Kakaós Csiga Chocolate Swirl Buns

Another pastry stall staple from Hungary, these chocolate swirls are everyone's favourites and keeping many students happy on their way to school or uni. Great with your morning coffee too replacing the usual pain au chocolat or croissant. I made the dough with slow, overnight cold fermenting in the fridge again. This seems to make the pastry much more digestible and so much easier to work with. Of course you can prove it in a warm place until it doubles in size which is much quicker, but overnight proving seems to fit in with our daily routines so much better at the moment. The dough is always ready for rolling and baking in the morning or whenever you are ready to bake. Take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before rolling and shaping to allow it to come to room temperature.

For the dough:

500g plain flour

7g dried yeast

pinch of salt

3 tbsp caster sugar

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

250ml milk

80g butter

For the filling and glazing:

unsweetened plain cocoa powder

icing sugar

50g butter

200 ml milk

1 tsp caster sugar

few drops of vanilla extract

Scald the milk with the butter by heating it until almost boiling then leave it to cool to a lukewarm temperature. This will make the pastry nice and soft when done. While the milk is cooling, sift the dry ingredients for the dough together in a mixing bowl, mix well, add the beaten egg and yolk, and mix in the lukewarm buttery milk. Knead it for about 10 minutes until feels doughy and the dough comes away from the side of the bowl. If you are leaving it to prove in the fridge overnight, place the dough in a lightly oiled large plastic bag and put in the fridge. Alternatively you can leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until doubles in size.

When ready to bake, allow the dough to come to room temperature then roll out into a rectangle shape on a floured surface to about 1cm thickness. Brush it generously with melted butter and sprinkle with the cocoa until it is completely covered and no pastry is showing. Repeat the same with the icing sugar. This is best done with a small sieve. Roll it up from the long end so you have a long cylinder. Cut 1cm thick slices and place these swirls on a lined baking sheet spaced well apart. Let it prove in a warm place until you heat the oven to 180C. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Heat the milk with the sugar and vanilla extract and as soon as the buns are out of the oven, brush them generously with the hot milk. This will give a soft and fluffy finish to the pastry. Cool on a wire rack. They freeze well too, when frozen, allow to come to room temperature before eating and warm up in a hot oven for 5 minutes.