Chocolate Stuffed Brioche

Heat the milk with 1/3 of the sugar to 80oC (176oF).
Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining quantity of sugar.
Slowly add the flour while whisking constantly to avoid lumps and achieve a smooth texture.
Pour 1⁄4 of the warm milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking very fast. And then, pour the rest of the milk, whisking fast again.
Put everything back in another saucepan and bring it to a boil while whisking constantly.
Once boiling, pour over the chocolate and mix well using a spatula and a whisk to obtain a smooth texture.
Pour the pastry cream into a cold metal tray to let it cool down. Cover with plastic film, making sure the plastic touches the surface of the pastry cream.
Let it cool down at room temperature for about 1 hour. And then place it in a refrigerator until needed. If you use it right away, you do not need to refrigerate it.
Once you are ready to use the pastry cream, pour it into a piping bag.

1. In a mixing bowl, pour the milk (at 22oC (71oF)), eggs (tempered and beaten), fresh yeast, flour, salt and sugar.
2. Make sure to respect that order so that the sugar does not attack the yeast.
3. Begin mixing the dough by hand. The dough should hold well together. It should not be fully mixed as you do not want to overwork it.
4. Place the dough on a working surface and start kneading by hand for about 5 minutes. This allows the dough to be well prepared for the proofing stage, for the flour to better absorb water and to hold well together. This also enhances the effect of the yeast.
5. Continue mixing until the dough is very smooth and you do not feel any lumps.
6. Once the dough starts to have a window, incorporate the butter in four additions
7. Make sure the butter is at room temperature so that it will incorporate more easily. Move on to the next additions once the previous addition is completely incorporated.
8. After all the butter is incorporated, you should see a window well formed.
9. Put the dough in a bowl covered with a damp towel on top and let it set for 60 minutes total at room temperature.
10. Fold the dough every 20 minutes to reshape it and maintain its strength.
11. After 1 hour, cover with plastic film and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours. This cooling step allows for the butter to firm up, facilitating the shaping in the next step.
12. Once the dough has set, divide it into 78 g (2.7 oz) pieces and roll them into small buns on a working surface. It is very important that there are no large air pockets inside the buns.
13. Place them on a metal tray lined with a parchment paper.
14. Place in the proofer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

1. Place the egg and egg yolk into a mixing bowl.
2. Add the salt and sugar and whisk well.
3. Strain the mixture to obtain a texture that is more liquid.
4. Using a brush, eggwash the surface of the brioche.

1. Bake for 15 minutes in a convection oven at 177oC (350oF).
2. Halfway through the baking time, rotate the tray for even baking.
3. After 15 minutes, or once the buns are nicely golden brown, remove them from the oven and cool completely on the tray.
4. Cut a square shape off the top of each brioche.
5. Flatten slightly the inside of the brioche to make room for the pastry cream. If needed you can remove a little bit of the brioche inside.
6. Brush some butter on each brioche and then immediately dip it into the sugar.
7. Pipe some pastry cream inside each brioche to fill them at about 3/4 full.
8. Top with some pistachios.
9. If needed, remove some dough from the brioche top.
10. Brush some butter on top of the brioche square, dip into the pistachio powder and place it back on the brioche.