Zebra Bread

Hi everyone,

I started bread baking on regular basis during the lockdown and apart from my standard white sourdough loaf that I bake usually twice a week I also like to try other kind of breads. I made this one for the second, but certainly not the last time.

This is a long fermented chocolate-laminated yeast bread, it takes about 24 hours tp make from start to finish. I suggest to begin the process around 6 pm the previous day with combining the dough and making the chocolate slab, and finish the bread the next day.

As for the taste, it is chocolatey but not sweet, the espresso powder added into the chocolate gives it an extra kick.

Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 275 g all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 110 ml milk (lukewarm)
• 25 g sour cream (or crème fraiche or Greek yoghurt)
• 3 g active dry yeast
• 30 g powdered sugar
• 40 g butter (room temperature)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 lemon

1 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of milk to make egg-wash

flour for dusting

For the chocolate slab:

• 25 g all-purpose flour
• 5 g corn starch
• 1 large egg white
• 10 g cocoa powder
• 60 ml milk
• 50 g dark chocolate
• 25 g sugar
• 20 g butter
• 15 g coffee granules

Utensils:

• digital scale
• stand mixer
• hand whisk
• spatula
• clingfilm
• rolling pin
• parchment paper
• pizza cutter
• brush
• bowls
• saucepan
• 20 x 10 x 10 cm bread pan

Tip flour into the mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Add about half of the lukewarm milk, 2 teaspoons of the sugar, sprinkle the yeast on top. Cover the top with flour and set it aside for about 10 minutes covered with a kitchen towel.

Yeast is ready when cracks appear on top of the flour. 

Dump the rest of the ingredients (except for the salt, butter and lemon peel) into the mixing bowl and start mixing with the dough hook attachment at low speed until the dough comes together.

At this point, add the salt, lemon peel and half of the butter while mixing constantly. When the dough has absorbed the butter, throw in the rest of the butter and mix until it is fully combined.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface, form it into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl dusted with flour. Dust the top of the dough also with a bit of flour, and cover the bowl with clingfilm.

Leave on the counter at room temperature (22 °C) to proof for 4 hours then place in the fridge for overnight. By the end of fermentation we are expecting the dough to double in volume.

Chocolate has a dual function in this recipe. It is not only there for the taste but also to create structure. Basically, it works like butter in croissant dough to keep layers apart, and that is exactly how it is incorporated into the dough.

Put chocolate and butter into a small bowl (or ramekin) and gently melt them. I put it in the microwave at 600 W for 40 seconds, but using the double-boiler method is equally right. It does not have to melt totally, just a bit, to help it dissolve in the cream.

Using a hand whisk, mix dry ingredients (flour, corn starch, cocoa powder, coffee granules and sugar) in a saucepan. Add milk and the egg white and mix thoroughly. There should be no lumps. Add the butter and chocolate mixture and combine.

Cook the mixture at low – medium heat, stirring constantly, until it gets dense, kind of like a paste (see photo No.2.). Wait for it to cool a bit, then scoop it onto a parchment paper and spread with a spatula to form an approximately 18 x 18 cm square.

Fold the parchment over and wrap it from all sides. Keep it in the freezer* until further use.

Tip: Place the parchment on a flat tray or on a cutting board, it will be easier to transfer chocolate slab into the freezer.

*No mistake here: freezer! Otherwise you will never get the right consistency.

Next morning, take the dough out of the fridge, dump it on a lightly floured surface and flatten it until it reaches a size somewhat larger than double the size of the chocolate slab. 20 x 38 cm, or the like.

Remove chocolate from the freezer and place it on top of the dough, fold the dough over and seal it all around by pinching tightly with your fingers. 

Straight after wrapping the chocolate into the dough, gently flatten the dough, moving the rolling pin from the center to one side and then to the other. You need to make sure that the dough does not stick to the surface, by lifting it from time to time and dusting lightly with flour whenever it proves necessary. Flatten the dough to a rectangle sized approximately 40 x 20 cm, then make a letter fold.

Take one of the short sides and fold it a third of the way over the rest of the dough, then fold the other side on top. Press down gently and wrap it in a piece of clingfilm and lay the dough flat in the freezer for 30 minutes. 

Repeat folding the dough two more times.

When working with the cold dough removed from the freezer, I suggest to first press and lift the rolling pin on top of the dough like shown in the first photo. That way it is less likely that the structure of the dough will be ruined.

Then, like before: flatten, three-fold, wrap, place back into the freezer for the same time. 

Place the mold on the parchment so that the shorter side of the mold is exactly on the edge of the parchment and mark the other side of the mold. Cut the parchment where marked, parallel to its edge, that way you’ll get a piece of parchment that has the same width as the longer side of the mold (photo No.2.).

Place the mold in the middle of the remaining piece of parchment and mark the corners. Then – as seen in the fourth photo – connect the dots along the longer sides and also draw lines at an angle outwards so that the wider upper part of the mold will be covered by the parchment laid inside. Cut along the lines and place it inside the mold, then also lay the other piece across.

Secure the paper with clips.

(I really struggled giving a written explanation on how to prep the mold, I hope that it will become clear when observing the photos 😊)

Following the third fold (and sufficient time spent in the freezer), flatten the dough to a rectangle sized roughly 36 x 14 cm.

For me, cutting the strand is the easiest using a pizza cutter. Leaving about 1.5 cm on top of the dough untouched, cut the dough in half lengthwise, then both halves into two equal parts.

(In the last photo you can see those layers we have been working for.) 

I chose to make a 4-strand-braid for this bread. It is a bit tricky, but absolutely doable.

I am giving explanation with reference to and in the order of the photos attached, please note that when a strand is marked by a number I will refer to the it based on its actual position from the left on that photo.

Photos 1 and 2. Cross the strands on the sides (1^st and 4^th), start by moving the strand on the far right (4^th) across to the left, then place the former left one to the right.

Photos 3, 4, 5 and 6. Bring the left one down to the middle, then move the 3^rd strand to the far left.

Photos 1 and 2. Grab the strand on the far right, bring it down to the middle.

Photos 3 and 4. Take the 2^nd strand and move it over to the far right.

Photos 5 to 7. From now on, just repeat the former process left down to the middle, third back to the left, right down to the middle, second back to the right until you have something of the strands left…

Photo 8. Tuck in the last bits underneath the braided strands. 

Gently transfer the braid into the lined mold, place it into a plastic bag and let it proof until it at least doubles in size. For me it took 3 ½ hours at 22-23 °C.

Preheat the oven to 175 °C (without fan).

Make egg wash: combine egg yolk with milk and brush only the top of the strands (that is, avoid brushing the parts where chocolate layers are visible).

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Watch closely, especially after the first 15 minutes have passed. Should the top turn too brown, then you can place a piece of tinfoil on top to stop overbrowning.

As a matter of fact, there is a tough half an hour-ish to survive, before you can start enjoying what you've baked.

After removing from the oven, leave in the mold for 10 minutes, then place it on a rack to cool completely (almost).

Another bad news is that it is likely to disappear in no time.