Choclate sourdough

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot

1 of 15 01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

2 of 15 01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

Allow me to embarrass myself:
When I can’t sleep at night, I think about food.
I analyze recipes I. scrutinize them. For whatever reason, I find comfort in this soothing
mechanism because it tires out my mind.
This isn’t something new; it all stared when my middle son was born. He had severe colic
and screamed his head off from 6am- 6pm for six weeks straight. It was mental torture. I
thought about food, bread, and chocolate to keep me sane.
And so, this recipe was born in the wee hours of the morning (after the cat woke me up). I
let him outside, and then made a pit stop to feed my sourdough starter before returning to
bed. I would bake in the morning.
This is sourdough noir. Bread… with dark chocolate.

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Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

4 of 15 01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

5 of 15 01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

6 of 15 01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

How to Make Chocolate Sourdough Noir: a Few Tips

To begin, I added cocoa powder to my already existing recipe for country sourdough.
It took me 3 tries to get it right:

Round #1: Plain

This was the most basic (and boring) trial of the whole lot. Just plain chocolate sourdough
with nothing in it. Although the texture was nice it didn’t really taste like chocolate. Fail.

Round #2: Chopped Chocolate Chunks

To elevate that chocolate-y flavor, I added chunks of good quality bar chocolate to the
dough. Sounds like a good idea, right? Nope. It melted into the dough. Unlike chocolate
chips from the bag, most bar chocolates do not have stabilizers to keep them from melting.
That’s why the chocolate doesn’t melt in your cookies. Mental note for round 3.

Round #3: Chocolate Chips, Dried Fruit + Nuts

Score! The addition of chocolate chips meant chocolate in every bite while the dried fruit
and nuts made it texturally interesting, at least to me anyway. I used a combination of
raisins and walnuts.

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Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

8 of 15 The Geeky Stuff:

My sourdough starter is 50/50 whole wheat + bread flour (fed at 100% hydration)
1 hour autolyse
Salt and fillings added after autolyse
Stretch and fold every 30 minutes for 2 hours

01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

Bulk ferment at room temperature (currently 65 F) overnight, about 12-18 hours
2nd proof = approximately 45 minutes- 1 hour
Bake in Dutch oven at 400 F for 20 minutes (covered) + 40 minutes (uncovered)
Crack open the oven door during the last 10 minutes of baking to harden the crust

For my bread posts, I always like to include this in-depth beginner’s
guide to sourdough for your reference.

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Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

10 of 15 01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

11 of 15 This chocolate sourdough is light and chewy with a soft crust. It is not sweet, just rich with
chocolate flavor and a hint of crunch from the fillings. Try it cut into thick slices plain, or

01/06/2020, 09:03

Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

with a pat of creamy butter. I like it for breakfast with a dusting of powdered sugar over the
top. Enjoy!

Tips:

You will need a heavy bottom pot or Dutch Oven for baking.
This bread is best if consumed within the first 1-2 days.
To freeze, wrap in plastic wrap and then in foil. It should last up to 3 months.
All ingredients are weighed using a digital kitchen scale for best results.
Print

Ingredients

150g bubbly, active starter
350g water, preferably filtered
50g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
500g bread flour
50g cocoa powder*
9g fine sea salt
65g chopped walnuts
65g raisins
150g semi sweet chocolate chips
fine ground cornmeal, for dusting
powdered sugar for decoration
* I used Hershey’s Special Dark, a blend of natural and Dutch process cocoas
** You will need a 6 quart Dutch oven for baking

Instructions

1. Make the dough: In a large bowl combine the starter, water, sugar and vanilla. Stir
with a fork. Sift the bread flour and cocoa powder together and then add to the bowl.
Squish everything together with your hands until all of the flour is absorbed. Cover
with plastic wrap and let it rest (autolyse) for 1 hour.

2. To the dough: Add the salt, walnuts, raisins and chocolate chips. Lift and fold the
dough over itself several times and squish with your hands to incorporate. The dough
will tear slightly as you fold and the salt will not fully dissolve. Don’t worry- this is
normal. Work the dough as best you can until it comes back together into a rough ball.

3. Bulk fermentation: Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Leave
it in a warm, sunny spot to rise. Your dough is ready when it no longer looks dense
and has increased in volume about 1½- 2x its original size. This can take anywhere

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Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

from 3-12 hours depending on the temperature of your ingredients, the potency of
your starter and surrounding environment. *See note below.
4. Stretch & fold: To strengthen your dough, do a series of stretch and folds every 30
minutes for the first 2 hours of bulk fermentation. Simply gather a portion of the
dough, stretch it upwards and then fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl ¼ turn and
repeat until you have come full circle. You will have completed 4 folds. Try to keep the
fillings tucked into the dough and not on the outside. This will prevent burning when
baked.
5. Shape the dough: To cut and shape the dough, divide your work surface in half; lightly
flour one side (for cutting) and leave the other half clean (for shaping). Remove the
dough from the bowl and place onto the floured section. You do not need to ‘punch
down’ the dough; it will gently deflate as you fold and shape it. Cut the dough in half to
make 2 loaves, or leave it whole for a single loaf. To shape, use a bench scraper to
move your dough to the non-floured section (if there is any flour present it will be
difficult to shape- brush away any excess). Gather the dough, one side at a time, and
fold it into the center. Flip the dough over and place it seam side down. Using your
hands, gently cup the sides of the dough and rotate it using quarter turns in a circular
motion. You can also pull it towards you to even out its shape. Repeat this process
until you are happy with its appearance.
6. Second rise: Place the dough into a cloth lined 8-inch bowl, or floured/lined proofing
basket. It will need to rise again, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. It is ready when the
dough is slightly puffy.
7. Preparing the baking vessel: Preheat your oven to 400F. Generously coat the bottom
of a Dutch oven(s) with cornmeal to prevent sticking. Carefully invert the dough into
the pot. Use your hand to gently guide it in.
8. Slash the dough: Right before your bread goes into the oven, make a shallow slash
about 2 inches long in the center of the dough. Use a bread lame, sharp pairing or
serrated knife.
9. Bake the bread: Place your bread into the oven (lid on) and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid, and continue to bake (uncovered) for an additional 40 minutes.
During the last 10 minutes of baking, crack open the oven door. This allows the
moisture to escape, leaving your bread with a crisp crust. You can also take the
internal temperature of your bread to double check that it is done. For sourdough, it
should read about 205 F.
10. Cool: Remove the bread from the oven, and cool on a wire rack for at least an hour
before slicing.
11. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Notes

Because sourdough does not contain commercial yeast, it takes considerably
longer to rise. In the summer months, it can take anywhere between 3-4 hours
@ 85 F whereas in the winter, about 8-12+ hours @ 65 F. In the winter, I make
my dough in the afternoon and leave it to rise overnight at room temperature.
In the warmer months, I bulk ferment in the fridge to slow down the rise time.
Keywords: sourdough, sourdough recipes, sourdough bread, chocolate sourdough,
sourdough noir

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Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

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Chocolate Sourdough Noir | The Clever Carrot https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2014/10/sourdough-noir/

Counting sheep? Naah… Naah…

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