Chocolate Sourdough Focaccia (better than chocolate cake)

Step 1

Feed your starter using 1:2:2 (starter:flour:water) ratio. Cover loosely and let it rise until it tripled in size, around 5-6 hours.

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder and water until everything in incorporated into a dough. Cover and let it rest for 2 hours.

Step 3

Once your levain has peaked, add 72g of levain to the dough. Knead in a mixer for 3-4 minutes or until you feel the dough has strengthened. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.

Step 4

Add 7g sea salt and 50g of sugar to the dough and mix for another 3-5 minutes. Cover and rest for 30 minutes at 75°F.

Step 5

Perform four sets of stretch and fold every 30 minutes.

Step 6

After the last set of stretch and fold, you can either place the dough in the fridge overnight or up to 36 hours. Or you can transferred dough to well oiled pan. I used a 8.25" x 12.5" pan.

Step 7

Grease the bottom and the sides of the pan generously with vegan butter.

Step 8

Every 30-45 min, gently stretched the dough in the pan but oiled hands. Repeat this step twice.

Step 9

After the last stretch, let the dough proof at 75°F for 2.5 more hours or until the dough is puffy and jiggly. Total proofing time in pan: 4 hours.

Step 10

1 hour before baking, preheat your oven to 450°F.

Step 11

Drizzle with vegan butter, dimple dough, add toppings, then baked in the oven for 33 minutes.