Italian Chocolate Cornetti for BBD # 47

 la ricetta in italiano qui

Last day for blogging about Bread Baking Day # 47 and I am hurring up to post my recipe I must confess I baked yesterday. :-)

Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives is our lovely hotess of the month and she's asking for Bread with Chocolate.

When I first participated to World Bread Day in 2008 (3rd edition) I blogged about a very nice and adaptable dough from Simili sisters, a dough you can use for so many different preparations: 

panini semidolci - very soft and semisweet buns

panini semidolci ai wurstel- buns as above hiding a yummie savory surprise

parmigianini -  lovely appetizers with parmesan

torta belga o fiamminga - a Belgian cake, sort of sweet focaccia, enriched with butter and sugar cane

panettone gastronomico - a savory panettone, a must have in buffets and aperitifs,  to be filled with whatever your taste and fantasy like more

But I soon realized I forgot two important things:

1) a recipe was missing,

2) all my entries and the basis recipe were only in Italian!

Probably I might have promised English versions too, but then more than 3 years and a half have been passing away without doing! :-(

I'm feeling so sorry that I'm trying to repair to my fault at once, so here below the recipe of the dough (and you have two versions, with butter or with oil) and then the recipe with chocolate, the faboulous Italian cornetti for breakfast.

Semisweet Dough

• 1 kg flour, high W 
• 380/400 g water   
• 75 g fresh yeast 
• 150 g butter, softened * 
• 50 g lard * 
• 15 g salt 
• 100 g sugar

 * you can substitute butter and lard with olive oil, you get a dough less delicate for the absence of butter but lighter. In this case for 1 kg of flour go as follows: 500 g water - 150 g extra virgin olive oil - 60 g fresh yeast - 80 g sugar - 15 g salt.

By hand: pour flour onto the working surface, make a well, mix water and yeast into, and then gradually add the other ingredients.
In a stand mixer: water and yeast in the bowl and stir, add butter, lard and sugar, mix, then add flour and salt and knead 10 minutes low speed.
Transfer the dough on a pastry board, knead and beat vigorously for 5/8 minutes. The dough should turn soft but not sticky. Shape into two balls and let rise for 1 hour (until doubled) in a greased bowl covered.
Each ball of dough will weigh about 850/900 g.
To know the weight of a dough simply add the weight of all ingredients.
At this point the dough is finished and is the basis for all recipes described above (and soon translated :-).
Should you need only 850/900 g of dough just proceed with half ingredients.

Soft Chocolate Cornetti (Croissants)

Italian pastry named "cornetto" (in the Center and South) and "brioche" in the North is a  cousin of the French croissant. Though the two pastries are often considered to be the same, that is not completely true: the French version of the croissant tends to be crispy and contains a lot of butter, whereas an Italian cornetto or brioche is usually softer. Furthermore, the "cornetto vuoto" (literally "empty cornetto") is commonly sided by variants with filling, which include "crema pasticcera" (a thicker crème anglaise made with flour), jam and chocolate cream. They often come covered with powder sugar.

For about 30/34 small cornetti:

850 g finished semisweet dough (as above)

70 g cold butter
spreadable chocolate cream *


* I used a super one from Gobino, artisan chocolate producer in Turin

Beat cold butter (wrapped in plastic film) with a rolling pin to make it more manageable.
Roll the dough into a disk about an inch thick, place the butter in the center, cover with pastry.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle an inch thick, then fold it as a business letter.
Put the dough vertically in front of you, and repeat roll out & fold again a couple of times.
Wrap in clinging film and refrigerate for half an hour.

If necessary (the butter hasn't been absorbed and amalgamated completely) repeat roll out & fold again a couple of times and then put in refrigerator to rest for 15 minutes.

 

 
Then roll out the dough into a long strip about 25 cm. wide, thick 3/4 mm.
With a wheel or a sharp knife cut the strip in half lengthwise and then triangles each strip based 12/14 cm.
Spread chocolate cream onto each triangle and roll up starting from the base without crushing giving the croissant shape.
Place cornetti on a baking tray (lined up with parchement paper) making sure that the tip remains under the croissant, otherwise it might get up while baking.
Brush with beaten egg and let rest for about 40 minutes.
Bake at 200/220° for about 10/15 minutes until golden brown.
If you like to make bigger cornetti, please allow a little longer to bake.
You can also fill with jam or custard, or else have a savory variation with sausage, ham and cheese, anchovies in oil.

If you would like to have a softer dough and are plenty of time, go on with the indirect method, using a sponge as a leavener:

• 330 g flour, high W 
• 150 g  water 
• 75 g fresh yeast

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let rise covered  until doubled.

Dough:

• 670 g flour, high W
• 250 g water
• 150 g soft butter
• 50 g lard
• 100 g sugar
• 15 g salt

Mix ingredients and knead as in the previous dough (the sponge will be melted in the water in place of yeast).

Should you prefer oil instead of butter and lard these are the right weights:

Sponge:

• 300 g flour, high W
• 180 g water
• 60 g fresh yeast

Dough:

• 700 g flour, high W
• 320 g water
• 150 g extra virgin olive oil
• 80 g sugar
• 15 g salt

Thanks to Zorra, great founder of the event, that has been running since July 2007.

This recipe is also my entry to this week Susan's YeastSpotting.

BBDay # 47 Round up