If you’re partial to a pain au chocolat, you’ll love this effortless version, ideal for feeding the troops on a long weekend. This recipe uses plant-based milk and cream, but you can, of course, use dairy.
Chocolate croissant tearer-sharer
Serves 4–6
100g dark chocolate
21⁄2 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra to dust
2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
2 tbsp plant-based milk
Handful each of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
Oat or soy cream, to serve
1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Break up 75g of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of barely simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water), stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Mix in the icing sugar, until lump-free, then remove the pan from the heat.
2 Lay one sheet of pastry on a lined baking sheet. Pour over most of the melted chocolate and spread it out, leaving a 2cm gap around the edges. Lay the second sheet of pastry flush on top (you may need help with this bit). Gently press the two sheets of pastry together all the way round the edges.
3 With a sharp knife, make four evenly spaced 5cm cuts into the long edges of the pastry. You should be left with a 3cm strip of pastry down the middle with five sections of pastry either side.
4 Cut the remaining chocolate into 10 chunks and pop one chunk in the middle of each section of pastry. Roll to encase the chocolate, taking care not to cover the middle section, and press to seal. Brush with the milk and bake for 30–35 mins until golden and crisp.
5 Scatter the berries over the middle section, drizzle over the reserved melted chocolate, and dust with icing sugar. Serve hot, with cream for pouring.
Recipe from Bosh! by Henry Firth & Ian Theasby (HQ HarperCollins)