![Chocolate & Sultana Sourdough](https://thesourdoughschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Chocolate-Sourdough-680.jpg)
There is something truly magical about combining chocolate with sourdough. Whether you smother it in chocolate spread or you serve it toasted with a slice of cheddar it’s rich, full flavoured and is a fabulously dramatic loaf to serve.
The vanilla powder is from Uganda, and it adds sweetness without adding sugar and so avoids overexciting your sourdough. Trust me it is the finest vanilla you will ever find – I have had first hand experience and have met many of the farmers that grow it. The roasted barley malt is British. It is a wonderful product, often used by commercial bakeries and hardly ever used in domestic kitchens. It adds sweetness and a deep dark colour that gives your bread real depth – you can buy it from Bakerybits.
The Grenada Chocolate Company organic cocoa is to me the most ethical chocolate in the world…
Ingredients – Yield 2 loaves
50g cold water
120g sultana’s
20g fine sea salt
650g water at 28 degrees C
200g 1:1 starter refreshed (8 hours before you are ready to bake.)
900g stoneground organic white flour (and some extra for dusting your banneton)
2 tsp roasted barley malt
120g Fair trade organic cocoa powder
15g Ndali vanilla powder
Mix
Put the 50g of water, sultanas and salt into a bowl and mix well – leave so the sultanas hydrate for about 30 minutes… (in the meantime you can continue with the recipe which will take about 30 minutes.)
In a separate bowl whisk the 650g of water and starter and mix well. Add the flour, roasted barely malt, cocoa powder and vanilla powder (combined well) and mix until all the ingredients come together into a large ball.
Autolyse for 30 minutes
Cover with cling film and let the dough rest in a cool environment for 1/2 an hour.
Fold
Add the sultans and mix gently in folding motions. Lift and fold your dough over, do a quarter turn of your bowl and repeat three more times. Over the next hour and a half fold your dough three more times.
Shape
Split into two. Shape your loaves lightly and place into a dusted banneton. Cover with a shower cap or damp tea-towel and leave to prove in the fridge for 8 – 12 hours.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 220C for at least 30 minutes to one hour before you are ready to bake with your Cloche in the oven. The dish or Cloche must be very hot.
Take the dish out of the oven and sprinkle a little flour over the bottom.
Put your dough into the cloche and slash the top of your bread using a grignette (or lame) then place the lid back on top and return to the oven as quickly as possible. Bake for 45 minutes.
Turn the heat down to 180C. Remove the lid and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes. You need to judge how dark you like your crust but I suggest that it is best baked it until there is a dark brown crust – it tastes better.
Allow the bread to cool. Sourdough is much better left to cool completely before slicing and is even better if left it is for a day to let the full flavour develop.
Store: Once cool store in a linen or cotton bread bag or folded tea towel.
Note: if you don’t like a firm crunchy crust then wrap your bread in a clean tea towel whilst it is still warm.