Iron Chef Coffee: Coffee-Stout Bread

Iron Chef strikes again, and this was a big one. Richmond Magazine chose our secret ingredient – look for the article coming soon! This was Iron Chef: Coffee.

What would happen, we wondered, when all of that caffeine entered our systems, when every recipe utilized coffee beans? Would this be a giddy, twitchy Iron Chef? Would we be running in circles? Would we be falling up stairs? Maybe. But that just added to the excitement, right?

I couldn’t help but set the mood for myself in my corn meal. Can you see my coffee cup?

Ingredients:
1/2 cup hot strong brewed coffee (100° to 110°)
1/2 cup hot Guinness Stout (100° to 110°)
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/8 teaspoons salt
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Make coffee, and heat stout on the stovetop. When both are hot, combine both ingredients in a large bowl. Add yeast into coffee mixture, stir, and allow 5 minutes to stand and dissolve. Add whole wheat flour and wheat germ to coffee mixture. Stir well, and then cover and let stand at room temperature for thirty minutes.

After mixture has become slightly bubbly (the original recipe called this sponge-like), lightly add 1 ¼ cups bread flour and salt. Add the bread flour a little bit at a time, while stirring until a soft dough forms. Bring dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (roughly 8 minutes). Add remaining bread flour 1 tablespoon at a time as dough becomes sticky. After kneading, place dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray. Turn to coat. Cover, and let rise a second time in a warm place for one hour.

Punch down dough. Cover and let rise again in a warm place for another hour. Punch down dough, and let rest for five minutes. Shape dough into an 8-inch (roughly) oval, and place on a baking stone sprinkled with 1 tablespoon cornmeal (see pic above). Lightly coat the surface of dough with cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place one last time for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut a quarter inch slash down the center. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped.

Personally, I can say my house smelled amazingly, as did my car en route to the Iron Chef party. Though it wasn’t a winner for the night, this is definitely a recipe I’ll try again.

Happy cooking!

-KSP

(Click here for printable recipe)