This is not something new and amazing. In fact, if you were to Google, "Nutella Chocolate Star Bread", you would find many posts of recipes and videos on how to make this beautiful dessert. I wanted to try it because the design is clever, seemed simple (and it was), and my mother had also made a gorgeous one last Christmas. A video DIY of it popped up in my Facebook feed recently, and I decided to go for it. I had all the ingredients (or so I thought), until I struggled to get my yeast to do anything. For anyone who has not played around with yeast much, make sure it's not expired (mine said 2013 - whoops!), that the liquid you immerse it in isn't too hot, and give it ample time to activate. All in all, this is an extremely simple recipe. I am embedding the video tutorial below, so you can see how it's done.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3½ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 egg yolks (save egg white for brushing the bread)
- 1 ½ tsp of active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp of butter, softened slightly
- ⅓ cup of sugar
- pinch of salt
- approx 1 cup of chocolate hazelnut spread
DIRECTIONS:
- Heat milk to about 30 C° (85 F°). Add yeast, one tbsp of sugar and mix well until dissolved. Let sit for 15 minutes to bubble and activate.
- In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients - flour, sugar and salt.
- Add the egg yolks, butter and activated yeast to the dry mixture - combine well with a wooden spoon.
- Knead the dough for 7-10 minutes until it is smooth and slightly sticky.
- Form dough into a ball and cover the bowl with a towel. Let rise for 45 minutes to an hour (it should double in size).
- When the dough is almost ready, preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F and place the jar of chocolate spread into a bowl of hot water.
- Place dough on a well floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Divide into 4 equal balls.
- Roll the dough into 12-14" circles. Try to roll them fairly thin, so your end result isn't too doughy.
- Using a plate, trim to make perfect circles. Spread the first layer with chocolate spread.
- Place the second layer on top and cover with chocolate spread. Repeat with the third layer and place the fourth circle on top.
- Using a small glass or coffee cup, mark the center of the cake. Using a sharp knife, divide the cake into quarters, then subdivide into eighths, then sixteenths (the video tutorial will be helpful here).
- Take two parts of the cake in both hands and delicately twist outwards twice. Repeat with all pairs to form an eight-armed star.
- Fold the ends of each arm underneath to create a round shape.
- Brush liberally with egg white. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Serve warm.
Video tutorial, below.