Pain au Chocolat

Method

1. 01

   Step 1: Mix the dough

   Combine the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, the 30 g of soft butter, the milk and the water and knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth. Shape a rectangle 2 cm thick, wrap it and leave it in the fridge for 8–12 hours.

2. 02

   Step 2: Beat out the butter

   Put the 220 g of cold butter between sheets of paper and beat it into a 16×16 cm square. It has to bend without breaking — that is the only state in which it rolls out together with the dough.

3. 03

   Step 3: Lock the butter in

   Roll the dough into a 24×24 cm square, set the butter on it as a diamond and fold the corners into the centre, pinching the seams shut. No gaps: wherever butter escapes, a layer tears.

4. 04

   Step 4: Three letter folds

   Roll into an 18×54 cm rectangle and fold in three. Repeat twice more, with 30 minutes in the fridge each time. If the dough starts resisting the pin, give it 20 minutes of cold more.

5. 05

   Step 5: Cut the rectangles

   Roll the slab into a 24×48 cm rectangle 4 mm thick, trim the edges and cut nine 8×16 cm rectangles. Sharp knife, one stroke — a squashed edge glues the layers shut.

6. 06

   Step 6: Roll in the chocolate

   Lay the first baton 1 cm from a short edge, roll it over once, add the second baton and roll to the end. The seam must finish underneath, or the pastry opens up in the oven.

7. 07

   Step 7: Final proof

   Set them seam down on parchment, cover and leave for 2–2.5 hours at 24–26 °C. They are ready when they have grown by half and wobble when the tray is shaken; any warmer and the butter runs.

8. 08

   Step 8: Bake

   Brush with the egg beaten with milk and bake for 10 minutes at 200 °C, then 8–10 minutes at 180 °C, to a deep gold. Cool for at least 20 minutes: hot chocolate is liquid and runs straight out of the cut.