I prefer chocolate – today I do not want a man
With this text passage 60ies singer Trude Herr would probably have modified her hit lyrics (song: “I don’t want chocolate – gimme a man”) if she had this #brotokoll creation towards her palate.
A brioche that is without equal and can hardly be surpassed in its sinful aroma, fluffiness and true “baking-poetry”.
Here comes an absolute cotton-field-like fluff dream – with an ice-cream combination-oriented statement:
Better than strawberry-vanilla = chocolate-apricot
This would already clarify two parts of the enigmatic tongue twisting title: Apri(cot) & Schoko(chocolate).
And to completely resolve the cryptic title: a coconut drink is used as the entire liquid for the brioche. You will be amazed! Yes, it is a bit crazy (and the taste will drive you crazy…) – hence Coco & Loco.
Pasta Madre
Same as we used it for Blondy, the Easter Challah, also this brioche will be leavened by our all time Italian stiff starter favorite: “Pasta Madre” (Lievito Madre).
With the right maintenance and correctly carried out feeding procedures, 2 refreshments of your Madre (no I do not mean your mom going to a make-up artist) are sufficient for the recipe.
As always mentioned in the Pasta Madre recipes here on #brotokoll – don’t forget to give the Pasta Madre the famous “bagnetto” before you start feeding / refreshing.
Especially if it has spent a few days in the fridge since the last feeding, your Pasta Madre suffers from an acetic acid overload and the PH value is too low (below 4.0).
The bagnetto (see the details in the recipe guide below) helps to balance the amount of acidity. This is very important, because otherwise your brioche will end up with problems during the fermentation or even already during the kneading phase (caused by the acetic acid overload as just explained).
ViVa la farina – EFFEPI*
A special flour blend from the Piedmont region provides a dreamlike result of this recipe.
The ViVa la farina mill is located in the province of Cuneo in the small community of Faule. Very special: Its grain is cultivated exclusively on selected fields in the provinces of Cuneo and Turin. Moreover: The mill grinds all its flour on lava stones coming from the quarries of Etna.
This is also the case with EFFEPI – a Tipo 1 soft wheat blend which is characterized by extreme ability of absorbing water, high elasticity and stability (we counteract the slight enzyme weakness caused by the enormous strength of the flour with a small amount of diastatic malt).
Just perfect for our Apri-Coco-Schoko-Loco!
Twisted Pasta Madre Chocolate-Apricot Brioche
But I don’t want to keep you in torture for long:
3 brioche braids stuffed with caramelized apricots and crunchy chocolate chunks.
The Pasta Madre provides a great aroma and guarantees fantastic long-lasting freshness.
The dough resting time of far more than 16 hours in total makes the “digestive” pleasure just perfect – and as the “cherry on the cake”, the brioche features a touch of cinnamon and an absolutely delicate coconut aroma.
Well then: let’s get started to feed, knead and mix – and when it comes to braiding sing with me: Come on let’s twist again!
Tag your results with #brotokoll on Instagram & Facebook. I can’t wait to see your results!
For even more tipps, tricks and recipes, join me in one of my upcoming workshops! Check out my #brotokoll workshops overview. For individual workshop requests (individual coaching and /or live baking via WhatsApp, Zoom & Skype) send me a message!
Happy baking!
* The mentioning of ViVa la farina is unsponsored.
- 90 g Pasta madre (Lievito madre) 2 times refreshed (see recipe instructions)
- 455 g Effepi Viva La Farina), alternative: Tipo 0 violet available at bongu.de
- 230 g Coconut drink (e.g. NILK) alternative: 100g coconut milk + 130g water
- 85 g Sugar refined
- 115 g Egg yolk cold, preferably organic
- 115 g Butter lukewarm, preferably organic
- 7 g Barlimalt (Diastatic malt) available at bongu.de
- 7 g Salt
- 2-3 tbsp Sugar refined, for preparing the caramelized apricots
- 1 pinch Bourbon Vanilla
- 1 pinch Cinnamon
- 400 g Apricots stoned and divided in half
- 180 g Chocolate chunks
- 30-40 g Cocoa powder
- 2-3 tbsp Coconut drink (e.g. NILK) for brushing
TA (Hydration) 150 (50%) Ingredients
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Before the first feeding (right after taking your Pasta Madre out of the fridge) I recommend to do a so called „bagnetto“, in order to get rid of the high acidity load, which was built during the days without "fresh food" in the fridge. For the bagnetto you simply soak the Pasta Madre (cut into slices) in water (water temperature: 18 degrees Celsius - the water amount should be around three times the Pasta Madre's weight, you are going to soak) with a bit of sugar for 15-20 minutes. Now, squeeze out all the water and proceed with the feeding (adding fresh water and flour).
After each feeding let your Pasta Madre mature at 27-28 degrees Celsius until the Pasta Madre at least doubles (or even better triples) in size. With the right strength - your Pasta Madre should gain that volume during the 2nd feeding within 3-4 hours.
For the refreshments I recommend you to use the same flour as for the regular feedings of your Pasta Madre (Lievito Madre)
If you don't have a stiff starter yet, start reducing the water amount during a couple of feedings of your regular liquid starter. Important: until ready to be used it has to gain the power of doubling or tripling its volume during 3,5 hours.
455g Effepi, Viva La Farina (alternative: Tipo 0 violet)
220+10g Coconut-Drink, cold
85g Refined sugar
115g Egg yolk
115g Butter
7g Barlimalt (diastatic malt)
7g Salt
30-40g Cocoa powder
1 pinch Bourbon Vanilla
400g Apricots, stoned and divided in half
2-3 tbsp refined sugar for preparing the caramelized apricots
For the main dough, first mix sugar, 220g of the cold coconut drink and the entire egg yolk quantity with your kitchen machine until all sugar crystals have dissolved.
As soon as your Pasta Madre (Lievito Madre) is matured, add it in small pieces and continue mixing at high speed until the Pasta Madre has dissolved as well. Then add the flour stepwise, spoon by spoon.
Knead at slow/medium speed until you have a homogeneous dough that slowly begins to release from the bowl. Next, add the salt and the Bourbon Vanilla with the last sip of coconut drink (10g) and about 1 minute later, the diastatic malt to the dough. Keep kneading until the dough is fully kneaded and you are able to do a nice windowpane test (never done before? Simply wet your fingers and stretch a piece of the dough as far apart as possible. If it can be stretched so far that you could read a newspaper behind it and the dough doesn't tear when stretched, it is completely kneaded out).
Add the lukewarm butter to the dough and continue kneading until all the butter has been incorporated into the dough. At the end you should have a smooth dough with an optimal dough temperature of 25-27 degrees Celsius.
The dough is now divided into three. Pour 1/3 of the dough into a lightly greased dough container. Mix the remaining 2/3 with the cocoa powder and knead it in (the kitchen machine should run at slow speed level so that the dough is not overkneaded). Now this dough is placed into another slightly greased container. After about 2-2.5 hours of resting time (room temperature 25 degrees Celsius) we’ll continue with the next step.
In the meantime, heat 2-3 tablespoons of the refined sugar in a pan and add the apricot halves as soon as the sugar caramelizes. As soon as the apricots are softly steamed (while stirring again and again), let them cool down first and then mash them slightly.
180g Chocolate chunks
Caramelized apricots
Dust the working surface with rye flour and release the light-colored dough from the container. Using a rolling pin, shape the dough into a rectangle (the dough’s height should be maximum 0.5cm and its length a bit longer than your baking tin). Spread half of the caramelized apricots onto the dough and sprinkle the dough with a pinch of cinnamon.
The dough is now rolled up along the short side to form a braid (but be careful not to tear the dough!). Now you divide the dark dough and roll each piece of dough into a rectangle. Sprinkle one of them with half of the chocolate chunks, the other with the remaining apricots and the remaining chocolate chunks.
Once all three doughs are rolled into braids, it's time to show your braiding talent. If the dough is too sticky, dust the dough with a little bit of rye flour. This will also make for a nice finish later on!
The finished braided brioche is now placed in your baking tin (1kg) and rests well covered for about 1 hour at room temperature (25 degrees Celsius), followed by another 12-16 hours in the refrigerator at 4-5 degrees Celsius.
On baking day you take the brioche out of the fridge and let it acclimatize until the dough is only 1-2cm away from the edge of the baking tin.
Preheat the oven with your baking stone to 180 degrees Celsius for about one hour. Bake the brioche (brush it with some coconut drink before it enters the oven) without steam for about 70-75 minutes until it reaches a core temperature of 95-96 degrees Celsius (just check with a roast thermometer).
The indicated recipe quantities are for 1 brioche of 1.400g total weight.
The indicated hydration does not include the egg yolk as liquid.
Do you have specific questions or issues? Contact me via the contact form. I am happy to help you.
