Chocolate Syrup and HBin5 Turkish Pear Coffee Bread

"Pear and coffee in the same bread?!" you ask? Ya, I said the same thing. But it's not like it sounds. I mean....it's not what you think. Well, it's not. (do I sound like a guilty teenager?)

Neither flavor is dominant. It's rather interesting. If I handed you a slice and asked you to taste it, I doubt you could detect what's in it, but you'd like it and you wouldn't even know why.

So, why did I make this bread? Because it was one of the assignments from the online HBin5 Bread Braid that I participate in where we're baking our way through Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

If it weren't for this group, I don't think I would've felt the need or desire to make this dough at all. But I would've been missing out. There's a texture...moist, soft...and you can almost "feel" that pear grit but not quite. The coffee seems to add almost a nuttiness to it but again, not quite. And it's so pretty with it's little speckles.

Yep....those are actual coffee grounds. From fresh ground coffee beans. They almost look like poppy seeds, don't you think? And can you see the little bits of pear skin? I forget what kind of pear I used....but it's brown and firm. I figured since it was being baked, the firmer variety would be best. Especially since these doughs are almost always on the wet side. But...once you puree a pear, regardless of it's variety....it's pretty wet, so maybe that didn't make much of a difference.

If you're interested in the recipe, it can be found on page 185 in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook. It's a fantastic book. I highly recommend it. In the year that I've been messing around with the recipes, I have grown leaps and bounds. Not to mention all the advice and tips from the other members in the group. If this sounds like something you'd like to do...you can always join us. We have another year of baking ahead of us. Head on over to Michelle's blog, BigBlackDogs.net and see what we're all up to.

The bread baked up beautifully. I did forget to create the steam in the oven. Instead of a firm artisan crust, it came out soft. Which is actually fine with me. And I think we were suppose to sprinkle some raw sugar on top, which I totally forgot about until just now. That would've been nice.

 

Besides eating it as is, or toasted....I wanted to do something fun. So I made french toast. Instead of using maple syrup....I made chocolate syrup. 

Do you know how easy it is to make chocolate syrup?! OMG!!! And it tastes just like the stuff in those squeezy bottles that you buy at  the grocery stores. I found the recipe on FoodNetwork.com. It's one of Alton Browns recipes...and it totally works! If you have kids...they won't even know that it's not the "other" stuff. I swear. 

The process was so easy and basic, that I didn't even take step by step pictures. There really isn't that much to it.

Chocolate Syrup

1 1/2 cups water

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups cocoa powder (dutch processed is recommended)

1 tablespoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Mix the water and sugar together in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil. Whisk in the remaining ingredients....continue whisking until everything has dissolved together. Turn the heat down to low and continue cooking until the sauce has reduced a little and is slightly thickened. Stir occasionally so that the chocolate doesn't burn on the bottom. 

Strain the chocolate and allow to cool to room temperature. (If you have a squeezy bottle, poor it in and fake the kids out!)

And there you have it.....

Rich, dark, homemade chocolate syrup! This recipe makes a lot more than what's shown in this picture. I cut the recipe in half but the actual full fledged recipe makes about 5 cups. 

And you know what else? This makes the most awesome chocolate milk!!!

If I had mini marshmallows, I would've made a nice big mug of hot cocoa but to be honest with you...until today, it hasn't really been all that cold. What I'm really wishing for though....yep, you guessed it....a bottle of Kahlua to spice things up a bit. Now that's chocolate milk at its finest.

This is my submission for The Hearth and Soul Blog Hop this week. Click on the badge below to hope on over and see what else is being shared :)