Chocolate, cranberry & orange sourdough

This sweet sourdough loaf is stuffed with juicy dried cranberries that have been soaked in orange juice, and chunks of dark chocolate. While the aroma of the dough as you work with it is wonderful, the smells wafting through the house as it bakes is out of this world!

Chocolate, cranberry & orange sourdough

This particular sourdough is great sliced and spread with butter (salted is most definitely preferred here!) or made into a very special French toast. However, it makes THE most stunning chocolate bread and butter pudding (especially great served with a caramelised top and a lightly orange-flavoured custard):

Chocolate bread & butter pudding with orange-scented custard

As with most breads worth eating, it takes time to make in order to get real flavour out of it, but there is very little hands-on time as most of the time the dough is proving and doing its thing, so it is hardly a chore!

Chocolate, cranberry & orange sourdough

Full details on sourdough, including how to make and maintain a starter and the stretch and fold method, are in my main sourdough post here.

Cranberry, orange & chocolate sourdough: makes 1 large loaf

• 500g strong white plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoons skimmed milk powder
• 10g fine sea salt
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g sourdough starter, fed the day before (see above)
• 330ml water
• juice & finely grated zest of 2 oranges
• 140g dried cranberries
• 150g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

(1) Put the cranberries into a small pan along with the orange juice and zest. Bring to the boil, stir well and then remove from the heat. Cover and leave to plump up for at least hour, ideally overnight: the cranberries will soak up most of the juice, but any surplus juice can be added to the main dough:

(2) Mix the remaining ingredients, along with any juice that has not been soaked up by the cranberries, in a bowl as in my main sourdough recipe here.

(3) Continue throught my main sourdough recipe above until it has completed its bulk fermentation.

(4) Turn the dough out onto a work surface that has been lightly dusted with flour. Gently flatten out to a large rough-ish rectangle with the shorter edge towards you.

(5) Scatter over about half of the chocolate and cranberries over one half of the dough, leaving a border all around.  Fold the exposed half of dough over and press down on top of the cranberries and chocolate. Flatten out again, pulling the dough a bit to help it expand, and repeat with the remaining cranberries and chocolate.

(6) Pat out to a larger rectangle, with the width just shorter than the width of the banneton and roll up fairly tightly to give a taut dough. You shouldn’t have any pieces of cranberries or chocolate sticking out, but if you do, push them into the dough so they don’t burn when the dough bakes.

(7) Place in a large banneton that has been dusted liberally with rice flour or fine semolina.

(8) Dust the dough’s surface with rice flour or semolina and cover. Leave to at room temperature for a couple of hours or so to slightly bounce back in volume.

(9) Pop the dough into the fridge for up to 24 hours.

(10) Bake as in the recipe for 10 minutes for a total of 45-50 minutes.

(11) Transfer to a wire rack and cool fully before slicing and eating.

Chocolate, cranberry & orange sourdough

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip