Desert or Dessert

Chocolate, Schokolade, cokolada…or however you say it in your part of the world it all means the same….a little bit of Heaven.

I have been working through the “quick bread” section of “The Modern Baker” book and when I saw this I had to make it right away. I love ‘me’ some chocolate and in a bread (or cake as we German like to call those sweet breads) it’s just as good as any other way.

This is the third recipe and this too did not leave me wanting.

It’s another great recipe. Even if it’s baked a tad to long. I checked every 5 minutes after the initial 30 and took it out at 45. That was 5 minutes to long however the bread was still very good. I will make this again for sure.

Love the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger) in this bread. The ginger is a real nice addition and you can really taste it.

If you don’t own a nutmeg grinder do yourself a favor and get yourself one. They are only a few dollars (mine was about 5 Euros) and so worth it.

If you look at my egg pictures to the right you see that the yolk is quite different in size.

I get my eggs from a local farm in my small town and of course the hens don’t all lay the same size of eggs.

To get uniformed results in my baking I weigh my eggs to make sure I have the right “weight” for the large eggs required in a recipe. A large eggs weighs anywhere from 64-72g.

I also make my own brown sugar by simply adding some molasses to regular sugar. Here I did 1 tsp. I had no sour cream in the house and used quark (farmers cheese but a strained yogurt would do too) instead.

I had my doubt that this bread would rise enough to fill the pan. My pan was barely 2/3 full yet it did rise above the pan. Great tasting bread that would taste especially good with your afternoon coffee.

I will be serving this during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season.  

Recipe
The Modern Baker
page 45

This quick bread is packed with chocolate flavor. Avoid overbaking, which could dry it out. To serve, cut the bread into thin slices and accompany with preserves or marmalade. Raspberry preserves and ginger marmalade are especially good with it.
Keep the bread under a cake dome or loosely wrapped in plastic wrap if you are serving it the same day it is made. Wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to keep at room temperature for up to 4 days; wrap well and freeze for longer storage.
Makes one 8 1/2-inch loaf (12 to 16 slices)

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 1/2 cups flour (spoon flour into a dry-measure cup and level off)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (Dutch-process or alkalized), sifted after measuring
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup low-fat or regular sour cream

Directions:

Lightly grease an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 3/4-inch loaf pan with a little unsalted butter, then line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper cut to fit; butter the paper as well.
Position a rack in the middle level of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees.
Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl or on a large piece of parchment or wax paper.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl to break them up, then whisk in both sugars. Whisk for a minute, or until the mixture lightens, then whisk in the 5 tablespoons of butter and the sour cream.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture all at once; gently whisk until smooth.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top, pushing the batter evenly into the corners. Bake on the middle oven rack for 35 to 40 minutes, until the bread has risen and a toothpick or a narrow-bladed knife inserted into the center of the bread emerges clean.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then unmold the bread and let it cool completely on the rack. When ready to serve, transfer to a cutting board.