And so, the last 2 weeks of being a new mum has been exhausting to say the least! It’s been both exciting and overwhelming taking care of a newborn, especially when I’ve had an emergency c-section. But, I was getting bored of lying in bed binging on Disney+ while breastfeeding every few hours. I wanted to do something therapeutic for myself, and ambitiously decided on making some bread!

I seized every possible opportunity where the wee bairn was sleeping to mix the dough, proof, knead, roll and bake the bread. And, lo and behold, I’ve actually managed to execute this personal project. It was all in a day’s work, quite literally!

Chocolate Wool Roll Bread

makes 1 ring of 7-inch bread

• 20g innobake Taiwan Blue Jacket bread flour
• 100g water

• 340g innobake Taiwan Blue Jacket bread flour
• 15g cocoa powder
• 30g sugar
• pinch of salt
• 5g dry active yeast
• 6g chocolate milk powder
• 130g milk
• 1 egg (split to 30g and use the remaining for egg wash)
• 50g butter, room temperature
• Filling: Chocolate chips

1. In a pan, on low heat, stir 20g bread flour with 100g water until it forms a paste. Set aside to refrigerate for 6-8 hours. Leave to warm to room temperature 1 hour before use.
2. Using a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, mix on low speed (speed 2) the rest of the ingredients for 6 minutes (aside from the egg wash and chocolate chips).
3. Turn the speed up to medium and knead on the dough hook for a further 5 minutes.
4. The dough should be smooth and pull off clean from the sides of the bowl.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into a ball. Oil the sides of the bowl and place the dough back inside the oiled bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and let proof for 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
6. Divide the dough into 1 slightly smaller portion, and 3 bigger equal portions. Shape into balls and let proof for 15 minutes.
7. Roll the dough out into an oval shape. On one half of the dough, make parallel vertical incisions with a bench scraper. On the other half, add chocolate chips. Roll up from the side with the filling.
8. In a 7-inch cake tin, line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. The 3 bigger dough will form a circle on the sides and the smaller one will go in the middle forming a circle. Cover with cling wrap and rest for another 1.5 hours.
9. Brush the top with egg wash and bake at 180° for 30 minutes

Voila! All done!