A few years back, I developed a recipe for dark chocolate pan de muerto(day of the dead bread). It was so tasty, that my husband and I still talk about it to this day. Of course I always planned and preparing it again, but you know how that goes.
A couple times a year, I will bake some conchas(pan de huevo), when that craving its. I thought what better way to bake conchas and have that dark chocolate bread that we enjoyed so much. I was on a mission! So with a few adjustments on the original (pan de muerto) recipe, here are these delicious and rich looking dark chocolate conchas right out of my oven!
I try to only bake recipes like this when I know I will be sharing at the community lunch. Otherwise it would simply be too much bread for my husband and I.
New Photos Happen!
I am excited with all these updated photos of the dark chocolate conchas! I am hoping to produce a video showing the step by step recipe soon!
My favorite concha is rustic.
Classic looking conchas are wonderful, but my favorite is this rustic looking heart. it speaks to me!
My friend Mely Martinez from Mexico in My Kitchen gave me the best tip ever! She says that many times, when preparing conchas she will prepare the recipe and when she gets to the second proofing of the bread, she adds the topping and freezes them! Freezes them on a baking sheet and once frozen, she stores them in a freezer bag. When she is ready to bake them, she simply takes out what she wants and lets them proof and come to room temperature before baking! Genius! Now, if I only had room in my freezer! Lol! That’s another story all together.
Do not overfill or there is a good chance the dough may rip when you are trying to conceal the chocolate and shape the concha.
The large ones were extra large! The dough ball looks small, but it will bake up alot larger.
Adding the topping after it proofs for the second time worked much better for me.
If a knife comes out clean and does not feel sticky, the bread is done.
Dark Chocolate Conchas! Pan Dulce!
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk 110-115 degrees
- 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Mix In
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour, 590 grams sifted
- 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder, 40 grams I used Hersheys Special Dark
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground canela Mexican cinnamon
- 2/3 cup grated piloncillo or dark brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons nescafe instant coffee
- 4 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 tsps vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup milk at room temperature
You Will Also Need
- 3 ounce disc of Mexican chocolate finely crushed
- 1/3-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
For Topping
- 3/4 cup butter or vegetable shortening at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon fresh ground canela
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Directions
- In a large cup, mix the warm milk with 2 tsps of yeast and 2 tsps of sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder and cinnamon. Mix in the grated piloncillo and nescafe. Stir well to combine.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients. After 10 minutes, pour in the activated yeast mixture. Add the eggs, butter and vanilla extract. Starting with the paddle attachment, mix and medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Gradually mix in the remaining dry ingredients and continue mixing at medium speed for another 2 minutes.
- Switch to the hook attachment. With the mixer running at medium speed, stream in half of the milk remaining. Mix for 5 minutes. If the dough looks dry, stream in a little more milk. If not, continue mixing for 10-15 minutes, stopping now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl. When the dough is ready, it should be stretchable, tacky, but not sticky. If it too sticky, continue mixing for a few more minutes.
- When ready, rub the palms of your hands with cooking oil. The oil will help you handle the dough without it sticking to you. Transfer dough to a into greased bowl and cover with kitchen towel. Place in a warm spot and let rise for 90 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- While dough proofs, prepare the topping. Remember that if you want to color the topping for the conchas, you will have to separate into different bowls and add desired food coloring. If paste is too sticky, add a little more flour. If it's too dry, add in a little more shortening or room temperature butter. Cover topping with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.
- When ready, transfer dough to a flat surface and divide into 12 equal parts. Keep dough lightly covered as you work. Take one piece of dough at a time and shape and flatten it into a round disc, about 3 inches across. Use you thumb to gently make a well in the center. To the center add a spoonful of the crushed Mexican chocolate along with some of the dark chocolate chips. Carefully bring up the sides and gently twist to secure the chocolate in the center. Gently form into a ball and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Pat down slightly and rub a light coat of soft shortening onto the surface of concha dough balls.
- Divide topping into 12 equal balls. Place ball in a tortilla press lined with plastic. Gently press to form the disc (about 2 1/2 inches across)that will cover the bread. Cover each one with pressed topping. Use a small, sharp knife to score the tops. Don't cut in too deep.
- Once all the conchas have there topping an are scored (6 per pan), cover with kitchen towel and let proof or rise for another 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 15-20 minutes If using two shelves to bake, you may have to rotate the bottom pan up once the top one is done.
Notes
Reader Interactions
Comments
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Hi there! Please make a good refried beans recipe! I have been looking for years I know they have lard but there is a delicious flavor and the color was a deep brown
Hi Lorretta! I remember my Mom preparing refried beans well. After cooking the dried beans, she would take a portion of them in a skillet and let them simmer until soft. Then she would mash them. After those cooled, she would simply take the manteca(lard) and heat it first. Then she would add some of those mashed beans and fry them in the manteca until they became very thick. They would get a little darker too. The key is to use real pork lard that has been rendered down. The kid they sell in the Mexican markets or carnicerias. I can’t find it around here too easily so I use the store bought lard.
Loretta, I wanted to point out that my Mom would add manteca to the skillet when she cooked them the first time, before mashing them. This is why they are called refried beans, lol!
Oh my! My mouth is watering as I read this recipe. I would love to buy some conchas if you happen to have any frozen ones. I don’t even know if shipping them is even possible but I’d drive all the way to you just to have one (if I didn’t have any responsibilities here at home!!) Keep up the great work. I told my husband that when I am old enough to retire I am going to spend my days making each and very one if your recipes. ??
Hi Patricia! If I thought the conchas would arrive in good condition, I would ship you some, lol! They are very fragile, especially after the first day. Thank you for the nice comments.
Thank you for the easy and precise recipe. I made these today and they were a huge hit!
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!! I love this! So happy you tried the recipe! It seriously is one of my favorite recipes for non traditional pan dulce. I am so excited!! Thank you!
I just tried making these and mine turned out too dense… heavy! They didn’t rise enough. Where do you think I went wrong?
If the dough has too much flour it can be dense. I really try to knead the dough as much as possible before adding any extra flour at the end. There may be a problem with the yeast. Did it foam up when you mixed it in the beginning? did the dough proof in a warm spot with no drafts? It could be a variety of factors really. I have prepared this recipe at least 6 times with no problem. I have a stand mixer now, so that makes the process a lot easier.
Hi,
Have you tried this recipe without the crushed Mexican chocolate and chocolate chips in the concha dough?
When I developed the recipe, I had already used the dark chocolate yeast dough for another bread recipe. It’s delicious regardless whether you add the chocolate in the center. the recipe doesn’t include a lot of sugar, so the chocolate in the center adds a little more sweetness.
Hi Pina, just made your chocolate conches and letting them rise and then put them in the fridge when ready to bake so we can have them warm for dessert. I can’t wait to tell you how they came out.
Awesome! if you are on Instagram, send me some pics!