Saturday, September 28, 2013

Pain au Chocolat


leaves and flours vegan Gluten Free Pain au Chocolat leaves and flours vegan Gluten Free Pain au Chocolat

Let's make something totally clear. I am a huge fan of buying rolls of puff pastry. It's not that the stuff is hard to make. It's just that it's really labor intensive, and I generally can think of several other things that I would rather spend my time doing. However, if you have never tried to make puff pastry from scratch I think it's worth the attempt just to have an understanding of how great an invention frozen pastry is. Vegan Dad has a really great recipe and explains the process perfectly.
I wanted pain au chocolat. So I took my prepared puff pastry and rolled it out to a 9x13" rectangle. I pressed mini chocolate chips into around two inches of dough and then cut that into 6 pieces along the 13" side using a pizza cutter so that you have 6 strips, each 2x9" with two inches of that coated in chocolate. Now roll it up starting with the chocolate. Place it onto a parchment lined sheet tray with the seam down. Brush the tops with coconut milk and sprinkle lightly with sugar. I baked them at 400 for about 15 minutes, until they were totally golden and flaky. Let them cool a few minutes before you bite in, or you will burn your tongue on molten chocolate. The temperatures and times will vary on your pastry and oven, but start with whatever the recipe you are following says and then just check your oven frequently to make sure they are browning evenly.
Whatever you do, make sure that your pastries are on parchment paper and not wax paper. I feel like recently I have heard several stores of people spending their whole days making puff pastry from scratch and then putting their croissants into the oven only to have a smoky mess a few minutes later, because they accidentally used wax paper. Don't let this tragic tale become yours.

leaves and flours vegan Gluten Free Pain au Chocolat

I was curious about gluten free pain au chocolat and found a recipe in BabyCakes Covers the Classics. Obviously it isn't a laminated dough so it couldn't be the same, but these were more like cookies to me. I will have to dig a little deeper and find a gluten free puff pastry recipe to give a whirl.

leaves and flours vegan Gluten Free Pain au Chocolat

Also today is the most magical day of the year. It's DC VegFest! So I will be spending my whole day in this beautiful 70 degree weather, eating snacks and talking to all my favorite local businesses and non-profits. If you are in the area, I highly suggest coming out. It's from 11-6pm at Yards Park! I will be at the Conscious Corner table (booth 6) for most of the afternoon if you want to come say hello in person or buy a cupcake!

6 comments:

  1. Wonderful! I've made savoury croissants with purchased puff pastry before, but never tried sweet pains au chocolat. That is going to change very soon. Enjoy the Vegfest!

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  2. O, the heartbreak of wax paper in the oven! (The pain of wax paper in the oven?)

    Your pain au chocolat look beautiful - have a marvelous time at VegFest!

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  3. These look amazing! I could do with one or two of these right now ;) Have fun at VegFest :D

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  4. ooh, I hope your VegFest day was super fun!! I haven't had a pain au chocolat in god-knows-how-many years... but damn, they look good!!!! I have made puff pastry once, years ago. It was a success, but like you said, so time consuming. So time consuming, in fact, that I've never bothered doing it again!

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  5. I saw these on instagram and they made me so hungry! I think both versions look great! Have fun at VegFest!

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  6. Wow, is it really that easy to make pain au chocolat? It's been a long time since I've purchased puff pastry, but now I realize that I need to get on it pronto!

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