Dark Chocolate Bread

This bread does not taste like chocolate, but it has rich flavor from the cocoa. It looks like rye bread, so this would be a good dark bread for those who want to pretend they like rye bread.

Dark Chocolate Bread
2 tsp. dry yeast
1 1/4 cups water
4 Tbsp. sugar
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Sprinkle yeast in 1/2 cup water. Let sit 5 minutes and add sugar and stir to dissolve. Sift flour, cocoa and salt in large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour, and pour in the dissolved yeast.

Pour about half the remaining water into the well. Mix in the flour from the sides, and stir in reserved water as needed to form a stiff dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. Put dough in greased bowl, and cover. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch down, and let rest 10 minutes.

Shape dough into round loaf. Place on lightly floured baking sheet and cover. Proof until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Dust loaf with cocoa. Use a series of slashes, 1/2-inch deep, across the top of the loaf (four Xs). Bake 45 minutes or until hollow sounding. Cool on a wire rack.

Pain au Fromage

Translated, Cheese Hearth Bread. This bread smells absolutely fantastic and tastes just as good when served warm. I couldn't place it's distinctive flavor and smell until I realized it tastes like Cheezits in bread form.

Pain au Fromage
2 tsp. dry yeast
1 1/4 cups water
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. shredded sharp Cheddar

Sprinkle yeast in 1/2 cup water. Let sit 5 minutes and stir to dissolve. Mix flour and salt in large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour, and pour in the dissolved yeast.

Use a wooden spoon to draw enough of the flour into the dissolved yeast to form a soft paste. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let sit 20 minutes.

Pour about half the remaining water into the well. Mix in flour. Stir in the reserved water as needed to form a firm, moist dough. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Then knead in shredded cheese (and this will likely take longer than expected ... be patient).

Put dough into clean bowl, and cover. Let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces by flattening into a round and cutting into triangles. Let rest 10 minutes.

Roll out each piece of dough into a flat, oval shape, about 1/4 inch thick. If dough resists, let rest 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer dough onto two greased baking sheets.

With a sharp knife, make 5 slashes across each dough, leaving 1 inch on either edge. Open up each slash by pulling gently apart. Cover and let rest 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until crisp, golden and hollow sounding when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.

Key Lime Cupcakes

After our recent adventures in Florida, my husband and I are hooked on key lime. We enjoyed key lime pie and milkshakes in Florida, so I created key lime cupcakes for my husband's birthday. They were quite tasty, although I ad libbed the key lime buttercream frosting, which is my favorite part.

Key Lime Cupcakes
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
5 egg yolks
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat the butter 30 seconds until creamed. Add sugar, and mix 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds for each egg.

Sift together graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder and salt. (Likely all your graham cracker crumbs won't sift, but I was surprised by how much did.) Add 1/4 of the mixture to the butter. Add some of the milk. Continue to alternate mixing in dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Mix until just combined.

In separate bowl, combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Dump this mixture into the graham batter and lightly stir. You do not want the two mixtures thoroughly combined.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake 20 minutes or until top bounces back when touched.

Salzbrezeln

"In their native Germany, these twisted ring-shaped and salt-sprinkled breads are traditionally eaten as a snack with beer ..."

That means these Salzbrezeln would be the perfect accompaniment to our fourth trip to Brewfest. I made both salty and sweet versions of B-E-E-R shaped pretzel necklaces. These tasted great before, during and after Brewfest!

Salzbrezeln
2 tsp. dry yeast
1 1/4 cups water
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour (I used some wheat)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
egg glaze (1 egg and 1 Tbsp. water)
pretzel salt (or cinnamon and sugar)

Sprinkle yeast in 1/2 cup water. Let sit 5 minutes and stir to dissolve. Mix flour and salt in large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour, and pour in the dissolved yeast.

Use a wooden spoon to draw enough of the flour into the dissolved yeast to form a soft paste. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let sit 20 minutes.

Mix in the flour, and stir in the remaining water as needed to form a stiff, sticky dough. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put dough in greased bowl, and cover. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Punch down, and let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into round roll and then an oval. Roll each oval into a 16-inch strip with tapered ends, letting the dough rest as necessary. Shape each strip into a pretzel shape. Cover pretzels with towel, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Brush egg glaze over each pretzel and sprinkle with toppings. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.