Chocobons at home !! Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

Who doesn't like having yummmmy Cinnamon rolls at home? Well, since I'm a chocoholic so I definitely love having the chocolate cinnamon roll or Chocobon at home whenever I feel like. This recipe is very close to the Chocobons available at Cinnabon.

The delicious Chocobons

The recipe is quite simple and if its followed exactly, you wont be disappointed !

Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls – Chocobon

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter/margarine
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3 1/2 -4 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
50gm cooking chocolate
1/3 cup butter, softened

ICING:
1 cup icing sugar
1/3 cup cream cheese
1-1/2 teaspoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract(optional)
2-3 tablespoons milk

Method:

• Warm the milk in until it just starts to boil, then remove from heat. Mix in the butter; stir until melted. 
• Add water and wait for the mixture to reach room temperature.
• In a large bowl, mix the milk mixture, yeast, white sugar, salt and eggs till sugar dissolves.
• Add flour (save 1cup for kneading) very slowly and stir well to combine.
• Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When the dough has been mixed together, take it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead. Keep sprinkling the remaining flour and knead until smooth and elastic. (You can use a dough Kneading machine as well)
• Cover with a greased plastic film and leave for half an hour.

• Meanwhile, mix brown sugar, cocoa powder, melter cooking chocolate and cinnamon together and add butter in it (i had granulated brown sugar so I had grinded it a bit).
• Now, take your dough, generously sprinkle flour on your work surface and using a roller pin gently roll it into a rectangle of around 12X9 inches.
• Spread a layer of the cinnamon mixture leaving the 1/1inches at the top and bottom to seal.
• Next, roll the sheet gently and keep tucking the sides to get a uniform cylinder. Seal with a little milk. Using a sharp knife cut your rolls into 12-14pieces of around 2 inches thick, which will depend on your cylinder size.
• Place them widely spaced in a greased pan (preferably a rectangular pan) and cover with plastic film and leave it to rise till size doubles.
• Preheat oven to around 180 degrees and bring down to 160C. Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes. After 15 minutes have been passed keep a check by poking a toothpick in the center and turned golden. 
• While its baking, make frosting; beat icing sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Add milk gradually until frosting reaches a good creamy consistency.
• Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.

Yummy rolls are ready to eat!!! Do try this out and let me know

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Boston Creme Donuts - Home-made !!

Just last week I came across a recipe of Boston Crème Donuts, and thought to myself "why not give this a try" .. so I checked my kitchen for all the ingredients and the moment I figured out I had all the items, I was all set to make it!

This recipe is adapted from Laura Vitale's laurainthekitchen webpage. I just did a teeny meeny change in the custard filling and it tasted delicious ! Although these donuts are easily available at Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts but you aren't always in the mood to drive to these outlets...so my family was delighted to see home made donuts and that too Boston crème ones.

Even I couldn't believe this will turn out so well..

This recipe made around 12 donuts.

INGREDIENTS:

For the donuts:
2 1/2 cups of All Purpose Flour, plus a bit more if the dough is sticky (APF is Maida)
1 (7gr) Envelope of Yeast (which is equivalent to 2 1/4tsp)
3 Tbsp of Granulated Sugar
3/4 cups of Whole Milk, warmed
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tbsp of Shortening, melted (if you don't have shortening, replace this with butter also)
1 Egg
1/2 tsp of Salt

For the Custard:
1 cup of Whole Milk
2 1/2 Tbsp of All Purpose Flour
3 Tbsp of Granulated Sugar (original recipe asked for 2 tbsp. but for me it was slightly less
sweet)
1 Egg Yolk
1 1/2 - 2 tsp of Vanilla Essence
Small Pinch of Salt

For the Topping: 4 ounces of Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup of Heavy Cream



METHOD:
1) In a small bowl, add the warm milk and sprinkle over 1 tsp of sugar and the yeast. Allow the yeast to proof for about 5 minutes or until it starts to foam. If you are using instant yeast, you can directly add along with milk in the flour mixture.
2) In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the sugar, eggs, salt, melted butter and shortening, mix either by hand or with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and incorporate it in.
3) Add the flour, mix on low until the flour is incorporated, increase the speed to medium and mix the dough for about 4 to 5 minutes or until the dough is nice and smooth.
4) Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place it somewhere warm to double in size (this can take about 1 to 2 hours). Meanwhile, make the custard. I usually put it in my oven with the inside bulb on (don't heat it and don't put the flame on)

For Custard:
5) Add all your custard ingredients in a large saucepan and with the heat turned off, whisk them all together to combine.
6) Place your custard over medium heat and cook it, stirring the whole time until the custard thickens. To check the readiness of custard, it should cover the back of your spoon.  Strain it through a fine sieve into a bowl, cover the custard with plastic wrap (make sure the plastic wrap is touching the custard) and pop it in the fridge.

Back to donuts:
7) Once the dough has risen, proceed with the donuts.
8) Dump the dough onto a floured surface, punch it down, roll it out to a 1/2 inch thickness.
9) Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle some flour on each one.
10) Using a 3.5” biscuit cutter, cut out your donuts, place them on your baking sheets, placing them a couple inches apart, cover them with a slightly damp towel and let them rise in a warm place for about half an hour or until doubled again.
11) Add enough oil to a wok/karhai so it comes half way up the sides of the pot, allow it to come up to 350 degrees/ or hot enough when u put your wooden spoon handle u see bubbles around it
12) Once the donuts have risen, gently lower them into the hot oil and fry them for about 3 minutes on each side or until puffed and golden brown. Take them out of the hot oil and place them on a paper towel lined baking sheet to drain the excess oil.
13) While the donuts cool a bit, make the ganache.

Ganache:
14) Heat the cream in a small pan over medium heat until just below boiling point.
15) Pour the heated cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 1 minute, whisk it all together until the chocolate is fully melted.


Assembly:
16) To assemble, using a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip (about 1/4 inch round tip) squeeze about 1 Tbsp (or more) of the custard into each donut. Simply choose and make a small opening on one side and stick the piping tip about halfway in and squeeze out the cream.
17) Swirl the top of the donut in the ganache and allow them to sit and rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Super delicious home made boston crème donuts are ready to be eaten !!

Enjoy the treat and do let me know if you try these out.

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This Triple Layered Chocolate Mousse cake is to die for ....

This is one of my favorite cake recipes. I always wanted to try out an amazing Mousse cake without any disasters and this recipe was just perfect. I make this cake for my husband's birthday every year, just because he loves it, although he isn't much of a dessert fan.

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's page, however the original recipe was individual mousse servings, while I changed it into a cake. Also in her original recipe, in the milk chocolate mousse layer she didn't add gelatin, but when I tried without gelatin, it didn't hold its shape and looked more like a ganache. So I had to adjust the recipe to add gelatin in only the milk chocolate mousse layer. Dark chocolate mousse layer will hold its shape without gelatin , because of high cocoa content.

A closer look .... yummmm !!! This recipe is slightly time consuming but its worth every single minute.

Triple layered chocolate Mousse Cake (Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart with changes.)

Serves: 10-12 people

Making time: 2hrs
Setting time: 5hrs- overnight

Ingredients:
Dark Chocolate Cake:

Unsalted butter, softened, to grease
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
2/3 cup (83 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
1/3 cup (39gm) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder or normal cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup(150 g ) caster (superfine granules) sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
¼ cup/4 tablespoons(59ml) whole milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup/4 tablespoons(59ml) water

Method for Dark Chocolate Cake:

• Preheat oven to 180° C (350°). Line a 9” spring form pan with non-stick baking paper. Using a small pastry brush, coat the bottom and sides of the pan with unsalted butter; dust liberally with unsweetened cocoa powder, set-aside.
• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of electric stand mixer or a standard mixer bowl. Add the sugar; whisk together to well combine.
• Add the egg, milk, oil, vanilla, and water; mix on medium-low speed until combined, about 3 minutes.
• Pour the batter in the pan and bake until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 18 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse:
1 2/3 cups (395ml) whipping cream
4 egg yolks, room temperature
¼ cup caster (superfine granules) sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup or honey
2 tbsp water
198 g (7 ounces) good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 teaspoons vanilla essence
Pinch of salt

Method for Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse Layer

• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 395 ml (1 2/3 cups) heavy cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 3½-5 minutes.
• Transfer to an airtight container; refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Place 4 egg yolks into the clean bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on high speed until pale and frothy, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat, bring ¼ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup/honey and 2 tablespoons water to a rolling boil.  Cook until clear, large bubbles form, about 1 minute.
• Reduce mixer speed to medium-low. Carefully and gradually pour hot syrup down side of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high; mix until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Remove bowl from mixer; add the melted bittersweet chocolate, 1-teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Using a large flexible rubber spatula, stir to well combine.
• Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and place into a large-sized bowl. Add one-third of the bittersweet-chocolate mixture to the whipped cream; whisk until well combined. Add remaining bittersweet-chocolate mixture, whisking until well combined. 
• Pour the mousse carefully on the already cooled cake base. Place it in the refrigerator for atleast 20mins to 1 hour. Proceed to making the milk chocolate Mousse layer.

Milk Chocolate Mousse
1 2/3 cups (395ml) whipping cream
4 egg yolks, room temperature
¼ cup caster (superfine granules) sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup or honey
2 tbsp water
1 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 teaspoon gelatin dissolved in 2 tbsp water
Pinch of salt
198 g (7 ounces) milk chocolate, melted

Method for milk Chocolate Mousse Layer

• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 395 ml (1 2/3 cups) heavy cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 3½ minutes.
• Transfer to an airtight container; refrigerate.
• Place 4 egg yolks into the clean bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on high speed until pale and frothy, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat, bring ¼ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup/honey and 2 tablespoons water to a rolling boil.  Cook until clear, large bubbles form, about 1 minute.
• Reduce mixer speed to medium-low. Carefully and gradually pour hot syrup down side of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high; mix until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Remove bowl from mixer; add the melted milk chocolate, 1-teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt and gelatin dissolved in water. Using a large flexible rubber spatula, stir to well combine.
• Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and place into a large-sized bowl. Add one-third of the milk chocolate mixture to the whipped cream; whisk until well combined. Add remaining milk chocolate mixture, whisking until well combined. 
• Take the cake out of the refrigerator and pour the milk chocolate mousse carefully on top, spread it evenly using an offset spatula or back of the spoon. 
• Place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to overnight (I recommend overnight).
• Once set, remove cake from refrigerator  and serve immediately 

Tips:
You can use any GOOD quality dark chocolate for bittersweet mousse. Ive used Hershey’s
bittersweet chocolate chips. Since the cocoa factor is high in bittersweet chocolate, the mousse
will set on its own without gelatin.

However for milk chocolate mousse (it has less cocoa factor), you will have to add gelatin so the
mousse can hold its shape, else it will not set properly. I use Hershey’s milk chocolate chips for
this.

Hope you like this recipe !! Do Share your feedback