There were some sunny Christmas days spent in the mountains and there was a car crash couple of days later. I was overlooked and there was nothing I could do. I was in shock and I wasn’t in shock. I was angry. The moment of collision was long and it was short. I didn’t know if I would make it. I did. It hurt and it still hurts. Not much will for baking, but time for recovery and thinking. I don’t know if I can call this being lucky, but in that moment of crash and not knowing, I felt how it’s like having regrets of not living fully. Because, when you make some steps towards that side, you are alone with yourself. And regrets hurt the most.
So, when life gives you twists, you make a twist bread, right?
” Life has many twists and turns and sometimes what looks like a very bad day can be just clearing the way for good things to come. “
Sourdough cinnamon and chocolate twist bread
Yields: one twist bread baked in dutch oven (you can also use any other round pan)
Baking schedule:
The dough for this bread was prepared in the morning, left to rise until almost doubled in volume, shaped, and left to rise until passing the poking test. It was baked in a same day.
Ingredients:
Starter
100 g water
100 g white wheat flour (bread flour)
1 tablespoon of your (active) sourdough starter
Dough
all of the above starter (appr. 200 g)
180 g warm milk*
370 g white wheat flour (bread flour)
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 tablespoon of sugar
6 g salt
Filling
100 g soft butter
60 g sugar (I used brown sugar)
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
50 g of grated chocolate (I used 70% cocoa chocolate)
* Please adjust the liquid content to your flour. If your flour absorbs more liquid, feel free to add more liquid during mixing. The dough for this bread is soft and not so sticky, but not runny (see photos below).
Instructions
Sourdough starter
1. In the evening, first prepare your sourdough starter. Mix 100 g of white wheat flour, 100 g of water, and 1 tablespoon or your base starter. Leave it to ferment until risen, puffed, active and bubbly, so you will be able to mix it into the dough next morning.
Dough
2. In the morning, mix the dough. First, dissolve all of your starter in 180 g of water. Add egg yolk and melted butter. Next, add all of the flour (370 g), salt and sugar. Mix well, and knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth. Shape it into ball and place it into a bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and leave to ferment until doubled in volume (right photo below). My dough needed 3.5 hours, yours might take more or less, depending on the temperature of your kitchen and power of your starter.
3. When you see the dough is about to be ready, prepare the filling. Mix softened butter, sugar, cinnamon and grated chocolate.
Also, take your dutch oven (or any other pan) and line it with a piece of parchement paper and grease it with butter.
Shaping
4. Roll the dough to be 5 mm thick or 30×45 cm (12×18 inch) wide. Drop the filling across the rolled dough and spread it thinly, leaving 2 cm (1 inch) from all sides.
5. Roll the dough from the longest side, then thuck the ends underneath. Cut the rolled dough in half length-wise. You can cut as I did, leaving some part of the dough uncut or you can completely cut it in half. Flip the cut halves outwards.
6. Start braiding two strands one over another. Tuck the ends together to form a circle. Place the twisted bread into dutch oven and let it rise.
Final rise
Leave the dough to rise until puffed (doubled in volume). My dough needed 1.5 hours.
Baking
30 minutes before the baking preheat the oven to 200°C (375°F). When the dough is ready, put the dutch oven into oven and bake it until well baked, 30-40 minutes.
Take care!
