Walnut Raisin Sourdough Bread from SFBI Artisan II
Most of the breads we baked in the Artisan II workshop at the San Francisco Baking Institute (SFBI) are found in Michel Suas' “Advanced Bread & Pastry” (AB&P) textbook. A couple of the breads I and the other students enjoyed the most are not, and one of them was a delicious Walnut Raisin bread made with a firm levain and a small amount of instant yeast.
The following is my scaled down version which made two loaves of 563 gms each. (The 26 g by which the dough exceeded the ingredient weights must be due to water absorbed by the raisins.) I incorporated an autolyse in the procedure which we did not use at the SFBI.
Total Formula |
|
|
Ingredients |
Baker's % |
Wt (g) |
KAF AP flour |
71.57 |
383 |
KAF Whole Wheat flour |
19.77 |
106 |
BRM Dark Rye flour |
8.66 |
46 |
Water |
67.62 |
362 |
Walnuts (toasted) |
15.81 |
85 |
Raisins (soaked) |
19.77 |
106 |
Salt |
2.13 |
11 |
Total |
206.41 |
1100 |
Levain |
|
|
Ingredients |
Baker's % |
Wt (g) |
KAF AP flour |
95 |
77 |
BRM Dark Rye flour |
5 |
4 |
Water |
50 |
40 |
Stiff Starter |
60 |
48 |
Total |
210 |
169 |
-
Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.
-
Ferment 12 hrs at room temperature.
Final Dough |
|
|
Ingredients |
Baker's % |
Wt (g) |
KAF AP flour |
65 |
275 |
KAF Whole Wheat flour |
25 |
106 |
BRM Dark Rye flour |
10 |
42 |
Water |
72 |
305 |
Yeast (dry instant) |
0.1 |
0.4 |
Walnuts (toasted) |
25 |
85 |
Raisins (soaked) |
20 |
106 |
Salt |
2.7 |
11 |
Levain |
40 |
169 |
Total |
259.8 |
1100 |
Procedure
-
Mix the flours and the water to a shaggy mass. Cover tightly and autolyse for 20-60 minutes.
-
Toast the walnuts, broken into large pieces, for 15 minutes at 325ºF. (Can be done ahead of time)
-
Soak the raisins in cold water. (Can be done ahead of time)
-
Add the salt and the levain and mix at Speed 1 until well incorporated (about 2 minutes).
-
Mix at Speed 2 to moderate gluten development (about 8 minutes).
-
Add the nuts and raisins (well-drained) and mix at Speed 1 until they are well-distributed in the dough.
-
Transfer to a lightly floured board and knead/fold a few times if necessary to better distribute the nuts and raisins.
-
Round up the dough and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover tightly.
-
Ferment for 2 hours at 80ºF.
-
Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Pre-shape as boules. Let the pieces relax for 20-30 minutes, covered.
-
Shape as bâtards or boules and place, seam side up. In bannetons or en couche. Cover well.
-
Proof for 1.5 to 2 hours.
-
An hour before baking, pre-heat oven to 500ºF with baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.
-
Transfer the loaves to a peel. Score them. Transfer to the baking stone.
-
Turn the oven down to 450ºF and bake for 15 minutes with steam, then another 15 minutes in a dry oven. (Boules may take a few more minutes to bake than bâtards.)
-
When the loaves are done, turn off the oven but leave the loaves on the baking stone with the oven door ajar for another 8-10 minutes.
-
Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack.
-
Cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Because of the water in the soaked raisins, The dough was wetter than expected from the 67% hydration given for the total dough. It felt more like a 70-72% hydration dough.
The crust was thinner and got soft faster with this bake than that done in the deck oven at SFBI. I might try baking at 460ºF and also leaving the loaves in the turned off oven for longer. Perhaps a shorter period baking with steam would help get the crunchier crust I would like with this bread.
This bread has a delicious flavor which is exceptionally well-balance between the grains, nuts and raisins. There is a very mild sourdough tang. Definitely a bread I'll be baking frequently.
David
Submitted to YeastSpotting [1]