Are you ready for a delicious breakfast or brunch recipe? Hi everyone, it’s Gintare here with a new recipe for you to indulge in. I suppose after a festive period like Easter, where chocolate is the key player, something healthy should be in order, but these breakfast rolls are just a little too good not to share, and I can promise they will soothe your soul. I have been traveling like mad recently with quite a few journeys still planned in the coming months. As much as I love and thrive during travels, I have been longing for the comfort of my own walls and have been savoring every minute I get to be home these days.

Very few things make me feel at home after travels more than the scent of fresh pastry, slowly finding it’s way to every corner of the house. Whenever I’m back, I spend every morning baking. These chocolate rolls have become sort of a tradition to be the very first thing I make, but then again chocolate is the answer to everything in my world. The weather has also been very generous of late and we got to have our first “al fresco” breakfast this weekend, dipping hot chocolate rolls into roasted strawberry sauce with a wonderful mountain view. If there is a breakfast heaven, I’m sure this was pretty close to it.

A word must be said about the roasted strawberry sauce. The taste of fresh strawberries we are getting here still leaves quite a bit to be desired so slowly roasting them, not only concentrates their flavor, but also leaves a bit of freshness. In short, they are the perfect companion for the gooey chocolate-filled rolls to savor precious moments.

Ingrediants 5 tablespoons/ 75 g butter, softened 2 tbsp sugar pinch of salt 1 cup / 250 ml milk 0.25oz/7 g instant yeast 15.8 oz/450 g all purpose flour 1 egg 1 tbsp water Filling 6 tbsp/90g butter, softened 6 tbsp light brown sugar 3 tbsp raw cacao powder ½ cup chopped dark chocolate Roasted strawberry sauce 2 cups quartered strawberries 2 tbsp light brown sugar 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

Process Sift flour, sugar, salt and yeast together. Warm the milk till it is just luke warm (anything more will kill the yeast). Stir the milk into the dry ingredients, using a mixer will speed things up here, if you prefer. Continue to knead the dough adding a few cubes of butter at a time. If the dough is too wet, add more flour. Continue to knead the dough till it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, about 5-8 minutes. Cover with a damp towel, place in a warm spot and allow rising for about an hour, till double in size. You can make the chocolate rolls directly or if making the dough the evening before, place it in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 120C/250F. Dust some flour on clean surface for rolling, give the dough a quick knead, then roll out a rectangle. Combine butter with cocoa and sugar and spread onto the dough, sprinkle the chocolate on top. Next roll and slice the dough, arrange in a buttered tin, cover with a tea towel and allow proofing for another hour. While the dough is proofing, toss the strawberries with sugar and vanilla in an ovenproof bowl and roast for about an hour, then blend. Preheat the oven to 230C/445F. Beat egg with water and brush the rolls and bake for 10-12 minutes. Serve warm with roasted strawberry sauce.

I'll see you back here on April 27 with another delicious recipe, so nice to visit you here today! - Gintare

(Photography, Styling, Text, Recipe: Gintare Marcel. Editor: Holly Becker)