Chocolate Schwarzbrot (Blackbread)

This is truly a bread and not a cake.  It is a decadent and lovely bread, but make no mistake it is an adult's delight.  This recipe makes 2 loaves

You'll need:
3 Cups Organic kamut/khorasan flour  - Two names for the same flour.
2 1/2 Cups white unbleached flour
1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Scant Cup Cocoa powder
2 TBSP finely ground dark roast coffee I used Italian Roast Stumptown (a local roaster here, chances are there is a good one near you)
1/3 Cup vegan sugar (or demerara or other raw sugar or other less refined) you wont want to skip this little bit as the darkness of the real chocolate needs a hint of lightening and this doesn't make the bread in anyway too sweet.
1 egg both yolk and whites (you can replace with butter or oil but a good sized egg is a perfect amount so it seems a bit more difficult to get right with anything else.  Go easy on oil as it can make your bread a little oily like a cake.)
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
A tiny handful -1/4 Cup of the darkest chocolate chips you can find.  At least 70 % cocoa solids chop and fold in while kneading.

Approx. 2 1/2 Cups Tepid water and 2 heaping tsp yeast
I dissolve the yeast into 2 cups and add water as I go so there isn't too much.  If there is too much just add more flour.

Run all dry ingredients through a sieve or flour sifter.  Do the coffee alone through the sieve so you can throw out any large chunks, you want just the dustiest pieces to go through.

Mix all ingredients.

Turn out dough onto floured surface, knead until nice and elastic.  Cut into two equal pieces. Knead and ball up then let rest on floured surface and sprinkle lightly with flour and cover with a clean towel to rise.  I like to let it rise twice for half an hour at a time.  Knead in a sprinkle more flour and lightly shape to your pan's shape, flour top and cover again for the second rise for another 30 minutes.  Your oven should be preheating at this point to 480-500 degrees. Grease your bread pan.  I used pork fat, but butter or olive oil should work as well.  Bake for 20 minutes (watch it closely and remember the top will look darker than normal bread like it is burned, but it is just the darkness of the ingredients).

Let sit for a couple minutes in the pan and remove by turning over.  Bread should slide out easily.  Knock lightly on the bottom and it should sound hollow.  Done.  Das ist alles!  Let rest for 5 minutes at least!  The center will do a lot of finishing in this time, it is vital.  If you cannot wait and rip into it, at least place cut side down against the board as this will let the rest finish and keeps moisture in. ;)

I served this bread alongside lavender raspberry pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes over rice and a big glass of mead.  This bread is substantial enough to have for breakfast with coffee or a strong tea.

Excellent for cheese sandwiches with some good beer! Not kidding!

So...

Herb bread

For this recipe you can make small double loaves or dinner rolls (and about a million variations beyond that, but for now we're keeping it simple).

This recipe can be halved if you find it makes too much.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast or 1 heaping tsp  (adding a touch more yeast if doing more whole wheat than white wheat so it will help the heavier wheat rise well)
• 1 Cup warm water (you may need a standby 1/4 - 1/2 Cup warm water for later when mixing)
• 1 tsp vegan sugar or granulated
• 1-2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 tsp or more of each favorite herb if dried,  Unless your herbs are especially potent then cut in half -1 TBSP of each if fresh
• (basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme nearly anything)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 slightly heaping Cups unbleached white flour (you can do a whole wheat version by doing 50/50 or 75/25 whole wheat -white but adding a touch more yeast to help the heavier whole wheat rise well)
• 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
• Small amount of cornmeal --  I use polenta cornmeal grits, to keep bread from sticking to the pan while cooking.  You don't need more than a sprinkle and the extra will just burn around the bread smelling like burnt popcorn.

This bread can have cured olives, red pepper, hot pepper flakes with seeds and/or feta worked into the dough and voila! Mediterranean table bread for kings! Get freaky and make it "wow wee" (said like Christopher Walken).

You can leave out the herbs and add a dominant other ingredient to gear it towards whatever your meal may be.  This dough makes an excellent Soft Pizza Dough and a wonderful Stromboli (both coming soon).

Preheat oven to 200 degrees to create a warm environment for the dough to rise on and to help the yeast be happy.

In the 1 (or more as needed) Cup of warm water, add your yeast and within 5-10 minutes the yeast will become frothy and foamy.  You can add the sugar to the water and yeast or you can add sugar to the flour.  It doesn't matter so much in this case.

In a bowl, mix flours, salt, herbs, olive oil and then the water and yeast. Stir with spoon until a silky ball starts to try to form.

If a lot of the flour is on the sides of the bowl, add a touch more water and press into the dough.  On a floured surface, turn out your dough.  Knead the dough by bringing in the outer edges to the center and then with the heal of your hand work gently in towards the table and away from you.  Repeat this motion until a ball forms collecting light amounts of flour from the surface and a silky dusty dough ball is within your hands.  The underside will not be so pretty, but that is fine!  In a clean bowl large enough for the dough to double in size, pour a TBSP of olive oil.  Put the ugly side of dough down into this and gently slide and swirl the dough around the the bowl to coat the sides in the oil and now as the dough rises it will not cling to the bowl and will come right out for your next step.

Cover with a clean towel and place in a warm spot to rise for 45 minutes.  I usually use the stove top since the oven is already heated to 200 degrees.

Nearing the last moments of the rise, preheat your oven to 400.

Make sure the oven rack is in the middle of the oven.

On a lightly floured surface, cut the dough ball in half.  Form it into the final result (a silky dough ball, a tad tighter feeling than the first time) slicing an X on top of the bread.  You want to make a shallow cut so the bread doesn't spill out of itself as it bakes.  The X gives it room to grow, helps it bake thoroughly and makes it look pretty swell.  Place onto the cornmeal grit coated baking sheet with good space between the loaves. I wet my clean hands with water and just touch the tops of the loaves with my wet hand.  It helps the crust to not burn and also helps it get crispy.  Bake at 400 for an uninterrupted 15 minutes. Check and cool, or check and add 5 minutes.  When the bread crust does not yield to your touch and it sounds hollow when knocked on it's bottom then it is done.

This is a very moist bread and keeps for a couple days easily (unless its eaten).  I just slice pieces off as needed then keep the cut side flat against the counter or cutting board. This keeps the crust crusty and the inside moist where bagging it can ruin the crustyness.  ENJOY!