SURF REPORT: IT'S RAINING!
Autumn is here (okay, not HERE, but everywhere else in the country…), school threatening to take all of my time and money for the next year, and I need a treat. Not only a treat, but an easy and inexpensive treat with lots of bang for the buck. I searched my cupboards and threw a whole bunch of sweet treats into a bowl and came up with this… Zero dollars (because everything was already in my kitchen) resulting in the smell of Christmas and the sweet steamy taste of fresh bread. This bread is very forgiving and NOT time consuming... you do a step here, let it rise, do a step the next day… what it lacks in instant gratification it makes up for in spades once baked.
Now… y’all know I like me some spice. You can adjust the chocolate, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar to your tastes. To be honest these are all approximations (aka best guess by eyeball) anyway because I tend to cook in dashes and shakes. I tried to be conservative in my guestimates below, because, well… not everybody likes the spice. I like me some spice. Just FYI… I made plain wheat Thursday bread dough in less than five minutes just now… and realized I’ve never made plain Thursday bread! So, come Saturday, if it comes out well, I’ll post the plain recipe for all of you non- spice types. :)
Chocolate Thursday Bread
2 ½ c Bread flour
½ c Whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Active dry yeast
1 ½ c Warm water
1 c Dried red currant berries
½ c Dark chocolate cocoa powder
¼ c Raw cane sugar
2 Tbs Cinnamon
1 Tbs Nutmeg
2 Tbs Organic vanilla
Directions:
Thursday evening: Mix flours, salt, yeast, sugar and spices. Mix in currants till evenly coated and well, mixed in. Plop in the vanilla and water and mix by hand till dough forms. Cover w plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 12 hours (depending on how long you sleep. Actually this step is completely optional.)
Friday morning/afternoon: Put bowl of dough in a nice safe place away from kids, cats, and spiders. I put mine in the microwave. DO NOT TURN MICROWAVE ON. Let rise (still covered) 18 hours (another 18 hours if you did your time in the fridge).
Saturday morning: dump bowl onto a whole wheat floured surface, fold into a square, flip, smoosh corners in to make a nice pretty, floury oval that will fit nicely in your dutch oven. (Can let rise 2-3 from hours here, go out with the girls and have a Bloody Mary if that’s where you’re at!) Preheat a dutch oven, lid off, in the oven at 450. Plop your dough in, cover, bake 30 minutes. Notice whole house will start to smell like yummy goodness… get ready, because you’ll be waking the neighbors with it, they’ll come begging for whatever smells so good… Uncover and bake another 15-30 minutes till it looks yummy and crusty enough for you. Dump out dutch oven onto a cooling rack, set some butter or cream cheese out to soften, and finish your cup of coffee or Bloody Mary. Relax and breathe in the yummy goodness. Pour yourself another cup of coffee (Bloody Mary), bust out the bread knife, slice that puppy open. Slather the still warm bread with schmear of choice and enjoy. Repeat this until fat and happy. Once cooled, throw the remaining loaf (if there’s any left after your neighbors get a hold of it) into a Ziploc. It will survive the fridge for a week or so, not that it will survive your grubby, greedy little hands that long.
PS... Is this not the cutest Piglit picture to date? Just sayin'...
