Chocolate Cherry Bread

I found a recipe about a year ago for a chocolate cherry bread, and basically it stunk. I'm pretty sure it was written wrong. So for this, I didn't use a recipe at all. Sometimes I come home from work and I just absolutely can't stand the idea of looking at any more numbers, measurements, instructions or procedures. I just want to make something good happen without having to think about it.

I wanted something like what they have at Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. Not having a loaf of theirs to compare this to, I don't know how close I came. But this was pretty good.

I took about 3 cups of milk and warmed it up in the microwave to a yeast friendly temp. I added about a tablespoon of sugar to that and sprinkled enough yeast to cover the surface of the milk in a large bowl. I let that foam up, and meanwhile melted a partial stick of butter (I guess it was about 3/4) and beat a couple eggs. I added all that to the milk. Figuring the cocoa would need a little sweetening, I tossed in about another half cup of sugar. Then I added about 2-3 tablespoons of salt, about a cup of extra dark cocoa, and proceeded to slowly add about 8 cups of all-purpose flour. In the meantime I took a package of Dove Dark Promise candies (minus the ones I ate), and roughly chopped each of them into quarters, and add those. And threw in a generous double handful of dried cherries. I kneaded the dough for about 10 minutes and let it rise about 2 hours. I shaped loaves, and let them retard in the fridge for about 7 hours while I slept. They didn't rise much, so I helped them along by putting them in a warm oven for about a half hour. I dusted them with cocoa, and then docked them. I baked them at 350 (and for a while at 375) for 45 minutes (the smaller loaf) and close to an hour for the bigger one. That's how long it took for the internal temp to get up to 195-200F. I got two gigundo loaves, one to take to work, and one for us. Good chocolatey bread studded with tangy cherries and bittersweet lumps of chocolate.