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This was my first attempt at an "épi de blé," or "sheaf of wheat" shape. I made it with Anis Bouabsa's baguette dough. 

Épi de Blé

Close-up

David

Posted on www.evilshenanigans.com on 4/13/2009

If you do not like chocolate jam packed inside a fudgy brownie, turn back now!

This recipe is adapted from one we made in culinary school.  The brownies we made were ok, but we did not use dark chocolate or dutch processed cocoa powder.  I do and the result is superior.  There is also more chocolate chips in my version.  I see it this way, if you are going to have chocolate, why go half-way? 

These are really easy to get mixed up, they cool pretty quickly and are wonderful covered in a shiny layer of dark chocolate ganache.  Again, why go half way?

The brownies are rich, chewy, melting, and fudgy.  I like them warm, with the kiss of the oven still on them, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or some whipped cream and a drizzle of fudge sauce.  As good as they are warm, however, I also like them cold from the refrigerator.  For some reason these brownies are SO GOOD cold, which makes them excellent for the summers here in Texas when it is ten kinds of hot.  There is nothing like a cold, chewy brownie when it is 105F outside.  Trust me!

You can easily double this recipe.  In fact, the original recipe was enough to fill a full sheet pan.  I scaled this down to a quarter of that amount - mostly because my thighs could not take it.  Just know you can scale it up easily and with much success. 

Dark Chocolate Chip Brownies   Yield 20 brownies

3 oz butter
2 oz dark chocolate, at least 62%, chopped
Sugar 14 oz
4 oz golden syrup or honey
3 oz butter
5 oz eggs (about three large)
.75 oz water
1 teaspoon instant espresso
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
5.25 oz cake flour
1 oz dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 oz chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350F and prepare a 1/4 sheet pan (9″x13″) with non-stick spray, line the bottom with parchment and spray again.

In a bowl combine the butter and the chocolate.  Microwave for 30 seconds, stir then microwave for an additional 15 seconds.  If the mixture is not completely melted heat at ten second intervals until completly melted.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl combine the sugar, golden syrup/honey, and second portion of butter.  Mix until well combined. 

Disolve the espresson the the water.  Add that along with the eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture.  Mix to combine.

Stir in the melted chocolate mixture.  Blend well.  Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl well so that the mixture is completly combined.

Sift the dry ingredients then add them to the wet mixture.  Mix until just beginning to mositen then add the chips.  Mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated and there are no lumps.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the center is just set.

Cool completly in the pan before turning out into a cutting board. 

Frost and slice as desired.

That is my experiment with Chocolate bread... I made it by the sourdough

and shape it like beehive...

For the dough:

500 grams  all purpose flour.

150 grams starter.

1 large  egg

1  teaspoon vanilla extract.

1 teaspoon baking powder.

1/4 cup sugar.

1 teaspoon salt .

4 tablespoon milk powder.

1 cup warm  water.

2 tablespoon butter or ghee.

2 tablespoon cocoa powder

for the filling:

chocolate cut into pieces.

To make the dough mix the Ingredients together

and knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Place it in a bowl,

cover,

let rest for 1 hour.

Divide dough to squares  and fill it by the chocolate ,Shape each into a smooth balls .

and line it in the prepared pan

and let rest again  for 3 hours .

then Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

http://alyaman2002.blogspot.com/

SulaBlue, thank you so much for your kind help. Makes me feel a little bit better to hear that you had a problem too. I am going to give it a try - but it is late and who knows what might happen! Fingers crossed.

Nope, didn't work. I think my problem is that I don't know how to get to Flickr when I am working here. I found the picture and right clicked and found the option that says Copy Image Address - but then what? Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Thanks again anyway, A.

I need to update both the features on the homepage.  Any nominees?  Even though it isn't a brand new thread, I'm thinking about David's post on Anis Bouabsa's baguettes since I keep seeing folks trying that formula and being pleased with it and I've been meaning to try it too.  Maybe a rye post too?  Or a SD post?  I'm open to suggestions.

Things have been very busy for me lately.  One of the more exciting things has been finally launching the new Mercy Corps website, which we've been working on for some time.  I'm very pleased with how it came out and urge folks to go check it out.

Traffic here has been nuts.  Last month TFL had over 1 million page views, which is an incredible figure.  There were a lot of factors involved in that: an increased interest in bread baking, an increased interest in doing things to save money as a result of the economic downturn, a couple of lucky placements in StumbleUpon, and a number of lively discussions going on here.  I do expect traffic to ebbs as the weather in the Northern Hemisphere turns nicer and more folks turn to their gardens to save money rather than their ovens, but we definitely have a new high watermark.

Despite all this, I have baked some.  Pizza two weekends ago.

I tried tinkering with Jeff Varasano's trick of setting the oven on self-clean to preheat my stone.  Sure enough, after about 5 minutes on clean my oven locked itself and I had to turn it off for 15 minutes before it cooled down enough that I could open it and turn it back on.  I've not yet made the decision to try clipping the safety, but I'm thinking about it (insert standard disclaimer about "do not try this at home" here).

The pizza still turned out well at 550.

Last weekend I made the obligatory batch of hot cross buns.

Yummy as always.

Well, finally, after many frustrating attempts I have managed to post some pictures on Flickr! Just so that you know I really do bake bread. Maybe one day I will figure out how to move the photos over here, but not tonight. Dstroy, you made it sound so simple... Hate to be the only member unable to post, and any help would be gratefully received, A.

Two simple questions regarding my new FibraMent baking stone:

Does one place a La Cloche or other bread pan on top of this baking stone? 

Will steam crack a FibraMent stone?

Many thanks!

Miz

- What's a portuguese roll?
- Ohhhhhhhh, it's verrrrrrrry good.

So said Michael Stern during the April 4th episode of The Splendid Table.

They're mildly sweet with a touch of honey but don't taste "eggy" or like cake. The dough is a joy to work with and makes your kitchen smell wonderful as the buns are baking. I enjoy having them lightly toasted with a bit of jam, or just plain. I've heard they make excellent french toast, pulled pork sandwiches, or bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches too. They're simply excellent - in fact, someone told me it was even his/her new favourite bread.

These have been a huge hit among other Fresh Loafers and I couldn't agree more. :D

Thanks for sharing this recipe, Mark!

The rest of the post is here.

I haven't baked the Polish Cottage Rye from Daniel Leaders "Local Breads" for a year! In the past, I have used First Clear Flour or another high extraction flour as a substitute for the bread flour called for in Leader's formula. This time, I followed the formula exactly.

The dough was very wet and sticky, even with very good gluten development. I actually enjoyed working with this dough, which must indicate I've reached a new level of comfort with slack doughs. In spite of the slackness, it had enough integrity to take my slashes without any dragging. I think proofing the loaf in a linen-lined banneton resulted in just enough drying of the surface.

The resulting bread was similar in profile to the Polish Cottage Ryes I had made before, but the crumb was much more open and chewy. I attribute this to the flour I used, in large part, but also to the better gluten development.

This is a "sourdough rye." There is no added yeast. It is made with a rye sour. I made my sour from my usual starter by giving it two feedings with whole rye flour. All the rye in the dough is from the rye sour.

Polish Cottage Rye -2-1/2 pound boule

As you can see, this bread has a rather low profile. The slack dough spreads once it is dumped from the banneton onto the peel. It has only moderate oven spring. I should have put a ruler on the cutting board to provide a sense of scale, but this bread is just about 11" across. 

Polish Cottage Rye - Crumb close-up

As with most sourdough rye breads, this one benefits from deferring slicing until at least 12 hours after it has baked. I am so proud of myself! This is the first time I actually had the self-control to leave the bread uncut for 12 hours!

The flavor of this bread is marvelous. It is moderately sour with a complex flavor. The rye flavor is very much "there," but it does not dominate. 

I recommend this bread to any rye-lover who wants to explore beyond "Deli Rye" but isn't quite ready for the 70-100% ryes. Because it has a high percentage of bread flour, the dough acts like a "regular" sourdough, not like the sticky dough of a high-percentage rye. I also recommend it to any sourdough lover. There are so many things to be said about adding some rye flour to a "white" sourdough, the topic deserves it's own entry.  For now, I'll just leave it at, "Try it! You'll like it!"

David