Friday, July 15, 2011

Double Chocolate Challah

Double Chocolate Challah.  I doubted myself whether it could actually be done.  I love chocolate.  I adore chocolate.  This is serious business, I told myself, making a chocolate challah.  Could it be done?
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Still steaming!  It fogged up the lens!
YES.

3/4 c water
2 tsp active dry yeast
5 tbsp sugar
1 egg plus 1 more for egg wash
1/4 c vegetable oil
3 c flour
4 tbsp dutch cocoa powder
about 1/4 c chocolate chips (I used Whole Foods Vegan chips for a pareve loaf)
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Mix water together with yeast and 1 tbsp sugar. Allow to rest for around 10 minutes or until yeast creates little eruptions.  Meanwhile, mix together the rest of the sugar, flour, and cocoa powder in a large bowl.

Add egg and oil to yeast mixture and stir gently. Add flour mixture.  Knead by hand or with a stand mixer.  I ultimately had to add more water to the dough due to the added cocoa powder.  I let my dough rise for about an hour and a half (I was in a hurry) it had nearly doubled in bulk.

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Punch down.  Separate into balls for braiding and knead chocolate chips into each strand.  I add the chips here because I'm not crazy about chocolate chips on the outside strands, where they tend to break open and sort of burn.  Braid and let rest for additional half hour.  Egg wash.

Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 180-200 degrees.

The Hazz and I, along with my mom, tried out the small roll we made as a sample.  The verdict from all is, "Delicious."  A warning, it's a little disorienting eating the challah.  Because of the color and the aroma, you sort of expect chocolate cake.  It's not that sweet.  It's mild, rich, and delicious.
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So, chocoholics... have you ever tried chocolate yeast bread?  I'm curious to keep tweeking this baby.

7 comments:

  1. Wow, now THAT is a wonder to behold.

    I just realized I have all the ingredients in my pantry...

    I'll let you know what happens! :)

    Bivrachah,
    This Good Life

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  2. You owe me a new keyboard. Mine just shorted out from drool.

    I am SO baking this on Friday!

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  3. This looks delicious!

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  4. And here I go to try this as a sourdough loaf! Scrumptious !

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