Nutella Star Bun

::tap tap:: Is this thing still on?  Howdy!!  Quite a few things have changed in the past few years, but my desire to play in the kitchen remains.  I'm not sure if this is a return to blogging or just the easiest way to document and share a recipe that got a lot of likes on Facebook.  With most things, only time will tell.

The internet brings all sorts of interesting things my way, like this:  

This could be my gospel.  

It also brought me an intriguing video on how to make a Nutella braided bun. Unfortunately, the video and accompanying recipe were from a Turkish magazine:http://www.elmaelma.com/nutellali-orgu-corek-nasil-yapilir-15385h.htm. 

Google Translate can be quite handy, but as far as recipes are concerned it leaves a bit to be desired.  I'm not sure about you, but the direction "When you get a dough consistency that close to heave over the içinhamur with a cloth. When your dough into 4 equal parts two to swell. Open the help and roll each piece" is a bit hard to follow. Luckily for us, I've got a bit of experience with filled and shaped breads and the recipe itself is pretty simple. And delicious. Did I mention delicious? I mean, I've typed the word Nutella a number of times, so delicious was just implied, right?

Nutella Star Bun

Bread

• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup milk, 110-115F
• 2 tbsp butter, melted

Filling

• 1 jar Nutella
• 2 tbsp milk

Glaze

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp milk

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, and yeast.  Make a well in the center and add eggs, milk, and butter.  Stir in remaining 2 cups of flour.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead just until smooth and no longer tacky.  Place in oiled bowl; cover and let rise until doubled.

Once doubled, punch down dough and divide into four equal pieces.  Roll each quarter out to approximately 1/8 inch in thickness.  Using a large plate (8 to 9 inch diameter) as a guide, trim dough into circle.  

Combine Nutella and 2 tbsp milk.  Place one dough circle on piece of parchment paper.  Spread a layer of Nutella mix evenly across it, leaving a 1 inch gap from the edge.  Place the next circle of dough on top; Nutella; dough; Nutella; dough. 

At this point, you should really go to the link above and watch the video on how to shape the dough.  I'll do my best to describe the process, but it's much easier after seeing how it's done. 

Place a glass (approximately 3 inch in diameter) in the center of bun.  Cutting from the glass to the edge of the dough, cut the circle into quarters, then each quarter into half, then each of those into halves, so that you end up with sixteen equal slices still connected in the center (underneath that handy glass). 

Take the ends of two adjacent strands and twist them twice away from each other.  Do this gently so the Nutella doesn't ooze out too much.  Pinch together the ends.  Move on to the next two strands and repeat the process until you've got eight spiraled and joined pairs. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine egg yolk, 1 tbsp sugar, and 2 tbsp milk, and brush over the bun.  Bake 15-25 minutes, until golden brown.  

This bun is delicious and very rich.  The center piece is absolutely heavenly, and I'm so glad I claimed it for myself.

xo

Sarah