Modern Baker: Marbled Chocolate Brioche Loaf

A college friend was in town the other day, and she brought me two dozen fresh eggs from her mom's chickens. I've never cooked with farm fresh eggs before; what a joy! Last night, we ate scrambled eggs and pancakes, and then I searched for an eggy bread. Voila! Nick Malgieri's Modern Baker.

We are on the third section of The Modern Baker Challenge already: yeast-risen specialties. And the second recipe of the section is my official recipe: marbled chocolate brioche loaf. (Renee at Every Pot and Pan recently posted her brioche, too!)

I started by heating up milk and whisking in some instant yeast and flour. I let this rise on the counter for 20 minutes. NM says it will "become bubbly and somewhat risen." I didn't notice any major bubbles, but it easily doubled in the bowl.

I combined cold butter, sugar, salt, eggs and egg yolks, lemon zest, and dark rum in my food processor, and then added the yeast mixture and the rest of the flour. Given what others have said about the challenges of completing these recipes in food processors, I'm even more grateful to my hubby who bought me a beautiful new processor for Christmas last year!

The dough was divided into three, and then I mixed one section with a chocolate enrichment: melted bittersweet chocolate, water, baking soda, and cinnamon. I stacked the three pieces in a brioche dough sandwich, cut the stacks into three strips, and then cut each strip into smaller pieces. These were then mushed in a bowl to create the marbled effect.

Then, into a pan, simple rise, and into the oven.

farm fresh eggs!

I'll be honest; this is just not my kind of bread. I didn't love it when we made it for the BBA Challenge, either. I'm just not a breakfast bread person - donuts, coffee cakes, brioche - none of it works for me. When I suggested that it wasn't great to my hubby, he said incredulously, "What?!? You don't LOVE this?!" So I guess it was a hit!