Double Chocolate Baguettes for Evil Tara

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Now...on to today's Saturday challenge. Coming up on Valentines Day. I am without speech for the first time in several years. Really. The Evil Think Tank is under seige and only we can save it. The ETT being the place where Evil Tara and Evil Tess come together with our mega brains and create. Only this time, I was alone in the bat cave. Yesterday Evil Tara posted a challenge to me. How do you make chocolate bread baguettes studded with chocolate chips? My first thought was, " well, I don't want any burning chocolate chips". I'm officially weird. I don't think those little chips should stick out enough to ever be a black nub on the chocolate baguette of love. Am I right? Anyone with me? If I have chocolate in my bread, I want it protected. It should be enveloped in an ion shield. So, that's what I did. I strapped on my super-cape, protective wrist bands and electronic super-spy belt buckle. Gold and shiny as they are, I was still able to bake. Mission complete. The only little chocolate chips to escape at all are the ones that peeked through the slashes on the top. So...how do we get this bread. Come to my bakery of course! Wait...I don't have one right now, so that won't work. I guess you'll just have to make your own.

Chef Tess Bakeresse's Double Chocolate Baguettes yield 2
12 oz luke warm water (no hotter than 110 degrees) 1 1/2 cups
1 T. active dry yeast (or 1 packet)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 lb 12 oz bread flour ( 5 1/2- 6 cups)
4 (1 oz each) unsweetened bakers chocolate squares
1 T espresso powder (or Pero for the Mormon ladies)
2 tsp salt
4 oz unsalted butter, (1/2 cup)
2 large eggs (1/2 cup)
1 T double strength vanilla
8 oz, high quality chocolate chips


Combine the butter and bakers unsweetened chocolate and melt slowly over a double boiler or in the microwave 15 seconds at a time. Stir often as to not burn the chocolate.

Stir and stir. Try not to imagine yourself as a one inch version of yourself floating away in a chocolate jacuzzi with Edward Cullin...he is fictional character. He will never love you.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, brown sugar and about 1 cup of the flour. When the chocolate mixture is completely melted, allow to cool so that it doesn't feel warm to the touch. Mix into the water flour and yeast mixture. Add the salt, vanilla, eggs and remaining flour, reserving about 1/2 cup of flour. Knead by hand 5-7 minutes until a soft supple dough is formed. It should look like this.
Very little if any flour is needed to keep this dough from sticking to the work surface if you have followed the recipe correctly. Place in a 2 gallon covered bowl and allow to raise about 2 hours, until doubled in size.

Punch down dough. Divide the dough in half.

Roll out into a 14 inch by 10 inch rectangle and spread half the chocolate chips onto the dough, leaving an inch around the outside edge. It helps to lightly roll a rolling pin over the chocolate chips to ease them into the dough. Be careful not to push them through, just nestle them in the dough...

Tightly roll the dough into a long log, encasing the chocolate chips. Don't make them longer than your sheet pans. I don't have a huge oven like I did in the bakery...so I had to make them short baguettes...like 16 inches or so.

I had a dream about an alien planet that was all cratered with chocolate chips like this. I think it was after I had eaten too many brownies.

When it is all rolled, be sure not to let any of those little cuties escape. Hey...an escaped nibblet. Ooop. I had to do a mercy eating...just so it wouldn't get burned in the oven. See how benevolent I am.

Place loaves seam side down on a lightly oiled sheet pan or pan lined with parchment paper. You can cover each loaf lightly with plastic wrap or place in an Unheated oven, lightly spraying it with a mist of water. Raise 1 1/2-2 hours, until very fluffy. Remove wrapping or take out of cool oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take one egg white and 2T water and whisk together in a bowl. Lightly coat the top of the bread with the egg mixture using a pastry brush.

Slash with a sharp knife lightly three times across the top of the bread.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until over 170 degrees with a meat thermometer.

When baked, the outside will be smooth and shiny. The inside will be studded with chocolate chips. Well, unless a few peek out through the slash marks.

There you go.