BFD - August '11

I wanted something chocolatey. Last week, I made a chocolate banana bread and it was pretty darn good. For BFD, however, I wanted something a little more delicate. Fancy even. But what? Pain au chocolat, that's what! For this month's BFD we had:


Pain au Chocolat
Fruit, Yogurt & Granola Parfait

I purposely waited to have BFD on a night when the kids had already gone back to school so that I would have time to prepare this. Although the recipe is not that complicated it does require time. Most of the time is spent chilling the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes at a time, which you have to do four times. Don't let that scare you. This pain au chocolat is worth the time.

The instructions and pictures are very thorough, so if you have a rolling pin and some time, you're good to go. I made only two alterations to the recipe: (1) I used a combination of white flour and whole wheat flour; (2) I did not have "good quality chocolate" like Callebaut as the recipe called for, but I did have lots of leftover Hershey bars from our camping trip. I just couldn't let those go to waste. In spite of those alterations, this pastry was beyond yummy. Delicate flaky layers? Yes. Buttery? Yes. A must to try if you've been craving a pastry but don't want to spend money at the bakery. The recipe said that it made 3 dozen, but the author specified that she made them small. I got 16 of them and that was perfect for me.

I had also been craving a yogurt and granola parfait. Don't ask me why. The recipe I found called for Greek yogurt, which I use anyway. Personally, I like the texture and thickness of Greek yogurt especially Zoi - it's almost as thick as sour cream. Sadly, I used store-bought granola. In the past I have made my own granola, but honestly, it's a bit of work. I decided to save my effort for the pastry. All in all, I'm proud of my effort. If you want to impress your family and friends then try making some pain au chocolat.