Chocolate Porter Bread
Back in March '08, Elagins (Stan Ginsberg) posted his take on this bread. It looked so good, I had to try it. Of course it took me until yesterday to get around to it...
I did need to make a few changes based on the ingredients I had on hand. I used KA bread flour for the High-gluten and I only had regular dark molasses (which I prefered here to the blackstrap as it is very bitter) I also used regular cocoa, though I would have preferred the dutch for its smoothness. I used Kennebunkport Porter which had a wonderful chocolate smell, and was quite bitter. I also used more water- about 2.5ozs more.
I wanted this as gift bread. I plan to bring an assortment of small and medium loaves to a family gathering this Sunday. I'll bag them in clear bags and display them in a large basket for everyone to choose from. So far I have rosemary sourdough, Amish loaves, and these little boules/rolls. Today I am making small sourdough boules.
My photography leaves a lot to be desired, but here are the pics:
And if that's not close enough:
These look huge in the pictures but each weighs about 7.5 ozs and I made seven.
We had to try one, and then I had to quickly freeze the rest before they were devoured. My younger son came in the kitchen a few hours after dinner hoping to find some left to snack on - I'll be making this again soon.
Comments
Wasn't 100% sure how to interpret Elagins's recipe. Was it all weight ounces, or were the liquid ingredients in liquid oz? Well, no guts no glory. My take looked like this:
bread flour 4 cups
whole wheat flour 3 cups + 2 tbsp
Anchor porter 2-12 oz bottles
3/8 cup black strap molasses
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup KA double dutch cocoa powder
2 tbsp KA black cocoa powder
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbps active dry yeast
Mixed and kneaded in KitchenAid mixer, plus 2-3 minutes hand kneading.
Formed into four small boules and baked on a layer of parchment on a large metal sheet pan.
The mix of the molasses, porter, and dark chocolate flavors makes this a real treat for those who enjoy the bitter side of choco.
Surprisingly unsweet, considering the amount of molasses and honey. The dough was really sweet, but it was all gone after baking.
Very happy with results, and will certainly do it again.
They look terrifc - Was it the black cocoa that made them so dark or the blackstrap? Mine were darker than they appear in the pics, but lighter than yours. I'll probably try this again.
Marni
I'm guessing it's a combination, but the black cocoa was the kicker. Great stuff. The color in the photos is pretty accurate.