450 g flour plus around 50 g for sprinkling
180 ml milk
2 egg yolks (use egg whites for brushing the bread)
8 g active dry yeast
30 g butter
70 g sugar
pinch of salt
200 g chocolate spread
Pour milk into a saucepan and heat it to 30C . When the milk is warm, add yeast, one tbs of sugar and flour and dissolve all ingredients. Let it sit for 15 minutes to activate.
For the best quality of the dough, sift flour through a sieve. Then, in a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients: flour, sugar and salt.
Separate egg yolks from egg whites. Add yolks, butter and yeast to the bowl with dry ingredients. Mix everything with a wooden spoon. Knead dough for about 7 minutes.
Once dough is smooth and just a bit sticky, put it into a bowl, cover with a cloth, and set it in a warm place. Let it rise for around 40 minutes (it should double its size). When the dough is almost ready, you can turn on an oven and heat it to 180C/350F, and put your chocolate spread into a bowl with hot water.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Remember to keep some flour for sprinkling at hand. Knead dough for around 1 minute, then divide it into 4 equal parts. Roll the first of four parts into a circle. The dough should be 2-3 mm thick.
Place the dough circle on a piece of baking paper. Take a cake tin and mark it off on the first layer. Cover the marked area with a thin layer of chocolate spread. Roll another layer of dough, place it on the previous one and mark off the cake tin on it. Then, put the chocolate spread on the marked area. Repeat the procedure with the next layer. Roll out last layer of dough. Put it on the previous ones and cover it with a cake tin. Cut excess dough with a knife.
Using a small glass or a coffee cup, mark the center of the cake. Divide the bread into quarters – start cutting from the marked circle (remember to leave the center intact!) Then, divide every quarter into four equal parts. At the end you should have 16 equal parts. Take two parts of the cake in both hands and delicately twist them in opposite directions. Repeat with all pairs to form eight-armed star.
Twist the ends of each arm underneath to create a round shape. Brush surface of the bread with egg white before putting it into the oven. Bake at 180C/350F, for around 15 to 20 minutes. For the first 10 minutes use only lower heater, then turn the upper one too.
Notes: if you want to make your life easier, you can substitute the handmade dough with store-bought sweet puff pastry. Changes the texture completely, but still very good. You can also mix-and-match any suitable combinations of fillings, such as jams and thick custard.
