Chilli Chocolate Scrolls

I may still be a novice baker, but I feel like I'm reaching a more comfortable point with my baking. I finally have a larder that is stocked up enough that if I randomly see a recipe I like, I can usually whip it up without needing to go on a huge shopping trip to Coles. It took a long time to reach this point. And I'm finally starting to feel adventurous enough to venture outside of the recipes that I find from other people and adapt them with my own touches without it being an utter disaster.

For example, I fell in love with a recipe by Y of Lemonpi for green tea custard scrolls. I am a total matcha fiend, so I knew I had to try this recipe out once I finally got my hands on proper matcha. (P.S. does anyone have a reliable source of matcha? I can only ever find the pre-mixed sugar stuff in the Japanese supermarkets I have visited in Sydney)

Ooh green!

For anyone who loves scrolls, you must give these a try. I made them with crystallised ginger and sultanas and they were wonderful. Even A, who is getting a bit weary from my recent over-enthusiasm for baking was going back for seconds and thirds of these scrolls.

But back to the subject of chilli chocolate scrolls...A couple weeks after making the green tea custard scrolls the idea for chilli chocolate scrolls tumbled out of the randomness that is my brain by some confused, roundabout bit of brainstorming. I had the ingredients leftover from the Mother's Day brownies that did not eventuate, and then I was toying with the idea of chocolate brownie cookies or making more chilli choc brownies...or maybe chilli chocolate brownie cookies? Then I remembered how enjoyable those scrolls were and bam! Chilli chocolate scrolls was the final result!

Chilli Chocolate Scrolls
(based on green tea custard scrolls recipe from Lemonpi)
For the dough:
80ml milk
5g dried yeast
2 tbsp caster sugar
300g plain flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 egg, at room temperature
100g unsalted butter, softened

For the chilli chocolate sauce:
300g good quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used 70% cocoa Lindt)
1/8 cup custard powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp golden syrup
1/4 tsp hot chilli powder
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

For the topping:
1 tsp gelatin powder
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup hot water
ground cinnamon
raw sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the custard powder with a small amount of milk-enough to form a thick paste when combined. Add the rest of the milk, 200g of the chocolate, caster sugar and golden syrup and stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Reduce to a low heat and simmer for three minutes. Add the spices, take care when adding the chilli powder, add a bit at a time, stir in completely and then taste to see if it is at your desired level of spice. Remove from the heat and cover the surface with cling film. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Place milk in a small saucepan and warm to blood temperature. Add the yeast and 30g of flour and whisk thoroughly. Set aside yeast mixture for 10 minutes or until frothy.
Combine remaining flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer fitted with dough hooks for 2 minutes on the lowest setting. Add the yeast mixture and mix until it just comes together. Add a splash more milk if the dough is looking too dry (I added about another tbsp). Increase speed to medium, adding a little butter at a time, then increase speed to high and mix for 5 minutes or until smooth. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Turn dough on to a lightly floured surface, knock back, and then knead lightly until smooth. Roll out a 20cm by 55cm rectangle. With the long side facing you, spread the chilli chocolate sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a 2 cm border on the far long side. (I had much more sauce than was needed, you could probably halve the amounts I have given for the sauce and still have enough)

Uh oh, way too much sauce!

Roll into a long cylinder and cut into 12 even pieces. Place rolled pieces together closely, cut-side down, on a lined baking tray and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the dough to rise once more. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until the scrolls are risen and golden.

Waiting to go into the oven

Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Combine gelatine, caster sugar and hot water in a bowl to form a glaze. Brush tops of scrolls with glaze, then sprinkle tops with raw sugar and cinnamon. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

When I first removed the scrolls from the tray I panicked because they were so dark on the bottom that I thought they had burnt! Then I realised it was just all that gooey chocolate sauce pooling a bit down the bottom. The scrolls were super yum! I had worried that I had added too much chilli powder, but the dough helped to balance out the spice really well. They were surprisingly well balanced in sweetness. My random addition of golden syrup gave the chocolate sauce a nice gloss. It was like eating a really decadent bread version of a dark chocolate wafer. Me like.

These scrolls are best eaten while warm, and just as good the day after, warmed up in the microwave for 20 seconds the day after. Mmm these really cured my chocolate cravings!