I love bread and I love chocolate too, especially dark chocolate. This Chocolate Marble Bread is a perfect combination for me. I use Shokupan Japanese Bread recipe (https://www.rabbitmum.com/post/shokupan-japanese-bread) and modify it a bit to make this loaf. Shokupan uses milk roux or tangzhong or yudane method and the great thing about it is that the bread stay soft for a few days. This is unlike normal bread recipe that tends to get harder after a day.
Try this recipe, I am sure you are going to like it!
Ingredients
For the starter (Milk Roux or Tangzhong)
20 gr Bread Flour (I use Japanese bread flour as it gives more spongy texture)
1/2 cup fresh milk (full cream)
For the dough
1/2 cup fresh milk (full cream)
1 large egg (around 55 gr), beaten
2 cup Bread Flour (310 gram) - I suggest to measure it 310 gram to be precise
2 tsp yeast (6 gram)
4 tbsp caster sugar (probably even more if you have sweet tooth and you use dark choco chips or spread)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup softened (at room temperature) unsalted butter (56 gram)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I prefer dark choc chips but people like semi sweet or milk choc chips more) or chocolate spread (I also prefer dark choc spread but many would prefer milk choc spread)
Method
1) Combine bread flour and milk in a small saucepan and whisk until no more lumps. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the sauce thicken, around 4-5 minutes. Move it to a small bowl.
2) Add the remaining milk (1/2 cup) and stir briefly. Don't worry about the lumps. Add in the beaten egg into the mixture and stir briefly. It is not a smooth mixture with the milk roux, but it is ok.
3) In a bowl, combine the bread flour and yeast. Stir to mix them. Add in the milk roux mixture and with a hand mixer or standing mixer at medium speed, knead for about 2 minutes until no more flour seen.
Cover with wet towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. You can see the difference after 20 minutes.
4) After resting, turn on the hand mixer at medium speed and gradually add in the salt and sugar. Continue to mix at medium speed until the dough is smooth, for about 3 minutes. Add butter a little at a time and continue mixing at medium speed until all the butter is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth, roughly for about 15 minutes. The dough looks a bit wet and shiny, and this is ok. Don't worry and certainly don't add flour.
5) Divide the dough into two - 2/3 and 1/3. Scoop the 2/3 of the dough and smoothen it, make a big round shape and put it in a bowl slightly greased with oil.
6) Add the cocoa powder to the remaining 1/3 of the dough and continue to beat with mixer for about 2 minutes until no more cocoa powder is seen. Scoop it and smoothen it, make a big round shape and put the dough in a bowl slightly greased with oil.
Cover with wet towel and let the dough rest for 60 minutes. The size is expected to be double.
7) Since we are working with a little bit more wet dough than normal, it is best to work with your oily hands on a counter top lightly oiled. If your dough is not too sticky and you think you can handle it, you can work on a counter top slightly dusted with flour.
Flatten the big white dough on a flat surface by pressing it and then with a rolling pin, roll it as thin as possible. Do the same with the chocolate dough.
Spread the chocolate chips or the chocolate spread then put the chocolate dough on top of the other one.
8) Roll the stacked dough and put it in the slightly buttered loaf pan. Cover with towel and let it rest for another 50 minutes. In the last 15 minutes, heat the oven to 180 degree celcius. Once proofed, bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
9) It is ready now! Don't slice it white it is still hot. The bottom will be soggy if you slice it too early. Be patient and wait for a while :-)
Happy Baking!