All things DARK & Beautiful

Have I introduce you to Cocoalicious? She is my dark, lively, beautiful and chocolatey (second) starter:)

Shortly after receiving Ruby, I was leafing through my sourdough cookbook looking for the instructions on how to property feed and care for starters. Now, Venessa has several starters at The Sourdough School; but only recommends keeping one for the home baker. However, when I flipped over to the page that had instructions for a chocolate starter? Well... I barely read the instructions before grabbing into the cupboard for the bag of dark Dutch Cocoa. Hello!

That day, Ruby gave birth to a new starter; I called her Cocoalicious. So not only do I have hungry Ruby to feed, I also care for her baby Cocoalicious on a weekly basis. This makes it even harder to find babysitters when you want to go travelling - and I love to travel! 
(PS. Thank you Gail for taking such good care of my babies while Shawn and I travelled to New Zealand. They came home very happy:)). 

One of our favourite treats that I usually make once a week, is a Chocolate Walnut Sourdough - smeared in peanut butter and/or smothered in coconut oil with nut butter. It tastes like a little slice of heaven! It also makes a really delicious French toast breakfast topped with raspberry compote and maple syrup. 

Okay, you've heard enough about it. Let's get on with some photos eh? Here's a little teaser;  Cocoalicious turning into some dark and beautiful treats.

When feed, Cocoalicious becomes very rambunctious and lively, usually bubbling out of her container - kinda like me;) 

Instagram post from way back when I first starting making sourdoughs. I have learned over time, to give her a larger container to grow in when feeding her to avoid the further explosions and a gooey mess in the morning. 

This is me *wink* turning Cocoalicious into a beautiful Chocolate Walnut Sourdough. 

This is one of my first attempts along with a classic sourdough from Ruby.

Mmm. Chocolate and peanut butter...

In process: shaping chocolate loaves and proofing them in bannetons. 

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I never 'discard' my leftover starter - and that goes for Cocoalicious too! She gets spread thin, dehydrated, and turned into chocolate flour; which I then use to dust the baskets and to also add extra flavour to my loaves. I've discovered that she works really well substituted into recipes that require both flour and cocoa, so she has been made into muffins and brownies too! And yes, they were incredibly delicious;)

Remember that french toast I mentioned? I took a photo *obviously.*

It was too good not too! And the brownies? Ah, let's just say photos didn't stand a chance to how quickly we ate them. I also think the brownie might have fit under the category; 

Ugly Delicious.

Much love from me & Cocoalicious,

xoheather