The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Chocolate Cherry Sourdough

jameseng's picture
jameseng

Chocolate Cherry Sourdough

Just pulled these out of the oven an hour ago. The kitchen smells very nice on this winter day (even though it was 70 degrees yesterday)!

BobBoule's picture
BobBoule

I'm impressed! Wanna share? LOL

bread1965's picture
bread1965

Well done! Would love to see the crumb shot..

jameseng's picture
jameseng

Is that to your liking?

MTloaf's picture
MTloaf

Thanks for that I had a good laugh. I liked it very much. Now how about a photo of a slice of that bread?

jameseng's picture
jameseng

i didn't take a picture of the crumb. it's not super open like some of the pictures i see. i don't know if it's possible to get that very webby crumb while still getting a round, tall loaf that holds its shape freely. will accept any insight that people have about it!

caryn's picture
caryn

I also made chocolate cherry bread recently. It was the second time I baked that formula which came from “Modernist Bread.”  I am curious which recipe you followed, because each time that I made the bread, it came out darker than I would have liked with some of the chocolate chips and dried cherries having burned on the outside of the loaf. In spite of this the recipients of the bread were quite pleased, but I would like to improve the results for the next time. I baked it in a “combo” pot on top of a baking stone, preheating the frying pan top. I preheated the oven to 475 degrees F, lowered it to 445 when I put in the covered pot, uncovered the pot after 45 minutes, and then baked with convection for another 5 minutes at 435.

i am curious what you did. Thanks!

—Caryn

jameseng's picture
jameseng

...was a test one where i was trying out different percentages of the ingredients. i have it scribbled down but not formally typed up. in retrospect, i think i'm going to increase the hydration for the second go-round. i used: all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, rye, starter, chocolate powder, honey, choco chips, dried cherries, kosher salt, water. i did have a problem with the chocolate burning on the outside so i think i'm going to break the chocolate into smaller pieces instead of having chips throughout the dough. i'm not using a cast iron pot so i'm looking for a good ratio flour/water where i can get a decent crumb but also a loaf that will hold its structure decently so that it will be taller. i don't know if it's possible to have a super open-crumb and also a taller, rounder loaf instead of a flatter one.

Kimperfect's picture
Kimperfect

I would hoard that bread. 

jameseng's picture
jameseng

...of your hoarding.