Chocolate Bread with Crystallized Fruit Recipe by Mangia
Chocolate Bread with Crystallized Fruit
Mascarpone-rich Italian cream cheese-helps to make this a tender loaf, and bittersweet chocolate and crystallized lemon or orange peel combine to make it unusual. The lemon peel-chocolate combination will get your attention because it is different; the orange peel with chocolate is more of a classic pairing of flavors, but is no less fine. Serve a slice of either version of this elegant loaf with a cup of rich coffee, and you are in for a treat. The crystallized peel is sold in bakery supply stores. Citron, which figures in many fruitcakes (to the dismay of some otherwise dedicated fruitcake eaters), is not a substitute.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- ¾ cup mascarpone cheese
- 12 tablespoons which is 1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 1 cup diced crystallized lemon or orange peel
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour loaf pan. Cut a piece of wax paper to fit the bottom of the pan, place the paper in the pan, and grease and flour it as well.
- Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it, stirring occasionally, in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. When the chocolate has melted and is smooth, set it aside to cool; then fold in the mascarpone.
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs. one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and orange zest.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, beating until no streaks of flour show. By hand, fold in the chocolate mascarpone mixture and crystallized fruit until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool completely in the pan set on a rack; then unmold and slice. The loaf will keep, wrapped tightly in plastic, at room temperature for several days.
Variation
Chocolate Bread with Dried Cherries
Substitute an equal amount of dried cherries for the crystallized peel. Bake and cool the bread as directed above.
