Double Chocolate Chip Cranberry Bread: A Thanksgiving Morning Treat

One of the reasons that the baking sisters started this blog was to stay connected when I moved across the country.  However far I get away from NYC, my heart is always there and I am heart broken to watch what is going on in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross, Bend the Arc or the Educational Alliance (they do lots of fabulous work on the lower east side, both to address immediate needs and find long term solutions to poverty). 

One of the best things about New York City is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and one of our family Thanksgiving traditions is to go to the parade (outside, not watching on TV or in someone's apartment like wimps) and then go home, frozen, and eat hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies.  As we got older, we were less interested in going to the parade, but the hot chocolate and cookie tradition remained.  This year, we are taking my son to the parade for the first time, and we will undoubtably need that hot chocolate and cookies afterwards.

However, if you are not as wedded to this particular tradition, this cake would make an excellent Thanksgiving morning treat.  The tart cranberries are seasonally appropriate, and they offset the sweetness of the cake nicely.  You can make it ahead and it freezes nicely, so you don't have to add it to your list of things to make on Thanksgiving day.  Also, this is technically called "bread" so you can eat it for breakfast.  You can find the recipe here on the Baking Bites blog.

The Best Thing I've Ever Baked: Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

About three years ago, I was waiting on line at a Starbucks and I saw that they were giving out recipe cards for various baked goods that they carry.  I picked up one for chocolate cinnamon bread, something that I had never tried but since I love the combination of chocolate and cinnamon, I thought I would give it a try.  It languished in my recipe box until this week when I decided to go for it, and make it.  

And I am SO GLAD I did.  This is one of the best things I have ever made and eaten, hands down.  Usually I send baked goods to my husband's office, but this was too good and I hoarded it all to myself (I froze some for later).  I don't know if it was the moistness of the cake or the crunchy cinnamon/sugar/spice topping, but it was utterly delicious.  Please, please make this cake.  It is super easy and very satisfying, and since it is called "bread" you can eat it for breakfast :).

The only issue is that the recipe makes two loaf pans worth of cake.  I split it in half, but since the recipe calls for five eggs, I had to use half an egg to make just one loaf (although if I had known what it tasted like, I might have made two).  To make half an egg, I cracked it in a glass, beat it a little with a fork and poured half into the batter and threw out the rest.  It worked fine.  Yummy!

Here is the recipe:

Starbucks Chocolate Cinnamon Bread 

Chocolate Batter:

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 

3 cups granulated sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups dutch-processed cocoa 

1 TBSP ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Pinch ground ginger

Pinch ground cloves

1/4 cup decorating or sparkle sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

Make the chocolate batter:  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl: Sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla.  With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended.  Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

Make the Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust: In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves.  Sprinkle the surface of both batters with the decorating sugar (I didn't have any, so I just used regular sugar).  Sprinkle with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes.  Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release the breads and remove from pans.