Description

If we were bears, we would certainly want our claws to be made of flaky chocolate-filled pastry! You can bite the crunchy toes off the bear’s claw before reaching the soft chocolate-frangipane centre of this delectable treat. Fill the claws with fruit if you wish, or a mixture of fruit and frangipane.

Method

To prepare the ganache, put the chocolate in a bowl. Put the cream in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to boiling point, then pour over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted. Set aside.

For the almond cream, place the sugar, butter, almonds and almond meal in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on high speed for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and slowly add the beaten eggs. Add the brandy and water and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides, then add the crème pâtissière and chocolate ganache and mix until just combined. You now have a chocolate frangipane!

Take the rested dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a rectangle measuring about 48 x 65 cm (19 x 25½ inches), and 3.5 mm (⅛ inch) thick. This may take quite a lot of energy, as the dough may keep springing back to its original size. If this happens, rest the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, then resume rolling. This resting process may need to be done a number of times. If the dough is becoming too large to fit in the fridge, simply fold it over and place on a tray before chilling it.

Cut the dough into three 16 x 65 cm (6¼ x 25½ inch) strips. Down the middle of each of each strip, pipe a tube of your chocolate frangipane — about 400 g (14 oz) for each tube.

Working with one strip at a time, fold one long edge over the chocolate filling, aligning it neatly with the other edge, and press the two edges together.

Along the top of the now folded-over edge of the filled log, pipe a smaller tube of chocolate frangipane — about 50 g (1¾ oz) for each. Sprinkle with flaked almonds.

Mark the dough with indents at 8 cm (3¼ inch) intervals, where we will later cut the logs into smaller portions. Place the logs in the freezer for 20 minutes, to stop the frangipane oozing out in the next step.

Cut each log into 8xm (3¼ inch) pieces, along the score marks. In each portion, make three evenly spaced cuts along the edge of the pastry, about 4cm (1½ inch) long, stopping just before the filling. Fan the cuts out, to resemble the toes of a bear.

(At this point you could store some of your croissants in the freezer for a few weeks. When you’re ready to use them, place them in the fridge overnight, then early next morning, simply prove and bake as directed below.)

Cover loosely with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm room (about 26–28ºC/79–82ºF) for 1½–2 hours, or until almost doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 150ºC (300ºF).

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool slightly on the trays before eating.

Notes

See croissant dough recipe here.

See crème pâtissière recipe here.