Watch our historic foodways staff cook this recipe, then try it at home
This recipe actually might get you arrested because anything this rich and decadent is probably illegal. We use the chocolate cream filling, but it could work with a fruit filling or even fruit preserves.
18th Century
Cut off the tops of six rolls, take out all the crumbs, fill them with a ready made [chocolate] cream, and cover them with the tops that were cut off, soak them in sweet Spanish wine, about a quarter of an hour; then wipe and flour them; fry of a good colour, and glaze them with sugar.
— Dalrymple, George, The Practice of Modern Cookery adapted to Families of Distinction as well as to those of The Middling Ranks of Life, Edinburgh, 1781
21st Century
Ingredients
- 6 dinner rolls, preferably a few days old
- 1 750 ml. bottle of sweet white wine
- 1 pound of lard, or equivalent amount of clarified butter, vegetable oil, or canola oil
- All purpose flour for dusting
- Sugar for glazing
- Chocolate cream; recipe follows
Instructions
- Make the chocolate cream and set aside. Do not refrigerate.
- Carefully remove all of the outer crust from the dinner rolls with a fine grater. Cut the tops from the rolls and dig out the crumb with a paring knife. Take special care to not puncture or tear the bread shell.
- When all the rolls are done, soak them and the tops in the wine for about 15 minutes.
- Drain the rolls, then lightly powder them dry inside and out with flour. Do not fry them soaking wet or you will risk a grease fire.
- Deep fry the rolls and tops in a deep fat fryer or Dutch oven at 350 degrees until golden brown.
- Drain the rolls, and then fill them with the chocolate cream.
- Put the tops back on and lightly dust with sugar.
- Just before serving, put the rolls under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the sugar.
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
- 4 oz. American Heritage Chocolate, grated into a powder
- 1 pint heavy cream or milk
- 2 egg yolks
- sugar to taste
Instructions
- Combine the chocolate and cream in a sauce pan and slowly bring the cream up to a simmer, stirring continuously to melt the chocolate. When the chocolate is melted, taste the mixture and add sugar if desired.
- Temper the egg yolks to prevent scrambling. Whisk the egg yolks together until well combined. Whisk into the egg yolks a tablespoon of the hot chocolate mixture. Add some more of the chocolate until about you have a quarter of a cup. Then return it all back into the main sauce pan and bring the whole to a boil for a minute or two.
- Take it off the heat and pour it into your serving cups. Eat at room temperature. If you refrigerate it, it will thicken more and have to be eaten with a spoon.