Pain au chocolat

Pain au chocolat is a French pastry, consisting of a cuboid-shaped piece of yeast-leavened laminated dough similar to puff pastry, containing strips of chocoate.
Its light, flaky and sweety inside. It can be served as a great appetizer or as a great party starter.




Ingredients:

450 gm All purpose flour
1/2 tsp Salt
6 gm Dry yeast
30 gm Vegetable Margarine
1 Egg, lightly beaten
225 ml Lukewarm water
180 gm Soft unsalted butter
1 Egg, to brush
100 gm Chocolate, broken into 12 pieces
Powdered Sugar, to sprinkle

Method

1) Grease a baking sheet with butter.

2) Sieve all purpose flour and salt. Add in the yeast and mix well. Add in the egg and water and work well till you get a well defined, easy to handle soft pliable dough.


3) Roll the dough into a big rectangle of 38cm x 20cm. Apply butter in bits to the 2/3rd portion of the dough.

4) Keeping the wider side in front of you, fold the unbuttered portion over the middle portion and the other end over the first folded portion. Roll lightly over the folds using a rolling pin so that the folds stick together. Now rotate the dough to 90 deg so that the wider side is again in front of you. Now roll again and make the folds again but this time, its without butter. Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.


6) Now follow the 3rd and 4th steps again till all the butter is used up. And repeat keeping the dough in the refrigerator every time you fold. After all your butter is used up, roll the dough twice again folding it and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. More and more times you roll, fold and freeze, more beautifully the rolls are going to get their layers.

7) Roll the dough into a rectangle and divide the roll into half using a knife or a pizza cutter. Cut each half into 6 rectangles and brush egg over them.

8) Place a piece of chocolate over one end of the rectangle and roll it. Press the end with your fingers and place them on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in a warm place for about 40 minutes.


9) Preheat oven to 220 deg C. Brush the rolls with the egg and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.


Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar before you serve.




Storing It is best served the day it is made.