BBD 22: Where did my Rum go?

This month's Bread Baking Day was hosted by Stefanie from Hefe und mehr. She chose Sweet Breads for the theme, always a favorite in this household. The hardest part was finding just the right recipe I came close to making this, but finally settled on a recipe from ABin5: Brioche Filled with Chocolate Ganache.



Oh, baby . . . . .

This bread was so awesome that I made it twice. It tastes as good as Pain au Chocolat.



You just can't beat a combination of brioche and dark chocolate. For more delicious Sweet Breads, tune in to the roundup.



For those who wish to indulge, here is the recipe.

Brioche Dough

For two 1-pound loaves

3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon granulated yeast
3/4 tablespoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, melted butter, and water in a 5-quart bowl or lidded container.

Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon.

Cover loosely and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.

Refrigerate, covered loosely, and use within the next 5 days.



Target Bread:

1 pound, or half, of the pre-made brioche dough.
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Valrhona or equivalent)
2 tablespoons melted butter
4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon rum (alcohol helps dissolve the cocoa powder) **
5 tablespoons corn syrup
1 egg white, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Ganache:

Melt the chocolate over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat, add the butter, and stir until incorporated.

Stir together the cocoa powder and rum, then add the corn syrup and mix until smooth. Add to the chocolate mixture.

Assembly:

Lightly butter a 9x4x3-inch loaf pan (non-stick is fine). Take the 1-pound piece of dough, dust with flour, and shape into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, until the top surface is smooth and taut. Roll out the ball into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle, dusting with flour as needed.



Spread 1/2 cup of the ganache evenly over the rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border all around.


Starting at the short end, roll up the dough, sealing the bare edges as you roll.

Gently tuck the loose ends underneath, elongate into an oval, and drop into the prepared pan.

Allow to rest for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a pastry brush, paint the top crust with the egg white wash, then sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Bake the loaf for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the sugar caramelizes.



Remove from the pan and cool slightly; drizzle the remaining ganache over the top crust.



Cool completely before slicing.






Thanks to Zorra for creating Bread Baking Day, and to Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg for writing Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.


**All in a good cause: I used up the last remaining drops of my light Puerto Rican rum, that I hand-carried home after a visit to the Bacardi distillery near San Juan. Guess I'll have to go back for more.