Probably not a coincidence that both of them tend to be bad for me too.
But when a Green & Blacks Chocolate cooking book was conveniently left out on the bench at work (thanks Laura), I couldn't help but have a crack at one of their recipes; Chocolate, Chili and Lime Bread.
I just recently read a vegan blog where the author had a category labeled 'failures' which I think is a brilliant idea. I try so many recipes that I don't blog about that fail for one reason or another and that I know changing a small detail or two in the recipe would make all the difference to the result.
So in light of this, I'm going to put this recipe in the blog even though my bread turned out a bit on the doughy side, possibly because I didn't read the last instructions correctly and left the bread in the pan the entire cooking time, but more than likely just due to me and bread being natural enemies.
Chocolate, Chili and Lime Bread
Ingredients:15g active dry yeast
25 g brown sugar
400 ml warm water
450g strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
125g dark chocolate, chopped
1 ½ fresh limes
1 dried red chilli pepper
50 ml olive oil
Preparation:
Mix together the yeast, sugar and 200 ml warm water to activate the
yeast. Set aside in a warm place for about 15 minutes.
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the chocolate and the zest of one of
the limes. Thinly slice and chop the lime, skin on, and add half to the mixture with
the juice from the other lime half. De-seed and finely chop the chilli pepper and
add to the mixture. Add in the olive oil and mix roughly.
Once the yeast has become activated and frothy, add it to the mixture and mix
thoroughly by hand.
As the liquid is absorbed, add a further 50ml of the warm water and
continue to mix. When a dough ball starts to form, use your judgement to add as
much of the remaining warm water as required. The dough should be moist but
not wet. If the dough becomes too wet, sprinkle in some extra flour to absorb the
excess moisture. Continue to work the dough for 15 minutes.
Place the dough on a floured baking tray. Cover with a clean damp dishcloth and
leave in a warm place for at least 20 minutes to prove.
Preheat the oven to 180°C / gas mark 4.
Lightly oil the loaf pan with olive oil and add dough, pressing down and shaping
gently, then turn off the oven and place the pan in the oven to stand for a further
15 minutes.
Turn the oven on and preheat to 220°C gas mark 7 and bake for 20
minutes.
After 20 minutes, turn the bread out of the pan and tap the bottom with a wooden
spoon - it should sound hollow. If it does, place the loaf on a wire rack to cool; if it
doesn’t, return to the oven (without the pan) for a further 5 minutes.
