Salted Chocolate Caramel Knot
I know I still haven’t shared my go-to sourdough bread recipe yet, but I make it so often it almost feels like cheating to put it on the blog. Instead, this week I’ll share a different recipe from the same cookbook (Artisan Sourdough Made Simple). It uses sourdough starter, but also the wonderful ingredients of Nutella and dulce de leche.
If you don’t have sourdough starter in your fridge yet, and you live in DC, let me know – I’m happy to provide some of mine. It’s great to have, very hard to kill (unlike my house plants), and I think it’s much less scary to work with than yeast, which I’m always afraid will betray me.
My sourdough starter doesn’t betray me. It’s easy to know when it’s ready to go, and I get nice, well risen bread whenever I use it.
This is one of those recipes that looks complicated as an end result, but actually is fairly simple. It took me about 15 minutes last night and maybe 30 minutes of working time this morning. Most of bread baking is waiting, which is great if you’ve got stuff to do around the house (which, who doesn’t). AND I got the whole thing done before Erik came home mid morning, so we could have it right away!
To start, make the dough. Warm the milk and 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium low heat in a small saucepan until the butter melts. Set aside to cool slightly.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg, starter and sugar on medium speed until combined using the paddle attachment.
With the mixer running on low, slowly add in the warm milk mixture.
Add the flour and salt and beat until dough forms, about one minute. Scrape down the sides, cover with a damp towel, and let rest for 30 minutes.
Once it has rested, put the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer. Beat on medium low speed for about 6 minutes to knead the dough, until soft and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let rise until doubled in size, about 8 to 10 hours (or overnight).
Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly oiled countertop. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 8×12 inches, using a floured rolling pin.
Spread the Nutella over the dough, leaving about a 1/2 inch border along the edges.
Spoon the dulce de leche over the Nutella and use an offset spatula to spread out slightly. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Starting with a long edge, roll into a tight log. Trim the ends and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkled with flour.
Cover with a damp kitchen towel and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. This will make the next step easier.
Once chilled, cut the dough in half lengthwise, leaving about 1/2 an inch intact at the bottom.
Starting from the bottom, twist dough into a full twist.
Once completely twisted, circle around itself to form a knot, tucking the ends underneath.
Transfer the knot to a springform pan lined with parchment paper. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush the tops and sides to coat. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for another hour, until puffy.
Once puffy, bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350°F and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool 30 minutes before slicing.
As with most fancy bread, I think this would make great French toast. It also just makes a great snack bread. Store it at room temperature in a plastic bag.
Enjoy!
Salted Chocolate Caramel Knot
Ingredients:
- 160 grams (2/3 cup) whole milk
- 42 grams (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
- 1 egg
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) sourdough starter
- 24 grams (2 tablespoons) sugar
- 300 grams (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 3 grams (1/2 teaspoon) fine sea salt
- 120 grams (1/2 cup) Nutella
- 60 grams (2 tablespoons) dulce de leche
- flaky sea salt
Directions:
- In a small saucepan, heat whole milk and 2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter over medium low heat until the butter melts. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat egg, sourdough starter and sugar on medium speed to combine.
- With mixer running on low, slowly pour in milk mixture and beat to combine.
- Add the flour and fine sea salt. Beat on low speed until a dough forms, about 1 minute.
- Scrape down sides of bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has rested, use the stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, to knead the dough for about 6 minutes on medium low speed, until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise 8 to 10 hours (or overnight) until doubled in size.
- Once risen, turn dough out onto a lightly oiled surface. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes.
- Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a rectangle, about 12×18 inches.
- Spread Nutella over dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges.
- Spoon dulce de leche over Nutella, using an offset spatula to spread around.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Starting at a long edge, roll dough into a tight log. Trim ends and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkled with flour. Cover with a damp towel and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Once chilled, use a serrated knife to slice the dough lengthwise, leaving about 1/2 inch intact at the bottom. Twist the dough, starting at the bottom, to create one long twist. Circle dough around itself and tuck bottoms under to form a knot.
- Transfer dough to a springform pan lined with parchment paper. Melt the remaining tablespoon (14 grams) of butter and brush sides and top of dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for another hour, until puffy.
- Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool 30 minutes before slicing.
