Chocolate Bread

When I was a kid I used to love eating chocolate sandwiches. Literally a chocolate sandwich; pieces of milk chocolate wrapped up in slices of white bread. Fancy aye? To be honest, I still think it's yum. So when I stumbled upon this recipe I knew I had to give it a go, it was like the holy grail of chocolate sandwiches. There is even melted chocolate in the dough. It's so easy to make too,  if you can make bread then you can make this. The bread dough is patted out and then chopped chocolate is sprinkled on top and then it's rolled into a log. So when eaten fresh, the swirls of chocolate are all gooey and fudge-like. The slices are also yum when lightly toasted. Either way, I love it served with generous dollops of sweetened mascarpone cheese. Next time I might try sprinkling some chopped nuts into the centre as I think it'd be a fun and yummy addition.

Recipe adapted from Leanne Kitchen's "The Baker"

Ingredients:

2 1/2 teaspoons active dried yeast
55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
375g (3 cups) strong flour
30g (1/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
50g unsalted butter (if using salted butter just leave out the salt above)
185g chopped dark chocolate
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
mascarpone, sweetened to taste with icing sugar

Method:
Pour 3/4 cup (185ml) of warm water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast, and a pinch of sugar, on top. Leave this to sit for about 10 minutes or until foamy.

In another bowl; combine the caster sugar, flour, cocoa powder and salt. I like to use a whisk to get rid of any lumps. Set this aside.

Melt together the butter and half of the chocolate. Then stir in the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined. Now add this mixture and the yeast mixture, to the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon then turn out onto a lightly floured bench and knead for about 10 minutes, or until a smooth elastic dough is formed.

Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, coat its surface with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp clean tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough (punch it lightly). On a lightly floured surface use your hands to press it out until it is about 1cm thick (it's best to aim for a square or rectangle shape). Scatter the surface with the remaining chocolate. Roll the dough into a log.

Lift the log onto a greased baking tray, cover with a damp tea towel and let it rise for an hour (or until doubled in size).

Bake for 40-50 minutes at 180 Celsius, or until light brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the base.

It's yummiest when served at room temperature.
After the first day I reckon it is best eaten lightly toasted so that the chocolate in the centre softens. Yum! The bread can even be frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.