CHOCOLATE BREAD

I made a version of this bread (or is it a cake?) for years at Bordertown Coffee; customers begged for it, but my baking staff always found it troublesome because the batter tended to leak over the sides of the pan onto the oven floor. After years of fiddling with elaborate parchment paper tents, it dawned on me that a Pullman pan would solve the problem—its tall sides would prevent the batter from overflowing. It indeed works like a charm.

The famous version of this sunken loaf is in Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess. I’ve tinkered with the recipe here and there, adding a few more ounces of bittersweet chocolate, hot coffee, and salt for some complexity. The flavor of the chocolate is deeper and darker a day or two after the bread has been made, but a slice of this warm is quite a treat. Do what you have to do. serves 6 to 8

6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet chocolate

1½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ pound (2 sticks; 227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

1½ cups (297 g) packed brown sugar

¾ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ cup freshly brewed hot coffee

½ cup boiling water

Adjust an oven rack to the lower middle position. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9 by 4 by 4-inch Pullman pan and line with a parchment paper sling, leaving an overhang on both sides.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of boiling water, being careful not to let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir constantly until just melted and set aside to cool slightly.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium until smooth. Add the sugar and salt and mix on medium until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the chocolate and mix on low until incorporated, being careful not to overbeat. With the mixer on low add the flour, a tablespoon at a time, alternately with the boiling water and coffee (you can mix water and coffee together for simplicity), mixing until smooth and liquidy.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 30 minutes. Reduce the oven to 325°F and bake 15 minutes. The loaf will still be moist inside, so a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center won’t come out clean. But this is a good thing.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool before taking the bread out of the pan, using the parchment sling, and serving. The bread will sink a little in the middle as it cools.

NOTES: If you don’t have a Pullman pan, you can use a standard 9-inch loaf pan. Be warned, however, that the batter has a tendency to leak over the sides as it’s baking, and a parchment sling is essential for keeping the bread in the pan, as well as removing the bread from the pan. I put a baking sheet under the loaf pan before baking to catch any spills, just in case.

The sunken middle can be filled with all kinds of goodness (such as crème fraîche, whipped cream, or mixed berries), or you can serve the bread plain, which is my favorite way to partake of it.