We got our very first snow day of the season here in Baltimore today! Though for "snow" it was a measly one inch of accumulation. But the roads were rather icy so I was pretty much stuck in the house all day. And you know what that means? Mya Lwin goes on a baking binge! Today I was in a very chocolately kind of mood (PMS?), and so I decided to bake not one, but TWO, chocolately treats!
The first is a yeast-raised chocolate orange bread. Chocolate and orange is one of my favorite combinations of all time. In fact, my favorite gelato when I spent three weeks last summer studying abroad in Venice was this chocolate-orange gelato from my favorite gelateria, Il Doge, which happened to be literally at the doorstep of my school. There's just something about the combination of dark chocolate and orange essence that really works.
This particular bread is big on the dark chocolate flavor and contains a generous amount of freshly grated orange zest. I also added some ground ginger for a little something extra that would go nicely with the chocolate and orange flavors. The bread itself actually isn't very sweet at all, which makes it a great breakfast bread. Toast it and slather a bit (or a lot!) of Nutella or some butter and orange marmalade on top and mmmm....
Chocolate Orange Bread(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Yields 1 loaf
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp (1 envelope) active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Place warm water in a small bowl and whisk in yeast.
Combine flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, orange zest and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Rub in butter until no piece of butter remain visible. Add milk, egg and yeast mixture and stir to form a rough dough.
Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface or in the bowl of a stand mixer and with the dough hook attached, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Turn risen dough from bowl out onto a floured work surface. Press down with palms of hands to deflate. To form loaf, roll out dough into a rough rectangle so that the short ends are approximately the length of the loaf pan. Then fold long edges to the middle and pinch together to seal the seam. Place the loaf in the pan, seam side down. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. When the loaf is completely risen, place in oven and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes. Unmold the loaf to a wire rack to cool.
And for the second act, I made some chocolate walnut bars, kind of modeled after pecan pie bars. Ever since my dad had some chocolate and nut-topped bar cookies of sorts at a work party, he's been asking me every week to make some at home for him. So this week, I finally got around to it. The co-worker who made said bars gave him the recipe, but I just couldn't bring myself to use the monstrous amount of sugar that the recipe called for. And to think the person who made them works in the medical field...
Anyways, in this recipe, a dark chocolate and agave mixture is spread on top of a shortcrust and topped with chopped toasted walnuts. I cut back on the sugar and used agave nectar (my favorite ingredient of the moment) as a sweetener. The end result was still a bit too sweet for my palate, so I think I'll use even less sugar next time; but either way, it was still a hit with everyone. Oh and did I mention that the chocolate mixture is also spiked with a bit of dark rum? :)
Chocolate Walnut Bars
Yields one 8-inch square pan
For the Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
For the Filling:
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons agave nectar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon dark rum
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan.
Spread the walnuts onto a baking sheet and toast in preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Shake the baking sheet halfway through baking so the nuts will toast evenly. Remove nuts from oven and set aside to cool. Chop the nuts and set aside.
Mix together flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss in the cold butter and work the butter into the mixture with your fingers until pea sized clumps form. Transfer dough prepared baking pan and press evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until barely golden brown; cool completely on wire rack.
In a medium heatproof bowl, combine chocolate, agave nectar, sugar, butter, cocoa, and salt. Melt in microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between intervals, until smooth. Whisk in the egg, and stir in the rum. Pour mixture over cooled crust.
Sprinkle walnuts evenly over the chocolate mixture, and bake 18-20 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack then transfer to the refrigerator to chill before cutting into squares.
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