Double Chocolate Lava Cocoa Buns (Black-Eyed Pea Buns)

Double Chocolate Lava Cocoa Buns (Black-Eyed Pea Buns)

Ingredients

• — Sponge Dough —
• 50 Water
• 50 Bread flour
• 1.5 (0.5) Fresh yeast (dry yeast)
• — Cocoa Dough —
• 100 Milk
• 9 (3) Fresh yeast (dry yeast)
• 150 Bread flour
• 9 Cocoa powder
• 25 Sugar
• 1 Salt
• All of the sponge dough
• 15 Butter
• 25–30 High-heat-resistant chocolate chips
• as needed 70% dark chocolate

Instructions

1. Mix all sponge dough ingredients until evenly combined. Let ferment at room temperature until doubled or tripled in volume, or prepare the night before and refrigerate overnight to ferment slowly.
2. Here's what it looked like after about 2 hours of fermenting on my balcony at roughly 32°C.
3. When pulled apart, you can see a dense network of air bubbles.
4. Add the sponge dough to the cocoa dough ingredients, excluding butter, chocolate chips, and dark chocolate.
5. Mix on speed 3 (low) until combined, then switch to speed 5 and knead until a coarse gluten film forms.
6. Add butter. Mix on speed 3 to incorporate, then switch to speed 5 and knead until a thin, smooth gluten film forms.
7. Add the chocolate chips and knead until evenly distributed. Let ferment at room temperature.
8. Ferment until doubled in size.
9. Remove the dough, press out the gas, and divide evenly into 8 portions (about 54 g each). Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
10. Take a portion, flatten it with your palm, flip it over, place a piece of dark chocolate in the center, and seal the edges tightly.
11. Shape into round buns. Let proof until 1.5 times their original size.
12. Brush the surface with egg wash. (I didn't want to waste a whole egg, so I brushed with milk instead!)
13. Preheat the oven to 180°C, then bake at 180°C (top and bottom heat) for 10 minutes. Brush with milk again while still hot right out of the oven.
14. A beauty shot — you can see how soft they are!
15. Just look at that molten center~~~
16. One bite — so incredibly rich! Go make them now~