Chocolate Bread

When I first saw a recipe for chocolate bread in my new favourite book, Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros, I thought that it would either be the most divine thing ever or the most disgusting. It turned out to be neither.



The loaf itself is lovely - soft and quite moist. A pleasure to chew in fact. It also keeps very well. As for the taste? Well, the chocolate flavour was actually a bit bitter. This could well have been due to the fact that I used dutch cocoa. Supermarket nestle may have been a better choice. But I still enjoyed it. It's novelty value alone will ensure that I make it again.

It really is quite easy to make. I substituted 7g of dry yeast for the 15g of fresh yeast specified in the recipe. I based this on the guidelines provided by Stephanie Alexander - half the quantity of dried yeast to fresh and and 1 tablespoon of dry yeast to leaven 1 kilo of flour. It worked perfectly

The recipe calls for a rather oddly proportioned tin - 30cm x 11cm. I used a more standard 27cm x 15cm and it was just fine.

I served it here with some soft butter and Golden Circle mango and passionfruit jam. I have only just discovered this jam and have been devouring it wholeheartedly. I usually avoid supermarket jam, preferring to buy homemade offerings from the farmers market. But this one is a cut above the usual Cottee etceteras. Being chocolate, this loaf has of course also proven to be excellent with raspberry.



Chocolate Loaf
(by Tessa Kiros from Apples for Jam)

Place 7g of dry yeast or 15g of fresh yeast and 40g of caster sugar in a large bowl. Heat 310ml of milk to lukewarm and add to the yeast. Leave for ten minutes until it develops a spongy top. Add 400g of bread flour, 40g of cocoa powder, 40g of melted butter and a pinch of salt. Knead for about six minutes. The dough will be very soft.

Cover and leave for 11/2 to 2 hours until it is well risen.

Knock the dough down. Shape and place in a buttered and floured loaf tin (see above). Leave for 30 minutes to 1 hour until well risen. Bake in 180C oven for about 25 minutes. The top should be firm and the bottom should sound hollow when tapped.