Dark Chocolate Cherry

I couldn't locate my recipe since it's been awhile, so I started looking on the Internet for something close.

This seems very close to the one I used to make. There are a few comments I'm unclear on, so my recommendation is do what you usually do. And, I should say I bake in a regular oven.



Dark Chocolate Tart Cherry Levain

1.5 lbs Bread Flour (Golden Buffalo)
1lb 2ozs water
.5oz salt
Small amount of refreshed s.dough culture (adjust depending on taste/rising time preference)
8ozs dark chocolate, broken into small bits
12ozs dried tart cherries (if sugar is added, its okay. They will come out during soaking)

1. Soak cherries for at least 30 minutes to remove any added sugar and prevent burning
2. Mix flour, salt, and water until fully hydrated, let sit for 30 minutes (can do while cherries soak)
3. Cut up levain, add to dough with cherries, mix until fully distributed, knead to develop gluten, but be gentle not to destroy cherry integrity
4. Bulk ferment until approx 1.5x volume increase, folding once* halfway through. During fold, add chocolate bits in between each fold over.
5. Very gently shape the loaf, trying not to puncture the future crust. While it's not tragic if it does happen, if there's a leak, chocolate can leak out and burn, and it might make you a little sad. But you'll be fine! It's okay!
6. Bake on a preheated stone with steam at 400-425F. LET COOL BEFORE CUTTING. Molten Chocolate is very hot! It will burn if you, so it is imperative that you resist the nearly irresistable urge to eat this bread.
7. Devour. It will probably not last very long. Not because it won't keep. But because it's too tasty. Even if you mess up a bit.