Chocolate Pastry Braid (La tresse au chocolat)

A chocolate pastry braid, known as une tresse au chocolat, is a delectable pastry that can be enjoyed as breakfast or dessert. It’s simple to make and even easier to eat!

Chocolate Pastry Braid

A chocolate pastry braid is really similar in texture and flavor to a chocolate croissant. Both are made with laminated dough and chocolate. 

In this case, instead of making the laminated dough from scratch, you use puff pastry. Puff pastry is the key to all your easy baking needs. Okay, well at least all of your pastry needs. 

3 Ingredients

If you don’t count the egg wash or powdered sugar that’s sprinkled on top, this chocolate pastry braid is made with just 3 ingredients.

Puff pastry, chocolate, and sliced almonds are all you really need to create this pastry braid. I love no-fuss desserts like this, especially when I’m entertaining.

It’s comforting to know that I won’t have to load up half my shopping cart with dessert ingredients when I’m already shopping and cooking for other courses.

The Braid

Making the braid for this pastry is somewhat intuitive and somewhat not. The first time I ever made this chocolate pastry braid, I had to kind of think about how I was going to go about doing it.

But after playing around with the puff pastry, I quickly figured out that it wasn’t all that confusing.

I don’t want you to have to think that hard about this though, so I’ve created a video tutorial sharing just how you can make this chocolate pastry braid at home. 

Make Ahead

You can technically make this chocolate pastry braid ahead of time. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated, so you can store it at room temperature. 

That said, pastry is best served the day its made for optimal flakiness and freshness. What I like to do is assemble the pastry ahead of time, egg wash and all, while the pastry sits on a sheet of parchment paper. 

I then place the parchment paper with the pastry into a large tupperware and keep it closed tight in the fridge. I bake the pastry about an hour before I want to serve it. That way it has time to bake and cool before I dust the pastry with powdered sugar and serve.

I’ve also served this chocolate pastry braid as a sweet brunch option. I slice the braid up, making it easy for everyone to grab a piece.  

Chocolate Pastry Braid

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A delectable pastry filled with chocolate and topped with sliced almonds. Perfect as breakfast or dessert!

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Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but still cold
• 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bar, (113 grams)
• 1 tbsp sliced almonds, (4 grams)
• 1 egg, beaten
• powdered sugar, for dusting the top

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Unfold your sheet of puff pastry onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Place the chocolate bar directly in the center of the puff pastry sheet, with the short sides of the chocolate bar facing you. 
2. Use a sharp knife to make 4 cuts in the puff pastry where each of the chocolate bar corners are. The cuts should be made from the edge of the pastry to the very corners of the chocolate bars. 
3. Starting on one long side of the chocolate bar, make diagonal cuts from the top of the puff pastry to the bottom. You'll want to end up with 7 flaps/strips of puff pastry hanging from the center where the chocolate bar sits. Repeat this step for the opposite side. 
4. Discard the 4 awkward pieces of puff pastry that are on each of the corners of the puff pastry sheet. Now, grab hold of one flap of puff pastry (on the short side of the chocolate bar) and gently stretch to elongate a bit. Stretch the flap onto the actual chocolate bar. Repeat this for the opposite short end too. 
5. Now the braiding begins. Grab hold of one strip from either side of the chocolate bar and cross it over the chocolate bar. Grab a strip of puff pastry from the opposite side and cross that over. Continue to criss-cross until you reach the bottom. Make sure that when you reach the last strip, you try your best to pinch the puff pastry strip down to the whole braid so that the final strip doesn't unravel when it bakes. 
6. Brush the entire braid with your beaten egg. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, then bake for approximately 20 minutes, until deep golden throughout. Allow the puff pastry to cool before dusting with powdered sugar. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 4 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 572