Anyone tried Stout-Chocolate Cherry Bread?

[Paula H]

Just wondering if anyone's had a go at this one from Jan/Feb 2003.

I confess, the thought of chocolate (yum!) and cherries (ditto) in bread is what grabbed my eye with this one...

[Kahlico]

I haven't tried it but as soon as I track down the recipe I'll be a willing guinea pig!

:D
~emilie

[clairea]

Here's the recipe. I haven't tried it yet, but it is on the list. Let us know how it is.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Stout Chocolate-Cherry Bread

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 20 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Breads

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 1/4 cups bread flour -- divided
1 12-ounce bottle beer -- (stout, such as Guinness)
1 package dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate -- coarsely chopped
cooking spray
1 teaspoon water
1 large egg white -- lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pearl sugar -- (optional)

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, beer, and yeast in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Remove mixture from refrigerator; let stand 1 hour.

Add 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and salt; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky). Knead in cherries and chocolate.

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Shape dough into a 9-inch round; place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly coat dough with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350.

Uncover the dough. Combine water and egg white, stirring with a whisk, and brush over dough. Sprinkle the dough with pearl sugar, if desired. Make a 1/4-inch deep cut down the center of dough using a sharp knife.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bread is browned on bottom and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.

Source:
"Cooking Light, Jan/Feb 2003, p. 148"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 158 Calories; 4g Fat (20.7% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 112mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : An overnight sponge made with stout creates a rich complex flavor that matches well with bittersweet chocolate and dried tart cherries. Because yeast feeds on the sugar in the beer, keep the sponge in the refrigerator to control the yeast's growth. A sprinkling of pearl sugar adds texture.

Nutritional info from CL: calories 156; fat 2.4g(sat 1.3g, mono .2g, poly .2g); protein 4.3g; carb 28.1g; fiber 1.3g; chol 0 mg; iron 1.4mg; sodium 121mg; calc 5mg
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Claire

[lisas3575]

I soooo want to make this bread, perhaps this weekend. I've been on such a bread kick lately that I have lots of it around for just the two of us though.

Our local bakery occasionally makes a chocolate-cherry bread that is to die for. My hope is that this comes close!

[penguin]

I haven't made it either but it does look good as a breakfast bread (a good way to get chocolate in before noon :D) or snack. The only thing I am leary of is how pronounced the Guinness flavor is. I made a Guinness Beer Bread a few months ago, and really didn't care for it that much. I am not a fan of Guinness and I could taste & smell the Guinness in the bread. However, that bread was more of a fast yeast bread whereas this recipe uses an overnight sponge and 2 risings. I am guessing the resulting flavor would be different. Heck, maybe I'll try it next week if we have any Guinness hanging out in our fridge...

[yomomma]

This bread is very good. I cannot drink Guinness straight-up, but love to cook w/ it. The flavor (of the Guinness) does not take over. The bread is not sweet, but the cherries & Chocolate make up for it. I could not find the bittersweet chocolate in my grocery and had to use semi-sweet - was good, but I think I might like the bittersweet better. I think I will shape the loaf differently next time too - don't know how yet.

[Missi]

I made this yesterday. I didn't think ahead and bought all the ingredients then remembered it needed an overnight rise in the fridge. Well, being my impatient self, I decided to try it with just a normal rise-- 1 hour in bowl and then 1 hour shaped. Well, it was okay, but very dense. The chocolate and cherries overwhelmed the bread taste, but since I didn't do the inital rising, that sort of makes sense. Lesson learned: good taste, but follow the directions. By the way, I served this with a spread of cheesecake flavored cream cheese. YUM!!!!!!

[lisas3575]

I let it rise overnight and am waiting said hour for the starter (?) to come to room temperature.

Not being a beer drinker I thought it was so odd that the Guinness bottle had this big plastic torpedo thing in it. Does anybody know what that's for?

[valchemist]

Originally posted by yomomma
This bread is very good. I cannot drink Guinness straight-up, but love to cook w/ it. The flavor (of the Guinness) does not take over. The bread is not sweet, but the cherries & Chocolate make up for it. I could not find the bittersweet chocolate in my grocery and had to use semi-sweet - was good, but I think I might like the bittersweet better. I think I will shape the loaf differently next time too - don't know how yet.


here is an interesting tidbit I learned on foodsubs.com:

bittersweet and semisweet chocolate are very similar. bittersweet chocolate usually has more chocolate liquor. To make semisweet chocolate more like bittersweet chocolate, add some unsweetened chocolate or cocoa powder to it.

[Missi]

Originally posted by lisas3575
I let it rise overnight and am waiting said hour for the starter (?) to come to room temperature.

Not being a beer drinker I thought it was so odd that the Guinness bottle had this big plastic torpedo thing in it. Does anybody know what that's for?

It's called a widget. It is supposed to help simulate draft beer when in a bottle (or can--cans of Guinness have it, too)

The things you learn when DH is a beer fan:rolleyes: !


Please tell us how yours turns out. I really want to try this again making it the "right" way!!

[TeriK]

I am also interested in this bread, but dh does not do cherries. Wonder if I could make it without them. Looking forward to more reviews.

[Kahlico]

I have my usual loaf of beer bread in the oven right now.

I'm wondering how the stout-chocolate cheery bread could convert to muffins, and if I could use some whole wheat flour along with the unbleached bread flour.

Thanks for posting the recipe clairea!

:D
~emilie

[lisas3575]

Originally posted by Kahlico
I'm wondering how the stout-chocolate cheery bread could convert to muffins, and if I could use some whole wheat flour along with the unbleached bread flour.

OK, I'm back with my report! I give it a solid 8. It turned out really well, and the flavor is excellent, I knew it would be. :) The beer flavor is very mild, I might not even know it was in there if I hadn't made it. The thing I didn't care for is the texture. It's not bad, just not my preference. It's a pretty dense loaf, and I love bread with those light and airy holes. The local bakery version is closer to an Italian style loaf than this... So Emilie, I don't think I'd put in any ww flour since it's pretty dense to begin with, and I'm confused by your muffin comment. This definitely isn't a quick bread. It's a bread bread. You possible could make it into rolls, but with the cherries and chocolate it might be difficult. Seems like slices are more manageable to eat as well.

I also found it pretty messy to make, and kneading in the cherries and chocolate was difficult. The chocolate tended to melt all over my warm hands, and everything just kind of popped off the outside as I was kneading.

[Molli526]

I agree with you Lisa, this bread is a solid 8.

I can't taste the beer in the bread at all. DH said he could smell though.

I had to use unsweetened chocolate b/c I didn't have any bittersweet - I thought they were the same - and I wasn't going to more than one grocery store last night.

My loaf turned out really pretty too. :)

[phantomcg]

Do you think that I could substitute dried cranberries for the dried cherries? I don't have any dried cherries, but I have a ton of dried (sweetened) cranberries and I really don't want to buy cherries. I would think that the cranberries would work, but wondered what those of you who have made this already thought.

Thanks,

Cheryl

[phantomcg]

Do you think that I could substitute dried cranberries for the dried cherries? I don't have any dried cherries, but I have a ton of dried (sweetened) cranberries and I really don't want to buy cherries.

Thanks,

Cheryl

[TeriK]

I think a solid 8 is worth trying (for me anyway). I like a nice dense bread, so this would be right up my alley. Thanks for letting us know how it turned out.

[Paula H]

Thanks for the reviews and feedback - I definitely give it a go the next time I have a bottle of beer around the house.

[Loremma]

It's got my favorite ingredients, so I'll be making this in the near future. Thanks for the review.

[Molli526]

Cheryl,

The craisins would work fine.

If I really had my thinking cap on, I would have brought you a piece of mine, I was in B-ham today. Of course, I didn't use quite the right type of chocolate, but it still tastes yummy :)

[sharon kopenski]

Would any kind of beer work? I really don't want to go buy beer when I don't drink it. What I have on hand is what the neighbors drink which is Miller High life or Weiss beer.

[phantomcg]

Originally posted by Molli526
Cheryl,

The craisins would work fine.

If I really had my thinking cap on, I would have brought you a piece of mine, I was in B-ham today. Of course, I didn't use quite the right type of chocolate, but it still tastes yummy :)

Molli:

One of these days when you are in B-ham we'll have to have lunch! By the way a slice of this bread would have been a most welcome diversion from work today!!!

[Kahlico]

Originally posted by lisas3575


OK, I'm back with my report! I give it a solid 8. It turned out really well, and the flavor is excellent, I knew it would be. :) The beer flavor is very mild, I might not even know it was in there if I hadn't made it. The thing I didn't care for is the texture. It's not bad, just not my preference. It's a pretty dense loaf, and I love bread with those light and airy holes. The local bakery version is closer to an Italian style loaf than this... So Emilie, I don't think I'd put in any ww flour since it's pretty dense to begin with, and I'm confused by your muffin comment. This definitely isn't a quick bread. It's a bread bread. You possible could make it into rolls, but with the cherries and chocolate it might be difficult. Seems like slices are more manageable to eat as well.



I actually have a recipe for blueberry muffins that have yeast in them and are more of a blueberry bread (muffin shaped) than a sweet bread. The recipe just calls for you putting the batter (after the first rise) into the muffin tins, letting it rise again, and then baking them. I guess this is what I had in mind when I asked this question.

Thanks for the feedback!

:D
~emilie

[LauraBL]

Originally posted by Kahlico



I actually have a recipe for blueberry muffins that have yeast in them and are more of a blueberry bread (muffin shaped) than a sweet bread. The recipe just calls for you putting the batter (after the first rise) into the muffin tins, letting it rise again, and then baking them. I guess this is what I had in mind when I asked this question.

Thanks for the feedback!

:D
~emilie

Emilie-

I think the combo of dried cherries and chocolate would be awesome in a sweet muffin or in a more yeast roll type muffin. Of course, my favorite sweet muffin has chocolate chips and banana...... Let us know about your experimentation.

Laura

[CompassRose]

Originally posted by sharon kopenski
Would any kind of beer work? I really don't want to go buy beer when I don't drink it. What I have on hand is what the neighbors drink which is Miller High life or Weiss beer.

I don't know about where you are, but here in Canada (home of -heh- The Beer Store) Guinness, being "fancy", is available by the single bottle, for about four bucks a pop. I don't think wussypussy "easy-drinkin'" beers would give at ALL a good result... nor would they match well with chocolate.

[RunnerKim]

I know this is an old thread, but I just got around to making this and thought I'd post my review. We really enjoyed this bread and I'll definitely be making it again (whenever I can get DH to give up a whole bottle of his beer). Used a local stout (Bridgeport). I am not a beer drinker at all and thought this bread was really good (I think it's Peter Rheinhart that says beer is just liquid bread :D ). I also could not find bittersweet, so ended up using Trader Joe's Dutch Processed chocolate chips, which I thought worked really nicely. It is a dense, hardy loaf. I made up the first part in the morning and took it out of the fridge for 90 minutes the next morning. I baked mine on my stone and underbaked it at first (I was distracted and just took it out when the timer went off and didn't check to see if it was done). I think it would be nice without the cherries - I'm not a big fan of dried stuff and enjoyed the bites without the cherry better.

Kim

[yomomma]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RunnerKim
[B] (I think it's Peter Rheinhart that says beer is just liquid bread :D ).

Love it!!

[Terrytx]

excellent bread-I'm having a hard time controlling myself.

[little_bopeep]

Do you think that it could be started in the fridge as written and then transferred to thr ABM for kneading and rising, and then finished as written? I love homemade bread, but I really hate that stage and would prefer to skip it if possible. :D

[Terrytx]

little_bopeep, I was tempted to do that, cause I hate that stage too, but I decied to use my KA instead. I think it might work okay to do that, as a matter of fact, you probably could run it all the way through the cooking cycle.

[little_bopeep]

Thanks, Terry...think I might give it a try one time. :cool:

[greysangel]

my question is do you really get 20 servings out of it? I'm scared :D heehee

[Terrytx]

It does make a big loaf, but the way we are scarfing it down it will not make 20 servings!:o

[lindrusso]

Oh my. This bread was everything that we hoped it would be. I used Sheath Stout since they did not have any Guiness, and it seemed to work fine. The bread was dense (but not too dense) and chewy - just the way we like it. The little bits of chocolate and cherries throughout are wonderful treats. We did not taste the beer at all.

Wonderful! It will go on our favorites list.

So far, we are getting some lovely recipes from the Jan/Feb issue! :)

[Peggy]

Looks like I'm the last one to make this. I ahve had the Guiness beer in the refrigerator for over a month, but just ahven't had a large enough block of time to make it. As everyone has said... It is very good! I used semi-sweet chocolate also. Unlike others, I can really taste the dark beer flavor. Probably because I'm not a beer drinker!;) Delicious bread!!

Peggy

[foodfiend]

I made this tonight -- originally posted it under a separate "pain au chocolat" thread. I know it's not the real thing, but it was close enough. I used Creemore beer (an excellent Ontario beer) instead of Guiness and used semi-sweet chocolate and pistachios. The bread seemed to be a lot of work, but I enjoyed it. The bread was moist and not too sweet. I didn't find it dense at all. I'm not sure if I could make this again, but if I do, I might try toasted hazelnuts to bring out the flavour.

[LonghornGal]

Thanks Foodfiend for bringing this up. I give it a 9! Yummy chocolate in every bite with a zingy craisin every one in a while. Plus nice yeasty bread. mmmmmmmm :D It made the house smell sooo good!

My thoughts... the recipe makes one monster loaf, which is quite impressive (especially if you have guests!). But I think it would be fine to make two or 4 smaller loaves out of it. My chocolate chips and craizins mostly sank to the bottom - next time I'll chop them up instead of leaving whole in hopes of better distribution. I used "Double-Chocolate Stout" as the beer and the chocolaty-ness of the beer really came through in the bread.

Just be warned - this takes a while for the warming, rising, kneading, rising, and baking make it on a nice leisurely day.

--Kristin

[foodfiend]

I think what bothered me about making this bread was how long it took to do it. However, I've been munching on it for the past week, and I quite enjoy it. I think I'll leave out everything but the chocolate next time.

[LonghornGal]

Originally posted by foodfiend
I think I'll leave out everything but the chocolate next time.

Wouldn't that just be a candy bar? :D

It did take a while, but in the end I felt richly rewarded. This is a "special treat" recipe for me as opposed to an everyday bread. I think I'll go have a piece right now! :cool:

[Lrimerman]

I noticed this recipe when it was published, but forgot it was on my to try list. This thread, popping up recently, reminded me.

DH likes Guiness, so I bought a six pack, now I will have to hide a few for future loaves. We loved it.

It was really great tasting, and it looked ok, but I think maybe I shaped mine wrong.

It did not rise as much as I thought it would after shaping and it was sort of a flatter shaped large disk. I expected it to look more rounded and puffed up (like a boule). However, it tasted great.

I used Scharffen Berger semisweet chocolate and Guiness Extra Stout beer. I didn't have pearl sugar so I sprinkled turbinado (raw) sugar on it and it worked fine.

I sent some home with my parents because my mom loves the chocolate cherry bread from Zingerman's. This is different than their bread, but I really like it.

Lisa

[foodfiend]

My loaf didn't look great either. But it tasted good, which is what counts.
I made this again(the first loaf disappeared somehow) and this time I used Bass Ale from England. It's a heartier beer and I preferred the taste of the bread. I have yet to actually use Guiness -- they don't sell them in 12oz bottles here. I used only chocolate this time, but I plan to use toasted hazelnuts next time.

[LonghornGal]

Just bringing this up to tell a story...

I gave some wedges of this to my classmates last Thursday. One of them gave a piece to one of the French international students. He then tracked me down to say how good it was and how it reminded him of home! So foodfiend, I guess this is a good imitation of a french cafe's baking. :D

--Kristin

[foodfiend]

I am right now enjoying a slice with a cappuccino (Nescafe instant cappuccino unfortunately, but that's what the office has). I do enjoy the bread -- Kristin, it does NOT resemble a chocolate bar if you don't add the cherries. But I will add nuts next time to give it more texture..
I find I prefer this to regular cakes and cookies. I had a bite of a brownie the other day and found it was too sweet.