Chocolate loaf

Name: Chocolate loaf
Ingredients: 75g water; 85g milk; 30g flour; 110g starter; 200g milk (ideally at room temp); 1 egg; 8g salt; 50g sugar; 60g butter (unsalted, room temp); 20g Dutch cocoa powder; 8g cinnamon; 150g milk chocolate chips; Tangzhong mix from above; 400g bakers or strong plain flour; 20g brown sugar; 20g hot water

9 steps

This loaf is soft and fluffy and quite cake-like but it’s still bread like enough that you can actually slice it up and toast it, which is what I’ve been doing with it all week. It makes breakfast feel very festive and at the same time you could totally eat it again for dessert at the end of the day! It uses a method of creating a kind of paste by gently heating water, milk and flour on the stove. When you mix this in with your final dough it helps to make the dough really soft and moist! I can confirm that it’s totally worth the extra little bit of effort for the difference it makes. Ideally you would start the day (or night) before you want to bake this bread.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 03:47:50 GMT

Ingredients

0 servings

Tangzhong

75gwater

85gmilk

30gflour

Main Dough

110gstarter

200gmilk

ideally at room temp

1egg

8gsalt

50gsugar

60gbutter

unsalted, room temp

20gDutch cocoa powder

8gcinnamon

150gmilk chocolate chips

Tangzhong mix

from above

400gbakers flour

or strong plain

Glaze

20gbrown sugar

20gwater

hot

Instructions

Making the Tangzhong

Step 1

Heat water, milk and flour over medium heat and stir constantly for a couple of minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Then remove from the heat and allow to cool down to room temperature.

Making the dough and letting it develop

Step 2

Mix together starter, sugar, salt, butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chocolate chips, egg, and milk. Then add the Tangzhong and finally add the flour. Mix together to form a shaggy dough and leave covered with a wet tea towel for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes return to the dough and do some stretch and folds so that it starts to come together to be a smoother dough.

Step 3

Then leave covered with a wet tea towel overnight (approx. 9-13 hours, depending on the weather - this dough develops more slowly because of the milk and butter). It should be looking bubblier and puffier by the morning. If it’s not, feel free to give it more time. You can also refrigerate for a day or so after this phase until you’re ready to bake the bread.

Shaping and baking the dough

Step 4

Divide the dough into two portions. Roll each one out into a long, thick sausage shape and then roll it up so it’s like a snail’s shell. Coat with some flour and place into a well oiled bread tin (or you could bake in a Dutch oven if you don’t have a bread tin). Ideally at this point you’d leave it for another hour or two so to puff up a little more but if you don’t have time you can also just bake it.

Step 5

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Step 6

Give the dough a little brushing of milk and a generous spray of water to create steam in the oven.

Step 7

Bake at 220C for 30 minutes with the fan off (or in the Dutch oven with the lid on). When you put it into the oven you can do a few extra sprays of water into the oven to create a nice steamy environment. After 30 mins, bake for a further 10-20 minutes with the fan on, or until the crust has darkened.

Glaze and enjoy

Step 8

When it’s nearly done, boil some water and mix together with brown sugar to create your glaze. Remove the loaf from the oven and paint with the glaze to make it lovely and shiny.

Step 9

Let it cool before you cut into it (very difficult I know!). Enjoy as is or toasted with some butter.

View on Mary Grace Bread Newsletter

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