Cocoa & orange sourdough

cocoa orange sourdough
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Cocoa sourdough has been quite the hype recently on Instagram. I was intrigued by all the nice loaves and flavor combos that bread enthusiast keep posting everyday. I so wanted to try the cocoa addition, but I has to postpone it as my list of ‘to-be-baked’ has already too long.

I only get to bake a bread once a week now, with a full time job. When I see photos of mini bakeries and people who bake several breads at a time, I actually miss my job in the baking industry. Even though short, about a year and a half, I truly enjoyed baking hundreds of loaves and sometimes just watching the bread being made. I hope to write about that in a separate post, how i decided to switch careers in order to do what I’m passionate about.

cocoa orange sourdough
cocoa orange sourdough



Back to cocoa adventure. Having lived in Australia for some-time, long enough I guess, I fell in love with the Jaffa cookies or the flavor to be exact. I think chocolate and orange are a match made in heaven. I have made cakes, cookies, slices, desserts and all sorts of things with this flavor combo. Out of all, chocolate dipped candied orange has got to be my favorite. So this is how the idea of cocoa and orange sourdough came to be.

cocoa orange sourdough
cocoa orange sourdough

The basic 50% rye bread recipe is tweaked a little to achieve this. I have added 40 g of unsweetened cocoa tog the chocolate flavor and color. cocoa tend to be a little bit bitter, so to balance that, two table spoons of molasses is added. Zest of two whole oranges is what gives the orange scent. I have upped the water content too as cocoa absorbs moisture.

cocoa orange sourdough
cocoa orange sourdough

Also I have added 2 tablespoons of strong coffee, hoping to intensify the chocolate flavor. To be honest, I didn’t think it made a difference, but I can’t really know until I make another one without coffee. So, that to a later date.

cocoa orange sourdough
cocoa orange sourdough

I think, you can be creative here and try to incorporate something extra to this bread too. Some ideas would be, orange peel, some dried fruits, or even candied orange pieces. I am planning to redo this recipe with nuts, and if it turned out to be good, the recipe will be shared of course.




Served with cream and strawberries

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12 comments

  1. hi,
    all of your recipes are amazing. I am new to sour dough baking and i cannot wait to try your recipes. I do have a doubt though, during the last step of baking i.e after you remove the water from the oven, do we continue baking with lid off or on?

    1. Hi Pavithra,
      This loaf is baked open (on a pizza stone or a tray).
      I didn’t use a Dutch Oven for this because I wanted to get steam into it. If you are using a DO, and a steam tray, you have to bake without the lid from the beginning to end.
      Otherwise usually I don’t use steam if I am baking in a Dutch oven(DO) with lid closed. (instead you can spray the loaf with some water before placing it in the DO.
      Hope I answered your question.

  2. Hi!

    Can this loaf go straight from the fridge to the oven? Or should it come to room temp/proof on the counter for a few hours before going in the oven?

    Thanks!

    1. Depends. If it has proofed in the fridge, yes it can go straight in the oven. If not might need to sit outside until it is proofed.
      Usually my bread are ready, I retard for more than 20 hours, so they go straight in

  3. I made up your basic rye bread dough above for pita bread. It is a great color with the molasses, cocoa and dark rye and orange zest speckling. I did make a few adjustments and added azuki bean puree. The color fits very well with the other ingredients.The dark purple skin lightly visible. Thank you for this recipe!!
    Is there a way to leave a picture?

    1. Awesome! Your additions sound delicious and interesting. There’s no way of posting pictures here, unfortunately.
      But, you can post a picture on Instagram and tag me if you like.
      Cheers!
      Vindi

    1. You can use all purpose in place of white bread flour.
      I do not recommend using whole wheat as we are already using rye and the dough won’t be strong enough.

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