This is a very quick and easy loaf, enriched with a little butter and sugar and flavoured with cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips.  It is not as sweet as you might think, and is delicious as toast or with cream cheese or mascarpone as a snack.

• Sift 3 cups of organic strong white flour (bread flour) into a bowl
• Add a good pinch of salt, 2 Tablespoons of caster sugar and 2 Tablespoons of good quality dark cocoa powder and mix.
• Cream 15g of fresh yeast with 1/4 cup of warm water
• Make a well in the middle of the flour and add 3/4 cup of warm water and the yeast mix.
• Start drawing in the flour and mix until you have a dough.
• Add 30g of softened butter and knead into the dough.  Continue kneading on a floured surface until you have a smooth and elastic dough.
• Leave to prove in a lightly oiled, covered bowl, until almost doubled in bulk.  Depending on how warm your kitchen this should be about an hour.
• Turn out and gently knock back, using a little more flour if necessary.
• Knead a handful of organic dark choc chips or pieces into the dough, then cover with a lightly oiled piece of clingfilm and leave to rest for a few minutes.
• Shape the dough into a round loaf and place in a buttered round cake tin to rise.
• Once again it should nearly double in bulk (about 45 mins).
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220*C for the first 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 190*C and bake for another 20 minutes.
• If the bread is coming away from the sides of the tin you can turn it out gently and lightly tap the bottom to make sure it is cooked.  If not return it to the oven for 5 minute increments to finish cooking.
• Brush the finished loaf with a little melted butter and allow to cool on a rack before cutting.

Tags: baking, bread, breakfast, chocolate, sweet kitchen

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