I grew up with a weekly bread tradition. On Saturdays, rain or shine, one of my parents stepped in as a baker and made bread for our family (and one lucky neighbor). It was no small thing; 13 loaves, two kilos each, mixed by hand with equal parts whole wheat and white flour. The mass was fermented directly on the counter (and sometimes over the rim) for a variable part of the day.
While the schedule was reliable, the bread varied from week to week. My father was consistent with his tall loaves, but my mother made bread the way she made scrap quilts. A piece of this, a little of that, a pan of leftover oats; no two groups are the same.
The idea that we can bake with what we have (or don't have) is a great jumping off point for creativity. I hold my mother's baking and her influence in my heart. I see bread, but not a recipe fixed in place – I see something that can be changed; something flexible, something in motion.
Here's an example: I've been on a cocoa kick lately. Cocoa in my dough, cocoa in my brioche dough and cocoa in my milk bread. This started with a search for a soft, enriched bread that didn't require the time commitment of my standard croissant. I tried ours Japanese milk bread and, unsurprisingly, I loved the quality. Considering what else I could do with it, I thought of a chocolate version. Thank you, mom.
Martin Philip
But where to start? Instead of guessing, I always start with what I know works. I checked my recipe files for the chocolate versions of the doughs, looked them up Bakers Association of America member files and searched our King Arthur website. Once I had a sense of what ratios tend to look like in chocolate batter, I converted my numbers to baker's percentages and pointed out some considerations.
My initial planning notes
Cocoa: A cocoa content of about 10% of the weight of the flour is a good starting point. Any more than that and I'd have to make measurable adjustments to hydration. Also, the pH of cocoa powder can affect yeast activity. Regarding the type – Dutch-process, dark cocoa, or natural – I have some choices to make.
John Sherman
Sugar: The chocolate version I dream about is barely sweet and slightly bitter. Japanese milk bread is low in sugar, but is it enough? Maybe if I add icing sugar or swedish pearl sugar to the outside of the bread, I won't need as much in the dough? Sugar doughs can be slow as they draw the necessary water out of the yeast and a slow dough will be dense. I decide to keep the sugar as it is for the first test.
Chocolate pieces: I was on the fence here, but people in my house opined that a chocolate chip cookie dough without chips was like a trip to the coast of Maine without donuts from of Congdon. So I decide to start with 15% chips in flour by weight.
Others: There are many ways to further improve the taste. Honey was exchanged for a portion of sugar, a drop of espresso powder, rum-soaked dried Bing cherries — so many options. And, knowing my tendency to get too complicated, I put a few of them on the shelf until I put the base dough together.
Martin Philip
Diving on the first test
I gathered my ingredients and weighed out the cocoa (again, 10% of the weight of the flour) and 15% of the chocolate chips. (I had minis in my hand and used them. When my colleague POSITION tested it, she cut larger pieces of her favorite chocolate to size for better distribution. Both work.)
One additional note before I jump in. Whenever I'm “off the beaten path” like this, I'm extra careful. I see, hear and feel every step of the process. Is the dough properly hydrated? What is the temperature of the dough at the end of the mixing? What is the condition of the environment in my kitchen? Did the dough rise well? How did the baking go? All this data will be useful and necessary when making adjustments for the next baking. (I never get it right the first time!)
With these thoughts in mind, my only doubt was about hydration. My plan was to leave the amount of milk unchanged. While cocoa powder will absorb some liquid as it hydrates (just like flour does), it's not the same as adding flour to the recipe because some of the cocoa powder is fat (meaning it won't absorb as much liquid as flour). Additionally, the dough must be firm enough to hold the chocolate chips. The goal is a slightly firm dough with a well-developed gluten structure. Increasing hydration can produce a very soft dough.
Let's see what happens
The first group was promising. The dough rose well in the bowl and pan, suggesting that the amount of yeast, available moisture, sugar level and pH were in a satisfactory range. It rose so well, in fact, that it was higher than I wanted after baking, spilling over the rim of the pan a bit. I found the level of sweetness to be fine – subtle and present, but not decadent. But the amount of chocolate chips was very low. I didn't want to eat it as a dessert, but 15% chocolate was not enough. So, I went back, doubled the amount, and tried again with a slightly smaller loaf size. Success! (Our recipe is here: Japanese Chocolate Milk Bread.)
Martin Philip
But what am I missing?
The chocolate version was such a hit that I wondered if I could try it in a bread or pastry recipe. But I also thought, what if I'm missing something? Is there a dough disaster in my future if I keep throwing 10% cocoa into everything?
Looking for answers, I started with our test kitchen, asking if there were any functional considerations or things to avoid. Frank Tegethoffone of our R&D specialists got back to me right away.
“Cocoa is essentially just fiber and fat … even in a high-fat cocoa, (it) is unlikely to have any effect on dough development,” he wrote, also noting that care should be taken for hydration. Perfect.
And, on second thought, I turned to him Jacquy Pfeiffer and Sebastien Canonne. You may know them from the documentary “Kings of Pastry”, or French Past SchoolOR The book of butteror their new collaboration with Rouxbe, or their many assessments.
What they sent was a treatise on baking with cocoa, organized into five topics to consider:
- Type: Dutch-process versus natural, highlighting the difference in pH and flavor influences
- Fat: The content usually varies from 10% to 24% depending on the manufacturer
- Solids: Cocoa does not contain water, solids will need hydration
- Taste: Their preference is to add cocoa for aesthetics and rely on chips or toppings for the fuller flavor.
- Roasting: Determining roasting in chocolate products can be difficult
Martin Philip
Compilation of what I've learned: Bringing back chocolate recipes
Hydration: As I noted when I made the initial dough, hydration must be considered when adding cocoa powder to any dough. Softer doughs can handle the addition of cocoa without adjustments, stronger doughs may need additional hydration. Additional moisture (water, milk, etc.) may be needed to match the amount of cocoa to meet the hydration requirements of the yeast.
Type of cocoa: Cocoa choices from natural to Dutch, black, burgundy and blends offer a wide range of flavor options. Natural is non-alkalized, with a lower pH and a brighter, slightly acidic flavor. The Dutch process, being alkalized, has a higher pH and less acidic taste, which some perceive as sweeter and fuller. PJ wrote one survey of choices available. In my testing, I've found that I like a blend of our Dutch process with a little dark cocoa mixed in, mostly for color.
Amount of cocoa: Jacquy AND Sebastian prefer cocoa amounts in the 5% to 8% range. My 10% was slightly higher, but I did not perceive the taste as bitter, probably due to the high quality of cocoa.
Types of dough: Going beyond sourdough, what about pastries and croissants? As long as hydration factors are considered, adding cocoa to doughs and muffins is Possible. For a hard dough like puff pastry, instead of adding 10% cocoa in addition to the weight of flour, I would recommend replacing 5% to 10% of the weight of flour with cocoa. With the pie crust, I would take the same approach as with the puff pastry, coating anywhere from 5% to 10% of the flour with cocoa. Alternatively, and perhaps as a better solution, I love Erin McDowell's Chocolate Pie Crust, which includes some sugar to balance the bitterness of the cocoa. It's good enough to eat plain.
Baking: Jacquy and Sebastien advise that judging the level of roasting with chocolate batters can be difficult – you just can't judge the color change very well, especially with darker cocoa. I agree and have baked and burned some of my chocolate product tests. My suggestion is to make sure your oven is calibrated or that you are using a thermometer to ensure the heat is correct and make sure you set a timer while baking. At the end of baking, check if any edges are browning a little (yes, the dough is dark, but you will see small changes), note what you feel – things will change as the browning begins. Bakers who prefer to measure the internal temperature of loaves to determine doneness may look for a temperature around 190°F. And when you taste, make notes for the next bake (“These were done in 27 minutes” and so on).
In Arkansas, my mom is still baking her bread and my dad is toast. She recently sent me a photo of a bowl of dough that was raised over the rim and onto the counter. It had some yeast and added time (maybe a little more). She gathered it up, gave it a fold and proceeded to proofread and bake. No problem. As you find your creative path, I encourage you to bring the same attitude—keep moving, keep creating, and eat your mistakes along the way. Especially to the chocolate ones.
Cover photo by Martin Philip.
