Chocolate Bread dough, expanding at the speed of glacial retreat.

Wait, I think that analogy is sadly, official irrelevant!

Normally, I love T Susan Chang. Her food exploration inspires me to no end, and I love her anecdotal way of telling food stories. I feel like yes, I just passed you on my way to Tartine in the Mission District! How was it? Except that instead of Tartine, it might be Fervere. And instead of the Mission District, it would be West KC. Oh well.

I have been lusting after this chocolate bread for weeks. I saw it mentioned in an old Martha Stewart magazine ages ago (ah, blessings Chowhound, my perceived memories confirmed here), forgot about it, and then the blogosphere went wild with chocolate bread recipes And T. Susan posted a recipe from Godiva on the NPR website. Thank goodness for trends–I certainly don’t resent them. I would never remember anything if it weren’t for the dependable cycling of The Food Trend.

At any rate, the process of making this bread has really pained me. The dough remained cake-batter like in its texture–very much like a brioche, except that it was cake-batterish with only 1 egg, and prior to adding 12 tablespoons of butter. Oye. Susan–yer kill’in me. And then the rising…the dough rose fine the first time around, lovely yeasty smell. But note in the recipe:

Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.

Butter two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the chocolate dough in half. Divide each dough half into 6 equal pieces so that you have 12 equal pieces in all. With lightly floured hands, shape each piece into a smooth, round ball. Place 6 dough balls — two by two, at a diagonal (see photo above) — in each prepared pan, pressing them lightly together if necessary. Cover the pans with a tea towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

She forgot to include the special place Beyond the Veil where cold bread dough rises within an hour of being removed from the refrigerator. Where is this place?! I want to know and witness for myself all that is in this land of happy dough and dancing Jujubes.

Oh, you readers, thinking to yourselves, “Has it occurred to her that she might have done something wrong during the bread-making process.” Well, of course it has, and of course, I am quite sure I didn’t ;-P If you try this, tell me all your secrets to making it wonderful.

…to be continued…

Recipe:

Makes 2 loaves

Chocolate Dough

1 1/2 cups warm water, divided (or, if not using espresso powder, 1/2 cup warm water and 1 cup warm coffee)

2/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided

2 teaspoons dry yeast

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional (see above)

2 teaspoons salt

1 large egg, at room temperature

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks

Egg Glaze

1 large egg

1 teaspoon water

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the warm water with 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and set the mixture aside for 10 minutes, until foamy. If the mixture doesn’t foam, the yeast might be inactive and you should try again with fresh yeast.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer, place the flour, the remaining 2/3 cup of granulated sugar, the light brown sugar, the cocoa, the espresso powder (if using) and the salt. Using the paddle attachment, mix at low speed for 1 minute, until combined. If mixing by hand, use a whisk and combine thoroughly.

Add the remaining 1 cup warm water (or warm coffee, if not using the espresso powder) and the egg to the yeast mixture. Add this to the flour mixture while continuing to mix at low speed. Increase the speed to medium and continue to beat the mixture for 2 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. At low speed, beat in the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is incorporated into the dough. Remove the paddle attachment and replace it with the dough hook. (Alternatively, you can knead by hand. Just make sure the butter is well softened.) Knead the dough at low speed for 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 2 minutes longer.

Add the chocolate chunks and knead just until incorporated. Transfer the dough to a buttered bowl (the dough will be quite moist). Cover the dough closely with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 2 hours (or until almost doubled in bulk).

After the chocolate dough has risen, punch the dough down and cover again with plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.

Butter two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the chocolate dough in half. Divide each dough half into 6 equal pieces so that you have 12 equal pieces in all. With lightly floured hands, shape each piece into a smooth, round ball. Place 6 dough balls — two by two, at a diagonal (see photo above) — in each prepared pan, pressing them lightly together if necessary. Cover the pans with a tea towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

(note: add a dash of pixie dust or use of whatever magical amulet you happen to have on hand. Dance in circle. Burn incense. If you relegate this 2nd rising to the human-sphere of existence, it will take approximately 2 1/2 hours to rise in a room temperature, draft-free area).

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water until blended. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg glaze over the tops of the loaves.

Bake the loaves for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake the bread for an additional 30 minutes. Cool the bread in the pans set on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Unmold the bread and cool the loaves on the rack completely.

In other news of love-ranting:

I love Etsy–they just keep getting better and better, don’t you think?

I love Storque (I love this one on Rustic House, which is where I found this lamp that I can’t afford) and their holiday shopping guides (see their Valentine’s section). Researching Storque also led me to Handmade Heirlooms, which led me to quilts, which then took me to Paco and Lupe’s amazing work. I love being led. It is soothing in a shopping submissive sort of way. But only with Etsy.

Another place I’ve enjoyed hanging out recently is Noodletown. I am very greedy for Kansas City food knowledge…I can’t help it. There is a part of me that dreads moving back to the St. Louis area. What will I be missing when I move? The food culture is so different in KC. Anyway, Sara Motsinger has a great article about local chocolatier, Christopher Elbow and his drinking chocolates. The Viking and I are spending the night in KC so we can go to The Autumn Film concert and immediately sleep afterwards (it doesn’t start until 10pm). I might drag him past CE for a cup of chocolate happiness.

I have to wonder, though, why are they serving it in Roasterie cups? Speaking of the Roasterie, have you tried a cup o’joe from their new Clover machine? See the action below. I can attest to its yummy flavor-making ability. Pick your favorite bean,roast and voila! I must say, I feel a bit bad advocating this as I’ve once again, given up coffee in the name of local fooding, but it is certainly worth the experience if you are very much into coffee. Not for Everyday, but excellent when spoiling yourself for Sometimes.

Oh, and the chocolate bread recipe mentioned above uses coffee…maybe a chocolate bread using CE chocolate, Roasterie coffee, Kansas’ ACME mills flour…hmmmm…