Chocolate Covered Strawberry Rolls

     I have mentioned in previous posts that chocolate covered strawberries are one of the absolute best things about Valentine's Day. So, when I realized it was going to be on a Saturday this year I thought I had no choice but to plan the perfect Valentine's brunch. The highlight of this brunch of course being the breakfast version of my favorite Valentines treat! 

    The process to make these is pretty simple. I start by making my cinnamon roll dough. First, I bloom my yeast in warm milk and sugar for about 5-10 minutes. Once it is nice and bubbly, I add in my flour, egg, butter, and salt and knead it all until it's nice and elastic. I then put it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. 

    While the dough is rising I like to make homemade strawberry jam by simmering 1-2 cups of water with a cup of sugar, 2 cups of strawberries, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice for about 20 minutes. Once it is thick I take it off of the heat and let it thicken up until the dough is ready. You can also just use store bought jam if you don't want to make it. 

    When the dough was nice and puffy, I rolled it out as flat as I could and spread out about a cup of jam evenly. I also side about a cup of fresh strawberries and spread them out all over my dough before rolling it up into a log and cutting it up into 8-12 rolls. You can also cut it into strips then roll each one individually but I can't cut a straight line to save my life so I prefer to roll it into a log first. 

    Once each of them are cut I put them into a casserole dish and let them rise for another 30-45 minutes until they are nice and puffy while my oven preheats to 360 degrees Fahrenheit. After they are done puffing up I bake them for 25-30 minutes. While they are proofing a second time I also get going upon the chocolate glaze. All I do is heat up some heavy cream until it is steaming, take it off the heat, and mix in chocolate until it is fully incorporated. I then pop it into a bowl and into the fridge until the rolls are done baking and ready to be frosted. 

    I know the rolls are done when the tops are golden and they aren't jiggly the middle. After pulling them out of the oven I let them cool just until the strawberry jam is done bubbling around the edges and then I take the glaze out of the fridge and coat each roll. The result is IMPECCABLE. The jam keeps the middles of each roll slightly gooey and the chocolate glaze offers an amazing richness to set off the tartness of the strawberries. I call this Valentine's Day brunch a complete success largely due to these insane rolls!

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