So here's my deep dark cooking secret, I am afraid of yeast. I fear the I will accidentally kill it and my bread will never rise. I fear kneading, over kneading, proofing, rising, temperature, and basically all the little complications that can go into making real bread. Sure I can make quick breads to delight and soda breads with one hand tied behind my back but I have never ever attempted a real yeasted bread before. This hasn't been a big deal. There are bakeries a-plenty and I'm not a huge bread eater really but that was before the Big E. Its a giant country fair 2 hours away and once there, I purchased and split with my friend a loaf of chocolate bread. When I finally got home exhausted I decided to slice off a piece with a simple smear of butter and OMFG I was in LOVE. This stuff was amazing. A tad too sweet but richly chocolatey without being too much and with just enough chew to it to remind you it was really bread and not cake. 2 hours away and once a year is too far and too long to wait for such greatness. I've now embarked on slowly learning to conquer my fear of the yeast and re-create the Big E chocolate bread. I started with a no knead bread that came together in with just minutes of effort. It was richly chocolatey and I was happy to see that mine matched the picture website quite well. It was not however light, soft and bouncy. I'm going to have to keep looking to reproduce the Big E bread but its delicious in its own right.
Chocolate Bread
Stolen from here:
Artisan Bread
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup honey
3 cups bread flour
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder – (natural or Dutch processed will work)
5 ounces mini semisweet chocolate chips
Melt bittersweet chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. Set aside ganache.
Combine water, yeast, salt, eggs, and honey. Stir till combined. Add flour, cocoa powder,ganache, and chocolate chips. Stir until there is no more dry floury spots. Cover with moist towel and stick in oven (turned off) for 2 hours. Take out and separate into two loaf pans. Bake at 350 for ~50 minutes until a skewer stuck into the middle comes back out with barely a few moist crumbs on the bottom.
