Chocolate Almond Streusel...Again!

I am afraid of heights...My legs would wobble every time I stepped into an elevator as soon as it springs to the 15th....16th....20th...30th...50th floors. My legs would turn jelly and  goosebumps start to form on my skin when Im riding on an escalator en route to the 5th floor at least. And so skydiving or bungee jumping or riding on a roller coaster wont do me. I digress.  I have ridden a roller coaster just once in my distant past.  And I have been to the top of the duomo of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (in Italy) but there was no elevator so I took 414 steps to climb and reach the very top of the campanile. And I did parasailing in Boracay, one time. Just because. Or to prove a point or two. But never again. :) 

And so Im always in awe of those brave people who scale the Sydney Harbour bridge or take the roller coaster ride in Enchanted Kingdom in Santa Rosa Laguna, Philippines or view the magnificent  360 degrees view of the city on top of Taipei 101 or withstand the long line just to avail of those tickets to get into the viewing deck of the Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I often wonder how different the endorphins of these human beings be...definitely far more superior than my feeble "neurotransmitters". Lol. Its all in the mind after all. And Im afraid, my mind says stay on the ground.

Oh well! I might as well do my own version of the Twin Towers huh. And so I baked Chocolate Almond Streusel, not one but two of these beautiful cake/bread; one for my little boy and the other one for my boys at work to share. And so I baked them within the comforts of my kitchen...my endorphins springing in cosmic proportions; a different rush surging through my body but....on a stable ground.

My mind says Im better off cooking and baking than scaling heights....literally!


For the recipe, please click here

Chocolate Almond Streusel

* Recipe adapted from http://www.wendyinkk.blogspot.com/

Cake/bread Dough:

125ml milk
1 empty vanilla pod (seeds scraped for streusel filling)
1 and ½ tsp dry yeast
30ml water
Pinch of sugar
80gm butter (salted), slightly softened
40gm sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
Small pinch of salt
350gm all purpose flour

1. Bring milk and vanilla pod to a boil. Leave to cool down to warm.
2. While milk is cooling down, proof yeast with water and pinch of sugar until very frothy.
3. Beat butter and sugar until pale and light.
4. Beat in egg yolk, then the whole egg until well incorporated.
5. Beat in ¼ of the flour. Then 1/3 of the milk. Beat until smooth
6. Repeat step 5 twice. Give it a good beating for 2 minutes.
7. Beat in the yeast mixture and the final ¼ of flour.
8. Transfer to your kneading table or basin and give it a good knead for 10 minutes by hand until smooth and elastic. (you can use your machine, of course, but it won’t 10 minutes, 5 or 6 will do)
9. Place in a buttered bowl, turn to coat, and cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel, leave to proof until double in size for about 1 hour (I just dumped the whole basin into my cool oven to proof)
10. Meanwhile do the streusel.

Streusel Filling:

70gm sugar
Vanilla seeds from 1 vanilla pod
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
25gm melted butter

Pulse everything in a food processor except butter. (Or if you don’t have a food processor, mix cocoa powder and flour together with a spoon until well combined. Pulse sugar and vanilla seeds in the mill for a few seconds. Combine sugar and flour mixture.) Drizzle melted butter over prepared dry ingredients and mix until well combined like fine chocolate crumbs. Leave aside until use.

Assembly:

1 egg white beaten until frothy
Almond slices

1. When dough, has risen to double in size, punch down and give it a good knead for 1-2 minutes. Leave it to sit for 5 minutes.
2. Roll out dough into a rectangle about 10X14 inch. Spread streusel mixture on top evenly,. Roll up dough and put dough seam side down on your lined baking tray.
3. With clean sharp scissors, snip ¾ inch intervals along the roll, cutting through ¾ of the dough only.
4. Start with one end, pull one piece of cut slice and twist it to the right. Take another cut slice and twist it to the left of the roll. Cut surfaces facing up. Repeat with all the the cut slices.
5. Leave to proof in a warm place for another 45 minutes or until doubled up again.
6. Preheat oven at 180C
7. Brush the loaves with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with almond flakes.
8. Put in preheated oven , close the door and immediately turn down the temperature to 160C. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.