Apparently the done thing now is to make, and tend to, sourdough starters with all the care and tenderness you might apply to hydroponic marijuana. I just don’t have the patience for that. I cook with yeast, often, but it’s usually either Deborah Madison’s heavenly yeasted pie crust or a pizza, and I my leavener is thoughtfully packed in little foil bags by the good people at Tandaco. Truth be told, I live in a painfully bourgeois area surrounded by countless very good bakeries willing to sell me great bread; I don’t see the point of making it myself.
I do, however, see the point of cramming as much chocolate as physically possible into bread. I love you, David Lebovitz.
This bread was 110% worth it, and quite easy. I will add one caveat, though. My loaf turned out delicious but dense and quite crumbly, to the point where it was next to impossible to cut a solid slice. David suggests to another reader with a similar problem that the cause might be overbaking, but I suspect it’s underworking the dough. The dough is very soft and sticky, more like cake batter than bread dough, making it impossible to turn out and knead normally. David used a mixer with a dough hook to work the dough, and suggests readers sans mixer can stir with a wooden spoon for five minutes, but that’s just impractical. Instead, when I make this again I shall knead the dough with my hands inside the bowl for a good 10 minutes before setting the dough aside. Which is a big sacrifice for me, since I hate using my hands when I cook as I’m squeamish about getting foodstuffs under my nails, another indication I’ve failed as a food douche.
Also: this is the only picture I’ve been able to upload. Wordpress, or my server, or the internet, or something is making it literally impossible to upload images and I don’t know why. Please forgive me. Imagine a loaf of bread, only made of chocolate.
Chocolate bread
Via David Lebovitz. Makes one 23cm loaf.
- 3/4 cup milk
- A packet of dry yeast
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 55g butter
- 175g chocolate, either chips (I found great ones) or a block chopped
- An egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee if you have it in the house
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-process by preference
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice - I went with walnuts
Heat the milk to tepid in a saucepan, then decant to your largest bowl. Whisk in a tablespoon of sugar, then sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Set aside somewhere warm to soften.
Meanwhile, melt together 85g of the chocolate and the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, then set aside to cool. Whisk together the cocoa powder and flour in another bowl. Whisk the instant coffee, remaining sugar, salt and the egg into the milk and yeast mixture. Sternly stir in half the cocoa powder and flour mixture, followed by half the butter and chocolate, then remaining flour mixture and chocolate mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a stiff batter, then get in there with your hands and knead in the bowl for 5-10 minutes to get the gluten strands going. Cover the bowl and set aside to rise for 2 hours.
When it’s had its time stir in the remaining chocolate and the nuts, being sure to spend some time folding the mixture over on itself for a good minute or so. Oil a 23cm loaf tin, then press in the dough. Set aside somewhere warm to rise. When it’s still got 10 minutes to go preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the loaf sounds hollowish when tapped. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before turning out.
