Chocolate Cherry Bread – Day 5 of Chocolate Week, and Bread Baking Day!

I love it when I can do several things at once.  For example, blog about a chocolate cherry bread for Bread Baking Day (BBB), and that same bread uses ingredients that I had on hand (for Frugal Fridays), and closes out my week of chocolate!  For BBB #22, our challenge is Sweet Breads hosted by Hefe und mehr.

I tried chocolate bread for the first time about three years ago, and I wasn’t too impressed.  A year or so later, I gave it another shot and bought a loaf from Wegman’s.  Now, that bread was really good – it tasted of chocolate with a faint sweetness in the background.  They produce it seasonally, I think from December through February, and I decided to make some one day so that I could have a good chocolate bread whenever I wanted it.

Enter Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë Francois.  I’ve had the book sitting on my bookshelf for over a year, and it is full of post-its marking the breads I would like to try.  But it was not until recently that I finally made something out of this wonderful book.  Of course, I chose the Chocolate Bread for Chocolate Week.

I had never made a no-knead bread before, so I had to mightily resist the Urge to Knead.  You see, I like kneading, but I like learning about different breads and techniques even more, so when I caught myself stirring a bit too much with a wooden spoon I stopped immediately, even though there were still a few streaks of white through the dough.  You see, this dough as a LOT of chocolate – 9 ounces of chocolate and a full cup of cocoa, so it’s pretty dark, and unincorporated flour really stands out.

My thoughts on the bread: the chocolate flavor really comes through, so pick one that you like.  If you prefer milk chocolate, this bread may not be for you – it has the true intensity of bittersweet chocolate.   I think using chocolate chips instead of the 5 ounces of chunks would work out fine.  The bread was a tad too salty for me, so next time I might use just one tablespoon of salt.  The cherries that I added were a nice bright counterpoint.  As for the texture, the the loaf was tender and very rich – I could eat only small slices.  The crust was not chewy at all.  I liked the bread with butter, and Nutella was fabulous on it.  The original recipe says to bake it for about 35 minutes, but mine took 65 minutes to reach an internal temperature of 190 F. The loaf is on the repeat list, and I look forward to playing with the recipe a bit more.

I was really amazed at how quickly and easily this bread came together, and I’m looking forward to trying more recipes out of the book.  And be sure to check out Susan’s weekly YeastSpotting roundup every Friday – it’s a great source of inspiration and instruction for me and a lot of other bakers.  Next Friday, Nick of imafoodblog will be hosting for Susan, so be sure to check out his blog.

Chocolate Bread
Adapted from a recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

Makes two 1 1/2 -pound loaves.  The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

• 4 ounces premium bittersweet chocolate (I used a combo of 70% Valhrona and 70% Lindt Excellence)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated active dry yeast (or 2 packets)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt (I think this is too much, and recommend cutting it back to 1 Tbsp.)
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup premium unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Pernigotti Dutch-processed)
• 5 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (same combo as above.  I think chocolate chips would be fine for this part of the recipe)
• 1-1/2 cups dried cherries, chopped (optional)

Making the ganache:  Melt the 4-ounces of chocolate and the butter in a double-boiler or microwave until chocolate is melted.  Blend together and set aside.

Mix the water, yeast, and sugar together in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded food container.  Let it sit like that for a few minutes.  Add the salt, and eggs.

Mix in the flour, cocoa powder, ganache, dried cherries, and the 5 ounces of chocolate without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook).  If you’re not using a machine, you will need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.  This will vary with your kitchen temperature, so keep an eye on it.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold.  Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days.  Beyond 5 days, freeze the dough in 1-1/2 pound portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.  When using frozen dough, thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using, then allow the usual rest and rise time.

When ready to bake, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough LIGHTLY with flour (or use some cocoa powder so that you don’t get white streaks on the exterior of the bread), and cut off a 1 1/2 pound (cantaloupe-size) piece.  Some bakers recommend not using any flour at all to get the proper surface tension.  (That’s what I did after refrigerating the dough, and I found I didn’t need any flour.)   Quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Allow the ball the rest and rise on the prepared cookie sheet for 1 hour and  40 minutes (or just 40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).

Preheat oven to 350ºF for about 20 minutes prior to baking.

Place the bread in the center of the oven and bake for about 35 minutes to one hour.  Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.

Remove from pan.  Allow to cool before slicing or eating.