This recipe needs a good sourdough starter. And you need time and patience and to trust your judgement on the proving and rising. But it’s worth the effort. There are a number of links in this blog to other parts of the baking community; sources for baking stuff, detailed descriptions of creating a sourdough starter and a link to a really good book on bread but it does not start with ‘make sourdough starter’.

Try different types of chocolate chips and dried fruit. Two combinations that worked well for me; 1) milk chocolate chips and raisins and 2) dark chocolate and dried cranberries. The Davinator loved this bread so much he said ‘don’t leave any in the house, I can’t stop eating it’. And it even tempted the ‘no carbs’ crowd into trying it. It’s rich and tasty but it’s not sweet. There’s no added sugar, just some chocolate morsels and dried fruit.

Always use top quality cocoa and chocolate chips in baking. Cheap chocolate is waxy and unpleasant. A good European brand like Callebaut makes a difference.

This recipe is a little hard on the nerves but worth the effort. As the basis for my experients, I used a recipe from Emmanuel Hadjiandreou’s book ‘How to Make Bread’ .

The recipe calls for 200 grams of sourdough starter because it’s a heavy dough. You need to take a view on the strength of your starter; if it’s on the watery or weak side then use more. Adjust the amount of water so that you have, in total, 420 grams of starter and water. Here’s a good article on making and feeding your sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour. A great thing about King Arthur is that they have live on line chat during US east coast business hours. They’ve helped me unsnarl a couple of knotty problems in the past.

I’ve gone for kneading in the mixer, but you can also do ‘stretch and fold’ or traditional hand kneading. Don’t be tempted to make a double batch in your Kitchen Aid, it may burnout the motor.

Recipe

Specialist kit

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Three pieces of equipment help with ‘traditional’ sourdough; a proving basket, a baking stone and a baking peel. None is mandatory. If you don’t have a proving basket, line your largest loaf pan and do the second prove in it. If you don’t have a baking stone, use your sturdiest baking sheet. The peel is generally useful and once you’ve got one you won’t know how you did without it but a lightweight tray or a big spatula can do the trick. One more link to an online source of baking equipment. – Bakery Bits.

Ingredients

200 grams (7 ounces) small pieces of dried fruit such as raisins, currants or dried cranberries

80 grams (3 ounces) chocolate chips; milk, dark, semi-sweet or white but good quality

330 (12 ounces) grams plain white flour

8 grams (generous teaspoon) salt

20 grams ( 3/4 ounce) good quality cocoa powder

200 grams (7 ounces) strong sourdough starter

220 mls (7 3/4 ounces) tepid water

Method

1. Combine the dried fruit and chocolate chips in a small bowl and set aside .
2. Whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder in another bowl (dry ingredients)
3. Put the sourdough starter and the water in your mixing bowl. Break up the starter so that it’s well mixed in with the water. Put the dough hook on your mixer.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the water and starter – start the mixer and let it run for 8 to 10 minutes. You should have a good elastic dough.
5. Transfer to a well floured work surface. Knead in the chocolate chips and fruit mixture by hand.
6. Put the dough in a well greased mixing bowl, cover the bowl with a shower cap and leave until it has at least doubled. I left mine to rise overnight in a very cool room. It can take four to eight hours
7. Once it has doubled, back to the well floured surface. Flatten to a rectangle and place in your well floured proving basket. If you’re using a loaf pan, line it with parchment paper. Leave the dough for the second prove. If you can be patient, you’ll get better risen bread. It’s hard to over prove sourdough. Try for doubled, although you might not get there.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 220C. One of the downsides of using a baking stone is that it takes longer for the oven to heat up. Place an old roasting pan on the bottom of the oven and put 250 mls (one cup) of water to one side.
9. Put a piece of baking parchment on your peel or on a lightweight baking sheet. Tip out the dough onto the parchment and slide on to the baking stone. Pour the water into the roasting pan. Bake the loaf for 30 minutes.
10. Test with your thermometer (>90c) or tap to see if your loaf sounds hollow.

I know it’s difficult but try and let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before you cut into it and eat. Bake on, folks. Please ask questions via email, social media or the comment function.