Triple Chocolately Yummy Bread

I realized a few posts back that I was obsessively posting on my home baked bread loaves because I was still so fascinated by the fact that they turned out perfectly every time. Well, I took a break from baking bread and posting about it, but I just have to post another one because once again, I'm delighted and shocked that this batch of bread turned out perfectly, and, in fact, came out far better than I expected.



I've grown to really trust the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes book but when I decided to take on the task of making the author's recipe for an intensely chocolately and rich bread, I felt a little unsure. The recipe contains four eggs and over half a pound of chocolate along with almost a full cup of honey, so is by no means an inexpensive recipe.



Of course, as with every other recipe from this book, the bread is some of the best I've ever eaten. I was worried about giving a few loaves away but this bread is something I'll be proud to share with others. I will add that these recipes are so perfect for a casual (read: unwilling to measure precisely) baker who produces a lot of flops (read: terrible baked goods).



This recipe did take a few starting attempts before I was able to pull it all together. I started the first step of melting the butter and chocolate before I realized that 5 more oz of chocolate were necessary so I put off making it until the next evening. Then, I was several steps into the recipe before I realized that I only had half the amount of flour called for, so Matthew and I made an emergency run to Whole Foods and arrived with 15 min to spare before they closed. The dough seemed just fine, despite having sat as a soupy mess while we made our flour run and not rising as much as I'd expected. Perhaps I'll have even better results next time I make this bread, but, in all honestly, this didn't need to turn out any better to make me a happy little baker girl!

Cherry Jelly and colorful fishies

Not much to post recently, though not for lack of trying. I have just found that most of my recently taken food photos look terrible. I partly blame the grey skies which never provide for attractive lighting but also, most of the food I've made comes out looking kinda weird.

These are the only exceptions and even then, this all may be a little bit silly:



So, the two mugs at the top look like they contain liquid in them but it's actually Sour Cherry Jello!! which they call jelly in the UK. I like Jelly better than Jello! It's much cuter. You can see the jelled juice in the photo taken from above. I bought this delicious sour cherry juice from the Russian beverage section at North Park Produce about a month ago and just finally got around to trying it out. It's really yummy.


This darling little jar of crackers just caught my fancy and I had to take a photo. I served these along side a chicken and salami meatball soup that, as Matthew said, mostly contained beans and spinach. I have to admit the meatballs were a little odd as well, a little dusty tasting. hmmm...maybe the cracker crumbs contained dust?

So, I'll try to make more attractive foods in the next month in hopes that I'll be able to post a bit more often.