shortbread cookies from thomas keller's bouchon bakery

part 2 of 2 of my christmas gift to my coworkers.  check out part 1 here.

chocolate shortbread cookies from thomas keller's bouchon bakery

part 1 of 2 of my christmas gift to my coworkers.  

i knew that i wanted to bake something for christmas presents but i just didn't know what.  i thought about cupcakes, cookies, bars.... but all the portions seemed too big.  i wanted something bite-sized and easily packaged so that i could have a present for everyone.  

chocolate bouchons from thomas keller's bouchon bakery

rich. decadent. chocolate. bouchons. with ice cream.  all i can say is yum.

brioche au chocolat from joanne chang's flour bakery

i had half a batch of brioche dough from when i made sticky buns sitting in the freezer.  i needed to the freezer space so i looked in joanne chang's flour: spectacular recipes from boston's flour bakery + cafe to find something suitable to make with the other half of the dough.  i love chocolate so i naturally i choose a recipe entitled "brioche au chocolat"

what is this? to put it simply, its chocolate bread.  it takes some advanced preparation but this pastry can be made in 5 simple steps. continue reading to find steps 1 through 4

step 6: enjoy!

pasty cream. flour bakery style.

part 1 to making brioche au chocolate.  pastry cream.  knowing how to make a good pastry cream is important since it is the foundation for so many desserts.  

all finished! ( please excuse the bad lighting )