Chocolate Orange Sourdough Milk Rolls

I had candied orange peel leftover from my hot cross buns so thought that it would be a good idea to use them up before they went bad.  I remembered that I had the idea of making a chocolate version of my sourdough milk bread and I love chocolate and orange together.  I used cocoa powder to replace ⅔ of the flour in the tangzhong for the chocolate dough without adding more sugar to my sweet rolls recipe.  I added good quality dark chocolate chips for extra chocolate punch.  Along with the candied orange peel I added orange zest just to enhance the orange flavour.  I think these came out just as I hoped, they are soft and fluffy, chocolately without being too sweet.

For 16 rolls in 9 x 9” pan

Egg wash - 1 egg 1 tbsp milk pinch of salt

Zest of one orange

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth.

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk cocoa and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flour.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.  Next add the zest of one orange, the candied orange peel and the chocolate chips, that way they do not interfere with the gluten development. Mix until they are well incorporated in the dough.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2-4 hours at 82ºF.  There will be some rise visible at this stage.  I usually aim for 20-40% rise.

Optional cold retard overnight for convenience.

Prepare your pan by greasing it or line with parchment paper.

Release the dough from the bowl onto a lightly oil countertop.  Divide into 16 equal weight portions.  Next fully Degas each and form into tight boules.

Transfer the pieces to the prepared baking pan and cover with a large, reusable bag, place in a warm spot.  I use my proofing box set to 82°F.  Final proof may take 3-6 hours, be patient and wait until the dough passes the finger poke test.  Using my aliquot jar the dough should reach a total rise of 120-140%.

Be sure to start preheating your oven about 30 minutes before you feel the rolls will be fully proofed. For me, the final warm proof time was about 5 hours at 82°F (25°C) (25% to 125% rise).

Bake

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the middle, to 400°F (200°C). After the warm proof, uncover your dough and gently press the tops of a few rolls.  The fully proofed rolls will look very soft. The texture of the dough will be almost like a whipped mousse. Be sure to give them extra time in warm proof if necessary. If the dough needs more time to proof, cover the pan and give the dough another 15 to 30 minutes at a warm temperature and check again.

Once your oven is preheated, remove your pan from its bag, brush the rolls with the egg wash.  Sprinkle course sugar on top if you wish, then slide it into the oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes rotating partway through.

The rolls are finished baking when the internal temperature is around 195°F (90°C). Remove the rolls from the oven and let the rolls cool for 5 to 10 minutes in the pan.  Then remove from pan and transfer to rack to cool.

My index of bakes.