GBBO 2016 Week 3 - Chocolate Bread - With Sweet Potato and Rye

This week on the Great British Bake Off it was bread week, and there were so many recipes I wanted to try! The first challenge was the signature - chocolate bread. I took the challenge a very different way and made a savoury chocolate rye bread. Sounds crazy - even crazier when you know there's sweet potato in the dough too! 
I made an eight-strand plait for the bread, which kind of worked - not my neatest creation but I'll put the sequence in the recipe, so you can have a go :)
I also had some spare dough, so make a couple of rolls as well. They require slightly less baking - about 20 minutes.

Makes one plait

Ingredients:

For the light dough:

• 75g finely grated sweet potato (peeled)
• 75g rye flour
• 210g strong white bread flour
• 5g instant dried yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 160ml water

For the chocolate dough:

• 75g finely grated sweet potato
• 75g rye flour
• 210g strong white bread flour
• 5g instant dried yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 2 tbsp honey
• 160ml water

Method:

1. Prepare the light dough. In a bowl that attaches to a stand mixer (with the dough hook attached), sieve in all of the dry ingredients, making sure the yeast and salt go on opposite sides of the bowl.

2. Add the honey and 120ml of the water. Turn the stand mixer on, and gradually add more water until a firm dough is being worked by the machine. You may not need all of the water.

3. Knead using the mixer for 8 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with cling film. Leave for at least one hour to prove, until it has doubled in size.

4. Repeat the above process for the chocolate dough.

5. Once both doughs have doubled in size, lightly knead them. Divide each dough evenly into four.

6. Lightly oil your surface, then roll out each of the segments into a long sausage shape. Try to get the "sausage" as long as possible without it looking like it's about to tear - I managed about 25cm. Also try to keep the width the same across the entire piece.

7. Pinch the tops of all of the segments together, then fan out the pieces (like an octopus).
To plait, from left to right, the segments are labelled 1 to 8. Every time a piece of dough moves, the dough pieces are re-numbered from left to right (1-8). 

8. Step 1: place 8 under 7 and over 1 
Step 2: place 8 over 5 
Step 3: place 2 under 3 and over 8 
Step 4: place 1 over 4 
Step 5: place 7 under 6 and over 1 
Repeats step 2-5, until all the dough is braided.

9. Neaten up the sides of the dough by tucking them under the plait. Carefully place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cover with cling film, then prove for 30-40 minutes.

10. Preheat your oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6.

11. Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes, until the base sounds hollow when knocked against. Leave to cool.

12. Enjoy!