Once again, I am cutting it extremely fine on the We Should Cocoa challenge. But trust me, this is worth the wait, though I say so myself. The moment I saw the challenge, I thought of tea bread. Sweet bread dotted with juicy tea-soaked raisins. I also thought of this Cinnamon raisin bread, with a pretty swirl of cinnamon in the middle. And I thought of chai tea, one of my new favourite things, which is already full of yummy spices.
So I did a combination, with a bit of chocolate for good measure. I was a bit worried that it would be overkill of different flavours, but actually it worked really well. Every mouthful is a bit different, so it's quite exciting. Are you going to get chocolate? Plump juicy fruit? Citrusy mixed peel? Cinnamony squidgy bits? Oh, and when you toast it (which you must), the chocolate melts! So delicious.
So I did a combination, with a bit of chocolate for good measure. I was a bit worried that it would be overkill of different flavours, but actually it worked really well. Every mouthful is a bit different, so it's quite exciting. Are you going to get chocolate? Plump juicy fruit? Citrusy mixed peel? Cinnamony squidgy bits? Oh, and when you toast it (which you must), the chocolate melts! So delicious.
I used the enriched dough recipe from the Cambridge Cookery School for cinnamon buns as a starting point for the dough. I was going to use fresh yeast but when I defrosted it, it turned to liquid! Not quite sure what happened there (any hints would be gratefully received on that one). So dried yeast it was. Maybe next time!
 |
Chai fruit and chocolate bread
Makes 1 large loaf
100g raisins
100g currants
1 cup of chai tea (300ml)14g dried yeast (or 25g fresh yeast)
75g butter
250ml milk
45g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
450g plain bread flour
a pinch of salt
50g dark chocolate
50g mixed peel
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Mix the raisins and currants in a bowl and pour over the tea. Leave to soak overnight. When you begin the bread, put them in a sieve to drain.
Cover the yeast with a little warm water and cover with a cling film. Leave for a few minutes to "sponge" (get a bit bubbly). Meanwhile, heat the milk, butter and sugar gently in a saucepan - you want them to be just above blood temperature. Then add the egg.
Put the flour in a bowl, make a well and add the liquid mixture and salt. Mix it all together. Knead in the raisins, currants, chopped chocolate and mixed peel. Then knead for about 5 minutes on a floured surface. Knead in more flour if necessary, but try to use as little as possible. Put back in the bowl, cover and leave to rise for about an hour.
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 2cm thick. (Mine was a bit too thin, I think.) Moisten the dough, either with a little milk or tea, and then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
Roll up (from the long end, so you get a long thin sausage, not a short, fat one). Tuck the ends underneath. Place the loaf in a large bread tin* and leave to rise for about half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Cook the loaf for about 45 minutes.
*The chocolate does make the loaf stick to the tin, so next time I'd line it with greaseproof or parchment paper.
Serve with chai tea!
