Cookim Mama

1: Make the tangzhong - in a small pot, whisk together all tangzhong ingredients until no more clumps. Place over medium heat and keep stirring until it resembles mashed potatoes (may take a few minutes). Take off heat and set aside.

2: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add tangzhong, all main dough ingredients (except butter and cocoa powder) and combine on low-med speed for 5 mins using dough hook until dough comes together. If it’s too sticky, add a little flour until dough starts to pull away from sides of the bowl. Then add in butter and knead for 10 mins until dough is smooth.

3: Divide the dough in half and add cocoa powder to one half. Knead until well combined.

4: Form both doughs into a ball, place in a bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size (1.5-2hrs).

5: Deflate and roll each dough into a 8”x18” rectangle. Place the chocolate dough over plain dough. Run a rolling pin over so the two doughs come together.

6: Starting from the 8” side, roll dough into a log but stop 3/4 of the way.

7: Using a knife, slice slits into the unrolled portion of dough so you end up with 12 sections.

8: Twist each strand. To make it look aesthetic, I twisted each strand the same number of times and alternated directions.

9: Roll dough into log, then place into a lightly buttered 9”x4” loaf pan.

10: Cover and let rise for 1-1.5 hrs or until it fills ~80% of pan.

11: Bake for 45-50mins at 350F. Tent with foil if top browns too quickly.

12: Optional: brush top with sugar water (combine 40g water & 40g brown sugar over stove until sugar dissolves).