Chocolate Cornets ~ Eggless

I remember a quote by Mark Twain; ” My mother had a great deal of trouble with me. I think she enjoyed it.”
This applies without a second thought to my mom too. I troubled her way too much. I was a brat, a spoilt one at that. Combine that with mischievous, picky and cranky. How does that mix work for you?? Gives nightmares right?? So imagine my mom who had to deal with me. She did and she loved the whole modus operandi. But in my opinion, what gave my mother the scariest nightmare when i m concerned?? That s the lazy bug in me. I remember my aunt calling me ” Vazhaipazha Somberi” which literally translates to ” The Banana Lazy Gal” No.. its got nothing to do with this recipe. The term only means that i m so lazy that i dont even peel my own bananas if i have to eat them.
         There were so many days when mom used to ask me to up and about by 7 in the morning. I used to nod my head with vigour the previous night. But come morning, dawn never came until 10 o clock. I remember days when i used to have a bath at 5 in the evening. Skip lunch. And then feel hungry all again in the evening. Ransack the fridge and if i find nothing in there, then bang went the fridge door with a loud thump. I must give due credits to my lil cousin who taught me to do this anyway. And mom put up with all this. Of course all moms do. But only and only when you tie the knot, do you realise that it was a life of opulence before. I realised that very quickly. Let s say as quick as you can down a glass of water. And i changed too. But that lazy bug? No.. i mean how can that change! Isnt it sinful to be not lazy. I say they must make it illegal. Especially the waking up early in the morning part. Sigh.. Cos i cant do that, i ve stopped seeing any point in me being jurisprudent. Anyway, any guesses why i m writing a micro mini autobiography? Because when i had to make these chocolate cornets, i was lazy. Believe me, Gayathri announced the challenge for april, it was still the first week of March. I had 23 days precisely to make these cornets. But no.. i chose to while away my time. Watched lots of T.V. , read about 3 books in a row and slept like a fat sow. But chocolate cornets. Nope. I did watch the video though. Too many times. So many times that i knew the recipe by heart. Somehow, i couldnt summon up the energy to make those cones and knead the dough. Finally, the time did come for me to wake up and look at the march calendar. 30 days whizzed by and no cornets yet. Heck.. nothing is going as planned. Not that i had a great plan. What mattered was i hadnt made the cornets yet. So this morning, i woke up with a flourish. I set foot in the kitchen armed with the imperative bowl and the ladle. And finally made these cornets. I must say the experience was very rewarding. I enjoyed the concentration and the focus that the cornets demanded. I loved every single minute of making them. Without much further ado, let me introduce you to these magnificently tiny yet yummy in the tummy cornets.

Prep Time: 15 mins for kneading the dough
                        1 hour for the dough to raise the first time
                        20 mins for the second raise
                       20 mins to shape the dough
                       10 mins to make the custard
                       2 hours refrigeration time for the custard
                       Under 20 mins to do the filling 
Cook Time: Under 20 mins for the cornets
                         Under 20 mins for the custard
Yields 10 to 11 cornets

( This is an elaborate recipe. You can also use any other filling instead of the chocolate custard. Maybe some strawberry jam or even some hummus. I wonder how that would taste. Will try and let you all know. If you are an egg lover, then add 2 tbsp of beaten egg to the flour instead of the oil for the dough. And use an egg wash instead of a milk wash.)


What You Need?

For The Dough:

Flour 300 g
Active dry yeast 1 and 1/2 tsp
Warm water 140 ml
Sugar 1 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
Dry milk powder 1 tbsp
Butter 30 g or 2 tbsp softened
Baking powder 1/4 tsp
Vegetable oil 3 to 4 tbsp

For The Custard:

Vanilla custard powder 3 heaped tbsp
Milk 300 ml
Sugar 1/2 cup – 1 tbsp
Flour 1 tbsp
Cream 3 tbsp
Cocoa powder 3 tbsp
Butter 1 tbsp
Chocolate chips 3 to 4 tbsp

For The Dusting:

Bread Flour

For The Wash:

Milk 1/4 cup

For The Cone Moulds:

Any thick paper or chart paper 12X12 squares about 6
Aluminium foil
Staplers

How To Make it?

Before you begin the whole process, you have to make your moulds if you dont have them at home.
Take a square sheet of paper which is 12X12 cms. Now, draw a diagnol on the paper.
Start rolling the paper into a cone shape.
Staple the overlapping corners.
Now, take the tin foil and wrap it around the cone.
Fold the protruded edge of the cone on the top and staple. Pinch the edges on the sides.
Grease the molds with oil generously and set aside.

That s it. Repeat the process for all the six sheets of paper and then you are ready to roll.
Lets make the custard now.
In a pan, mix all the ingredients except the chocolate chips, butter and cream. Combine well and strain to avoid any lumps.
Heat the mixture on medium flame, stirring continuously
After about 3 mins, add the cream and incorporate well.
Now, stir again without stopping until the mixture forms a lump.
Remove from heat and add butter. Mix well.
Let it cool.
Transfer to a bowl and cover with a cling film in such a way that the cling film touches the custard. Refrigerate.

After the dough has doubled, knock the air out and knead for about 40 secs.
Now, divide the dough into 10 equal parts and shape them into balls. Line a baking tray with tin foil and grease the foil.
Stretch each ball into a long rope and pinch the ends.
Preheat the oven at 180 C.
Roll the rope of dough on the cone mould starting from the bottom pointed edge.
Place this on the tray. Now repeat the same process for the rest of the dough. You will have 4 parts of the dough. Refrigerate this and use it up once the first batch is done.
Now, do a milk wash with a pastry brush and allow to rise for another 20 mins.
Bake for 13 to 14 mins until you get a golden crust on the top.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Gently take them out from the moulds.
Fill a zip loc pouch with the custard and seal it into a bundle with a rubber band.
Cut a small hole at one corner at the bottom of the bag.
Place this inside the cornets and pipe in the custard.
Repeat for all the cornets.

That s it… We are done and we have with us beautiful lovelies of chocolate fillings!!
Sending this toBake Fest hosted by Kalyani