Delicious plain or toasted with cream cheese and jam.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup raisins or dried cherries
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast or 5 teaspoons Surebake yeast mix
• ¼ cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3½ cups high grade flour
• ½ cup cocoa
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 1¼ cups cold water
• 75 grams butter, softened
• ½ cup chocolate chips

Method

1. Mix the raisins and rum together and set aside. Mix the yeast, ¼ cup water and honey together and set aside for about 3 minutes until the yeast dissolves and becomes slightly frothy. (If you are using Surebake this will become porridge-like).
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, salt and sugar into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the yeasty liquid and almost all the second measure of water. Mix with one hand, adding more water if needed to form a sticky mass.
3. Turn out on to a lightly floured board and just bring together. It will look untidy. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 10-15 minutes. Now, push the dough out a little and spread the butter, chocolate chips and raisins on top. Fold the dough up like a three-folded business letter and begin to knead. It will look incredibly untidy and seem to almost separate into sections. Just keep kneading until you have a smooth, supple dough. Dust the board only with flour when needed.
4. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap and a towel and stand aside until double in bulk. Turn the dough out and deflate gently. You can now do one of three things:
5. Buns: Divide the mixture into 12 even-sized portions and knead each into a smooth ball. Place on a greased tray about 1cm apart, smooth side up. Cover with greased plastic wrap and set aside for 40 minutes until double in bulk.
6. Ring: push the dough out to a rectangle and fold like a three folded business letter, bring the top third over the centre and the bottom third on top of the centre third. Gently roll out and continue to roll to about 30cm in length. Place into a large greased ring tin, or shape into a ring on a greased baking tray, brushing the edges together with water and pinching to secure. Cover with greased plastic wrap and set aside until double in bulk.
7. Loaves: Divide dough in half and place , mould into two loaves and place in two well greased 10cm x 20cm loaf tins. Cover with greased plastic wrap and set aside for 45-50 minutes until double in bulk.
8. Once doubled, bake at 200 degrees Celsius allowing 20-25 minutes for buns and about 40 minutes for the loaves and ring. The bread should sound hollow when tapped from underneath. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Decorate the top with sifted icing sugar and chocolate chips or a plain icing.

Bread Machine

1. Soak the raisins in rum and set aside. Into the Bread Machine bowl put in order the water, honey , sugar, salt, butter, cocoa, flour and yeast. Cook for sweet dough, adding in the raisins and chocolate when the machine beeps to advise it's the right time to add extra ingredients. When the dough is cooked, stand 5 minutes in the tin, before turning out onto a cake rack to cool. Note: You can prepare the dough in the machine and then shape into buns or a ring if wished.

Cooks Tips

You can prepare the dough in the bread machine and then shape into buns or shape into the loaves, leave to rest until doublwed in size and bake in the oven.