Step 1

Autolyse - Premixing The DoughWeigh out your sourdough starter, sugar, cocoa powder and water into a large ceramic or glass bowl.Mix these together until they are all dissolved in the water. Then add your flour (and dark malt powder if you are going to use it) and salt and mix whole lot together to form a shaggy dough.

Step 2

Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour.

Step 3

Forming Up The DoughAfter the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre, until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than about 20-30 stretches to form the ball. You'll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up. It will be fairly sticky but as you bring it into a ball, it will become smoother and shinier.

Step 4

Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cling film back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Step 5

Stretch & Fold - Creating StructureOver the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding". Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds. For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.

Step 6

Bulk FermentOnce you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment at room temperature (a plastic cover is a better option for this stage). You want the dough to double. You can find more information on bulk fermentation here.

Step 7

Shaping The DoughOnce your dough has finished its first ferment, it's time to shape it and add the chopped chocolate. Before you start, grab the banneton you're going to be using and sprinkle some rice flour or semolina on the bottom of the banneton. Right, let's shape that dough.Use a dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl (your hands work just fine if you don't have one). You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.Before you shape the dough, pull it out into a rough rectangle. Sprinkle some of chopped chocolate over the dough. As you shape it into a batard or boule, keep sprinkling the chocolate on every fold (you can see photos of me doing this above). You can also see a video of me shaping a batard here.When you have finished shaping, the chocolate should be neatly tucked inside the dough.

Step 8

Placing Into A BannetonOnce the dough is shaped, place it into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top. Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it. Just try to handle the dough as little as possible and be really gentle as you really want to preserve all the gases and air bubbles that have formed during your bulk ferment.

Step 9

Cold FermentNow the dough is in its "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge. I use a large plastic bag to cover it - I just reuse it each time. Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours. The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.

Step 10

Preparing To BakeOnce you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F. Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets HOT. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute - placing a cold dough into a hot oven will give you a great "spring".

Step 11

Bake Time!Now it's time to bake!When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper. Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your Dutch Oven.Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife. At minimum a large cross is sufficient, but you can get as artistic as you like. You can find my full guide on how to score sourdough bread here.Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven. If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.BAKE TIME:30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F

Step 12

Finishing The BakeWhen you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.