Manageability – Medium-ish
Sure, Willy Wonka’s factory was ok, I guess. Everlasting gumballs? Yawn. “Snozzberries”? More “snoozeberries”. An army of Oompa-Loompas? Fucking creepy. But you know what he didn’t have? That’s right. Chocolate Bread.
Martha knocked it out of the park with her Chocolate Cinnamon-Swirl Bread. The recipe is kinda intimidating, but as far as Martha recipes go it’s actually not bad. One important note is that my dough did not rise in the mixing bowl. And it definitely did not rise to “1 inch above the pan” on the second sitting. I ended up using a secret technique to help it rise, where you put the dough in the oven with a pan of boiling water to create a little bread sauna. That ended up working, and the bread was thoroughly relaxed.
As far as the end product, I really enjoyed it. It’s chocolaty and sweet with a tasty cinnamon hint. I sliced it up and smothered it with Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Spread and Maple Butter. Holy shit, it was goooood eating.
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 1/3 cups unbleached bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (not rapid rise; one 1/4-ounce envelope)
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing
- 1 large egg, room temperature, plus 1 egg white
Filling
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
Directions
- Step 1Dough: Whisk together 1/3 cup bread flour, 1/3 cup milk, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until thickened slightly but still pourable (it should have the consistency of loose pudding), 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; let cool until warm to the touch but no longer hot, about 10 minutes.
- Step 2In a large bowl, whisk together remaining 3 cups flour, granulated sugar, salt, and yeast. Make a well in center of mixture. Add cooked milk-flour mixture, remaining 1/3 cup milk, melted butter, and whole egg to well; stir until a dough forms.
- Step 3Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic and springs back when lightly pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl brushed with butter, turning dough to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, 45 minutes to 1 hour; or refrigerate up to 1 day and return to room temperature before rolling out.
- Step 4Filling: Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush a standard 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter. Stir together butter, brown sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon until smooth.
- Step 5Punch down dough. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Spread brown-sugar mixture evenly over top of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border at edges. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate. Starting at one short end, roll up dough into a tight log, pinching ends and seam to seal after rolling. Starting 1 inch from one end of log, cut through dough vertically all the way through opposite end (dough should only be attached at one end).
- Step 6Twist the two sections of dough outward 5 times, then braid together, starting at attached end, pinching ends together to seal. Compress braid slightly with your hands to approximately 9 inches; transfer to prepared pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume (dough should rise about 1 inch above rim of pan), about 45 minutes. Whisk egg white with 1 teaspoon water; brush over top of dough.
- Step 7Bake until bread is puffed and brown on top (if browning too quickly, tent with foil), 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes. Carefully remove bread from pan and let cool completely on rack, about 2 hours. Slice and serve.