I took it out and rolled it into a large rectangle. I was worried when the dough was so tight and stiff when kneading, and now I was worried again when rolling it out seemed to be such a struggle. Would this stuff even rise? Would the yeast have enough strength to lift this stuff? Would the rolls be dry and tough?

Sprinkle on the filling, and roll up beginning with a long side. Pinch tightly to seal. Slice into 10-11 large rolls and place in deep-dish pizza pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed with non-stick spray.







Let rise until approximately doubled, and the rolls fill the pan. I placed them in a warm oven and went for an hour plus walk. When I got back, I was gratified to smell yeast and chocolate when I walked in the door, and see that they had done what I had hoped they'd do.




Remove from oven, and heat it to 350F. Bake for 25 minutes. I added two minutes more just to be sure. It's impossible to see any browning, and I had my doubts about the accuracy of an instant read thermometer with all that melted chocolate in there.

For the glaze:

about 2 ounces Trader Joe's dark chocolate, melted
about an equal amount of heavy cream, heated
a few spoonfuls of confectioners' sugar
and just because it's conveniently nearby, a splash or two of Stone Russian Imperial Stout from your glass. Mix until smooth and of drizzling consistency.

ETA 7/31/09: I made up a batch today using my Baking Illustrated Cinnamon Swirl Bread dough as the starting point. Which calls for 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk, a half teaspoon more salt, and only one envelope yeast. 2 fewer tablespoons butter, and at most 3 3/4 cup flour. They're even more tender. So it seems the flour needs to be cut back even more to make them better. The yield is slightly less.

And I made a better glaze using about 2 oz  melted chocolate and 2tb butter, about 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and enough whole milk stirred in to make it the right consistency.

ETA 10/28/13: I thought I was done tweaking this recipe, and apparently it needs more work. The amount of water in the BI recipe had to be corrected, but 1/2 cup is not enough. 1 cup results in too wet of a dough (it needed 4 cups of flour to be kneadable, and it was a very pale dough). And even with samples, I couldn't move even one pan at the Hartland Farmers' market on 10/26. Oh well...






























I need to go to bed now.