Double Ring Chocolate Hazelnut Bread

This was featured in the 2006 edition of the Canadian Living Holiday Baking magazine. It is a yeast risen bread with a layer of Nutella and chopped hazelnuts rolled up - you make 2 rolls, and bake in an angel food tube cake pan, placing one roll on top of the other.

I really can't believe it has taken me so long to make. I was vegetarian when it came out so could have made it then with no changes - using eggs and regular Nutella etc... Then when I became vegan I just kept putting it off as I wasn't sure what to do about the Nutella. There are recipes out there for vegan Nutella, Veganomicon has one that is apparently very good and for this I recommend the fabulous Mihl's version over at seitan is my motor for vegan Nutella here . For mine I had ordered a jar of vegan hazelnut spread from the vegan store as I was placing an order anyway. It is very good, quite similar to Nutella and went perfect in this, but it does call for an entire jar!! So, not very economical!

To veganize, I replaced the milk with rice milk and the eggs with egg replacers. I wasn't too sure what to do about the eggs. I don't use egg replacers too often, I'm not snobby about them or anything and do feel they have their place in some things. They always work out in my doughnuts and cinnamon rolls for example. And since this was a similar yeast risen dough decided to go with them. I did run out however and only used 30g instead of 40g but everything turned out fine.

It is absolutely delicious!! Lovely for breakfast with a cup of coffee, heated up slightly with some vegan margarine on the side. I really loved how the outside and top got all crispy too, like bread, but then it's a sweet roll like cinnamon buns in the middle. Nice and moist inside too. I will be making this again, but with homemade nutella to keep the costs down :)

Serves 16:
45g/ 3 Tbsp sugar
125ml hand hot water
14g / 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
160ml / 2/3 cup rice milk
50g / 3 Tbsp vegan margarine
40g egg replacer (I only used 30g)
90ml water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
560g / 4 cups plain flour
400g vegan nutella - my jar was 350g
100g / 2/3 cups toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
icing sugar to dust

If using blanched hazelnuts like I did, preheat the oven to 200C and place whole nuts on a baking sheet. Roast for about 10 minutes or until very fragrant and golden. Remove and transfer to a bowl to let cool. Process in a food processor until finely chopped and set aside. You can chop by hand too of course, this was just easier.

Grease a 10"/4 ltr angel food cake pan with shortening and set aside. In a large bowl, dissolve 1/2 tsp of the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle over the yeast and let sit for 10 minutes - it should get really foamy. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan heat up the milk, margarine and water until the marg melts and it's all warm. Remove and let cool slightly. When yeast is done whisk in the milk mixture and the remaining sugar until all dissolved. Mix together 1 cup of the flour with the egg replacer, salt and cinnamon and add this to the liquid. Continue stirring in the remaining flour 1 cup at a time until you get a sticky dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently, incorporating enough flour as you need to stop it all sticking. Knead for about 8 minutes, until smooth. Place the dough in a large warm greased bowl and cover with greased cling film. Place somewhere warm until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. My bowl was a bit small and the cling film stopped it rising a bit more, so be careful of this!

Punch dough down and give a quick knead. Divide dough into 2 sections and roll each section out to a 15 x 10" square. If using the store bought vegan nutella, you'll need to heat it up slightly as it's too thick to spread as is. I put mine in the microwave for about 20 seconds, just to make it 'floppier'. Spread half of the nutella over each square then sprinkle the hazelnuts over top. Roll up starting with the long side and pinch the ends to seal. Place one roll in the tube pan seam side up, and the other roll on top, seam side down.*note - the dough is very soft and I have to warn you that this part is difficult!! It will flop about - just take your time :) Cover with greased cling film again and place in a warm place until risen and the dough fills up the pan, about 1 hour. It should really fill up the pan, right to the top. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190C/ 375F with the rack low enough to fit the tube pan. Bake for about 35 minutes (I took mine out with 7 minutes remaining and it was cooked) it will be golden and sound hollow when tapped. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool more. We had this warm from the oven when it's best :)