By Erin Clarkson on Mar 19, 2019 (updated Aug 8, 2022)
5 from 1 review
7 community comments
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Earl Grey Buns with Dark Chocolate and Cocoa Nib Filling. Fluffy brioche dough is filled with an earl grey dark chocolate custard, and a crunchy cacao nib filling, then rolled up and sliced into buns. Once baked, the rolls are brushed with butter and rolled in a cocoa nib earl grey sugar. These are a must for tea lovers!
Earl Grey Buns with Chocolate Filling
I have written and re-written this first wee bit of my post. Nothing I can seem to think of even comes close to how I am feeling right now - a very weird mixture of feelings. Huge sorrow for the Muslim Community back in New Zealand is the main one. I am just so, so sorry that these people came to New Zealand seeking safety, and we weren’t able to provide that. New Zealand is their home just as much as it is mine. There is also a sense of pride and hope - seeing how our leader has reacted, and seeing the country band together to support a community always reminds me why I am so proud to come from the country that I do. I really do hope that tragic events like this cause our country and the rest of the world to take a good hard look at the underlying racism and white supremacy issue that is so, so prevalent in New Zealand, whether we like it or not. We are ALL responsible for moving forward and for taking responsibility, and to stand in solidarity and unity to provide support to those whose rights may be in more danger than our own. We are all human, we all deserve to have the same rights. I believe speaking up is much more important than staying silent - even if it is just my voice adding to the chorus of people showing support. This isn’t about how we are affected individually - it is how we are going to unite as a whole to provide support.
Once again, I turn to food as my way of showing love and support. Today’s recipe for Earl Grey Buns is one that I made a while back - it is a riff on a recipe from one of my favourite books, Making Chocolate, which is from the makers of Dandelion Chocolate, an amazing small batch chocolate factory in San Francisco. They released their book last year, and I have been slowly making my way through it - each recipe I make seems to quickly become a new favourite (the chocolate spread I seem to put into everything is from this book!).
How to make Earl Grey Buns
I had been eyeing their cocoa nib buns up for a long time, and when I finally got around to making them, I couldn’t help but riff on them slightly. I stuck to my theory of “if you can infuse it, you can add earl grey to it”, and as per usual, it worked out very, very well. I added ground earl grey tea leaves to the dough, then infused the gooey chocolate custard filling with earl grey, which is then covered with a cocoa nib and brown sugar mixture, before being rolled up and cut into buns. These are made in a muffin tin, which causes the top to pop out slightly as they are baking, which makes them super cute. The chocolate custard filling bakes up to be gooey and perfect, with a lovely crunch from the cocoa nibs. The buns are then brushed with butter, and, while still slightly warm, rolled in a cocoa nib and earl grey sugar. The result is one of the most decadent, delicious buns I have ever had - I am obsessed with the chocolate custard filling, and the perfect spiral on these wee things.
A few wee tips for making Earl Grey Buns:
- The Dough needs an overnight rise, and the custard ideally needs to cool overnight, which makes these the perfect breakfast pastry.
- Good quality chocolate is super important here - I used a 70% bar, which I chopped up.
- If Earl Grey isn’t your thing, you can leave out the tea in the dough, and skip the infusing step custard and just use 150g of whole milk. Leave the tea out of the finishing sugar, and add 4 teaspoons of cinnamon.
More Earl Grey Recipes:
- Earl Grey Sugar Pie
- Earl Grey Cake with Raspberry Filling and Vanilla German Buttercream
- Chocolate earl grey ice cream sandwiches
- Earl Grey Crullers with Earl Grey Glaze
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Earl Grey Buns with Dark Chocolate Filling
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 1 review
- Author: Erin Clarkson
- Prep Time: 1 hours
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes plus rising time
- Yield: 9 buns 1x
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Earl Grey Buns with Dark Chocolate and Cocoa Nib Filling. Fluffy brioche dough is filled with an earl grey dark chocolate custard, and a crunchy cacao nib filling, then rolled up and sliced into buns. Once baked, the rolls are brushed with butter and rolled in a cocoa nib earl grey sugar. These are a must for tea lovers!
Ingredients
Scale
Brioche Dough
- 3g (1 tsp) active dried yeast
- 42g (3 Tbsp) Sugar
- 110g (½ cup) warm water
- 1 large egg
- 110g (½ cup) heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 385g (2 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 5g loose leaf earl grey tea, finely ground
- 3 Tbsp Unsalted butter, melted
Chocolate Earl Grey Custard
- 220g whole milk
- 10g loose leaf earl grey tea
- 115g chopped 70% chocolate
- 1 large egg
- 50g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- pinch of salt
Cocoa Nib Filling
- 110g (½ cup) light brown sugar
- 60g (½ cup) cocoa nibs
Earl Grey Sugar
- 200g Sugar
- 30g (¼ cup) cocoa nibs
- pinch of salt
- 5g loose leaf tea
Instructions
BREAD DOUGH
- Place the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a medium sized bowl, and stir to combine. Leave for 10-15 minutes, or until foamy.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, cream, and vanilla bean paste.
- Place the flour, salt, and earl grey tea in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add the yeast and water mixture, the cream and egg mixture, and the melted butter, and mix on low until the dough comes together.
- Increase the mixer speed and mix on medium for 8-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pulling away from the edges of the bowl.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, shape into a ball, and then lightly grease either the mixing bowl, or a large bowl, and place the ball of dough in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise overnight in the fridge.
CHOCOLATE EARL GREY CUSTARD
- In a medium saucepan, heat the milk to just shy of a simmer. Add the loose leaf tea, cover, and steep for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing with a spoon to get as much flavour as possible from the tea. Clean the saucepan, then re-weigh the milk and top up to 150g if needed. Warm again to just shy of a simmer.
- Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler, or in 30 second increments in the microwave. Set aside.. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt.
- Add about half of the hot earl grey milk mixture to the egg mix, whisking constantly. Whisk until smooth, then return to the saucepan with the rest of the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the milk mixture from the heat and pour over the melted chocolate, whisking to combine, and finishing with an immersion blender if needed.
- Place in an airtight container and press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the custard. Place in the fridge to chill overnight.
ASSEMBLY
- Lightly grease a muffin pan with butter or non stick cooking spray. Combine the light brown sugar and cocoa nibs in a medium bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a rectangle 13”x18” (33x45cm).
- Spread the cooled chocolate custard evenly over the surface of the custard using an offset spatula. Sprinkle with the sugar and cocoa nib mixture, and press down lightly to adhere.
- Starting at a long end, roll the dough up into a tight spiral log. Cut into 2” pieces using a sharp knife. Place each piece into a cavity in the muffin pan.
- Lightly cover the muffin pan with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place to rise for 30 to 45 minutes. While the buns are rising, preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c.
- Once the buns are risen, bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan once to ensure even browning.
- While the buns are baking, place the cocoa nibs and loose leaf tea in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Sift through a strainer, and then combine the sifted mixture with the sugar and salt.
- Remove the baked buns from the oven, and allow to stand for 10 minutes, then remove from the muffin tin. Brush each all over with melted butter, then roll in the cocoa earl grey sugar.
- Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container.
Notes
Recipe adapted from ‘Making Chocolate’ by Dandelion Chocolate
Key Ingredients
- Chocolate
- Earl Grey
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Reader Interactions
louisa
so half of the milk you add to the egg and sugar and the other half you put over heat until tickens and add to the chocolate? when do you combine the two?
Do you heat the egg mixture?Reply
Erin
Hi! The recipe reads: Add about half of the hot earl grey milk mixture to the egg mix, whisking constantly. Whisk until smooth, then return to the saucepan with the rest of the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove the milk mixture from the heat and pour over the melted chocolate, whisking to combine, and finishing with an immersion blender if needed.So this means you add half the milk to the egg mixture. The other half stays in the saucepan, then you add the milk that you combined with the egg mixture BACK into the saucepan with the remaining half of the milk. The reason for this is to temper the eggs with some of the hot milk before they go into the saucepan so that they don't scramble. Then you heat the whole lot (all of the milk plus the egg mixture) over the heat until it thickens then pour it over the chocolate. I hope this helps!
Reply
Madison
Any recommendations about making this without chocolate? I love the earl grey and everything else, but do you think I could replace or omit the chocolate?
Reply
Erin
It's a chocolate custard, so I'm not quite sure how that would go. You can try using an earl grey sugar in the filling instead - same as in these earl grey buns!
Reply
M
Unfortunately my dough didn’t rise at all in the fridge overnight. I remade the dough in the morning and let it rise in a warm place for about 2 hours and they still turned out perfectly.
Reply
Erin
Hi! Oh no! Do you know why? Glad to hear it worked out the second time! sometimes if the liquid is too hot when you are blooming the yeast, it can kill it!
Reply
Melissa
I'm officially obsessed with this recipe.
What I did differently and don't regret: I skipped the last sugar topping because I felt like I had done enough layers of earl grey + sugar + chocolate. It would be amazing with that last step, but it's so incredible you can also do without.
What I wish I had done as instructed: I did not use a muffin pan, bc I don't have a proper muffin pan anymore (too big for my small kitchen). I used english muffin rings and I'm happily eating the results, but had I followed the instructions... (1) I would have cut the rolls smaller which would work much better (cut 9-12, no less), (2) the filling that bakes out the bottom of the rolls would have coated the bottom of the rolls (note, this is maybe the best part - I ate it off the bottom of my baking pan and have zero regrets except the jitters from the caramelized and highly caffeinated sugar), and (3) my results would have looked nicer / more controlled.
Reply
