Serves: 12 Prepararation time: 3.30 hours Cooking time: 15mn Difficulty level: Difficult

Special equipment: electric mixer with bread hook.

1. Melt the chocolate in a pan over a bowl of simmering water, once fully melted remove from the heat but keep the bowl over the pan to keep it warm until needed.

2. Mix the flour with the yeast and 1 teaspoon salt in the bowl of an electric mixer, attach a bread hook to the machine and set it on its lowest speed.

3. Break the eggs into a jug and beat lightly. Gradually add the eggs in batches to the flour.

4. Add the chocolate mixture and continue to mix until well incorporated

5. In another bowl, using a wooden spoon, beat the soft butter with the sugar until creamy, add the butter mixture to the dough a little at a time. Knead the dough in the machine for a further 5 minutes.

6. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size - about 2 hours.

7. Butter a 12-hole muffin tray and turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface and knead gently for 1 minute. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.

8. To shape the brioche, pinch off a small nut sized ball of dough from each portion and roll into a smooth ball. Shape the rest of the portion into a neat ball and gently drop into the muffin tray. Flour your index finger and push it into the centre of the ball of dough in the tray then place the smaller ball over this hole. Repeat with the remaining portions. Cover loosely with cling film and leave to rise until the dough has doubled in size , approximately 1 hour

9. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400F. Uncover the brioche and brush with milk to glaze. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until firm. Leave to cool for a minute before turning out onto a wire rack.

Chef tip
If you want to make a traditional brioche simply leave out the melted dark chocolate and add 1tsp of vanilla essence.

Try shaping the brioche into a loaf shape, you can use thick slices of the bread to make delicious Chocolate French toast