Thick cocoa filling that won't leak: cooked like pudding, it stays creamy in rolls

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1. Mix the dry ingredients with milk

   5 min

   In a bowl, whisk the pudding mix, granulated sugar, and cocoa powder with 100 ml cold milk until completely smooth and free of lumps.

2. Cook the filling

   5 min

   Bring the remaining 200 ml milk to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat, pour in the pudding mixture while stirring constantly, and cook for 1–2 minutes, until the filling is very thick and glossy.

3. Stir in the butter

   Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir the butter into the hot filling. This filling uses less milk than regular pudding, so it is thicker and becomes spreadable once cooled.

4. Let cool

   40 min

   Cover the filling with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and let cool completely. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth before using.

5. Fill the dough

   Spread the cold filling over rolled-out yeast dough for swirl rolls, a sweet filled roll, or a braided loaf, or put a heaping tablespoon into each bun. Leave the edges of the dough clear so they seal well.

Tip: You can cook the filling a day ahead; it will keep covered in the refrigerator for 2 days. For a stronger chocolate flavor, stir 30 g dark chocolate, broken into pieces, into the hot filling along with the butter.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Hustá kakaová plnka, ktorá nevytečie: uvarená ako puding ostane v buchtách aj slimákoch krémová