The Fresh Loaf

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January 21, 2023 - 7:17am
Benito's picture
Benito

Orange Sweet Potato Sourdough Gua Bao and Pork Shrimp and Chive Dumplings

For appetizers before dinner tonight I wanted to have some bbq pork gua bao and pork shrimp and chive dumplings.  This was a second try at sourdough gua bao and finally successful.  I’m not sure why the previous attempt at this didn’t work without the hit of IDY because this time the only real change was the addition of sweet potato.  The gua bao will get filled with bbq pork after re-steaming just prior to serving so the filling isn’t in these photos.

For the dumplings I made the filling and obviously filled the dumplings.  I hadn’t actually done this since I lived at home as a child and helped my mother with filling dumplings so over four decades ago.  They turned out quite well considering, but then again, one gets a lot of practice when you’re making enough dumplings to be filled with over a pound of filling.  I didn’t make the wrappers myself, I suspect that the major issue in making them yourself is trying to get really consistent thickness to them in order for them to cook at the same time.  So I didn’t bother making things even more complex for myself when the store bought wrappers are really good and only a couple of bucks per package.





 Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

 

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

 

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, oil, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development. Next add your mashed sweet potato, I added 45g or about 29%.  Knead until well developed.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

 

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

 

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half, but make the top folded part a bit longer than the bottom otherwise when steamed they won’t be equal in size. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

 

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

 

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

 

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the Filling 

 

Filling Ingredients

 

  • 4 tablespoons chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
  • 1 clove garlic , grated
  • 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 heaping cup (180 g / 6.5 oz) homemade char siu , diced (or store-bought char siu) 1.5 cups is better 
  • While the dough is resting, combine all the filling ingredients in a small pot except for the diced char siu. Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved fully.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thickened, so you can draw a line on the bottom of the pot with a spatula, about 1 minute. Take the pot off the heat and let the mixture cool off. Once cooled, add the diced char siu and mix until it is evenly distributed.

Pork Shrimp and Chive dumplings

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • 1/2 pound of ground pork
  • 1/2 pound of shrimp, shelled, deveined, dried well and chopped into small pieces
  • 2 cups of Chinese chives, finely chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup of soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced through a garlic press
  • 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
  • Dumpling (水餃) wrappers

Probably do not need the salt, reduce the soy sauce a bit.  

 

Instructions

 

  • Prepare the vegetable oil. Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat for around 7 minutes. Set aside and allow it to cool. 
  • Make the filling. Place the ground pork, shrimp, chives, egg, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, garlic, white pepper and the cooled vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix, fold, whatever it takes until everything is thoroughly combined. It will feel wet and sticky and that’s okay. Allow the filling to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes or in the fridge covered until you’re ready to assemble.
  • Assemble the dumplings. In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of water. Wet one of your fingers with water and dab it on the edge of half a wrapper. Add a scoop of filling to the center of the wrapper. With the wet edge on top, seal the dumpling by bringing the dry edge up to touch the wet edge to create a half circle. Do your best to remove any extra air trapped inside the dumpling as you’re sealing.
  • Place the dumpling on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap. Repeat until you run out of filling or wrappers. Keep the dumplings separated on the baking sheet so that they don’t stick to each other.
  • Cook the dumplings. If you’re eating the dumplings immediately, cook them in a sufficient amount of boiling water so there’s room for all of the pieces to move around. Allow them to cook under a gentle boil for five minutes. Strain them from the boiling liquid, add them to a hot broth and serve.
  • If you’re eating them later on, freeze the baking sheet of dumplings. Transfer them to a storage medium once frozen. They’ll be great in the freezer for up to two months, but I’m sure they’ll be gone before then!

My index of bakes.

January 21, 2023 - 7:06am
Benito's picture
Benito

Tropical Carrot Cake

So this is the big weekend where I have to have the three layer tropical carrot cake ready.  I baked the cake on Thursday, once cooled fully wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until this morning.  Today I made the frosting and iced and decorated the cake.  The orange stuff on top is candied orange zest.  My cake carrier unfortunately is a bit to short for this decorated cake so some of the frosting at the center got smooshed.  I would increase the frosting by 50% so I’d have more than enough next time.  I also need to apply more frosting and right to if not past the edge of the cake layers between the layers.  I didn’t do this and it was a bit challenging to get more frosting between the layers to get a clean semi naked look.  Despite that, for me, this was a good bake since I have only decorated a cake with three layers once before so I’m happy with this overall.




Ingredients

CAKE

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 2 cups sugar 
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda 
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
  • 3 large eggs 
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
  • 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained about half a 540 mL can. 
  • 2 cups chopped ripe banana (might be 2-3 bananas)
  • 1 cup shredded carrot, pressed dry 
  • 1 cup sweetened coconut, plus more for garnish 
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus more for garnish

 

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

  • 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature 
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
  • 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar 453 g
  • I’d increase this by 50% so I’d have more than enough frosting. 

 

According to Better Homes & Gardens, the best way to soften cream cheese is by letting it sit in a warm water bath. This is a quick process, as the cream cheese shouldn't need to sit for longer than 15 minutes. Leaving the cream cheese in its foil wrapper, simply place the block in a bowl of warm water and let the softening begin. Hot water out of the tap works best because you don't want it to be boiling, Cheese Knees notes. You can simply let the block sit until it's soft, or you can flip it every few minutes -- either way, you want the whole thing to be submerged in the water (via The Pioneer Woman).

 

 

How to Make It

 

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla extract; whisking until fully incorporated.

 

Step 2

Fold in crushed pineapple, banana, carrot, coconut, and pecans. Divide batter evenly among 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.

 

Step 3

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely, about 1 hour.

 

Step 4

Prepare Cream Cheese Frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in mixer and beat until well combined. Add salt and powdered sugar, and beat on low until incorporated, then increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

 

Step 5

Assemble Cake: Cut domes off cake layers to create 3 even layers. Place 1 layer on a cake stand and evenly spread 3/4 cup cream cheese frosting across the layer. Place another layer on top of that one and repeat with another 3/4 cup frosting. Add final layer, and spread remaining frosting across the top. Decorate with shredded coconut and pecans.

 

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/tropical-carrot-cake

 

For the orange peel

 

  • 2 oranges
  • 200ml water
  • 200g caster sugar 
  • For the orange peel, carefully pare the zest from the orange (a tool like this would be helpful). Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange zest and remove from the heat. Let the zest sit in the sugar syrup until it has completely cooled.  Remove the peel and allow to dry on a paper towel.

Just a note here for the bake time, because I used cake strips the bake time was longer, it took 50-55 mins for the cakes to be fully baked.

My index of bakes.

January 20, 2023 - 5:09pm
trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Yeast Water levain bagels- lye bath

As far as I can tell these are a first ! No one’s ever posted an Apple Yeast Water levain bagel. I used to make bagels all the time. Have always and only used the formula from Wild Yeast blog. They are always perfect. I always use a lye bath. It’s extremely easy and so dilute there’s no danger at all. 

Three qts water and add 3 tsp lye. Bring to boil. Can reuse stored water. I’m stirring up another batch of bagels  in the next couple days so covered and left on back burner. 

I subbed my unfed stored YW 150g added to 150g t80 flour as that’s all I use now for white flour. They were shaped and  left to rise 4 hrs and retarded 5 hrs after shaping. Boiled 20 seconds per side and baked at 400 for 18 min. Fragrance is fantastic and a beautiful brown shiny crisp crust. Will post crumb in the AM with homemade jam 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 20, 2023 - 10:28am
Benito's picture
Benito

Country Sourdough

I like to tinker with my formulas over time.  I haven’t done a country sourdough in a while and wanted to try it using a stiff levain.  I kept the hydration to a comfortable 76% since I haven’t done this style of a bread in quite a while so didn’t want to go crazy high.  



Overnight levain 74°F for 10 hours.

 

In the morning add to your bowl, water, rye and whole wheat flour, mix and allow to sit for 15 mins to fully hydrate the bran.  Then add stiff levain, breaking it up into small pieces.  Then add bread flour, mix well and allow to rest for 10 mins.  Knead to build gluten.  Add salt and bassinage hold back water until the dough feels well hydrated.  Once well mixed and moderate gluten development, remove dough to bench and do a bench letterfold.  Transfer dough to a bowl.  Every 20-30 mins do a coil fold stopping when the dough feels strong and isn’t spreading quickly after a fold.  Allow the dough to rest in the bowl for the remainder of bulk.  Once the dough has risen 40% or pH dropped 1.0 then shape dough and place in a banneton.  We will aim to bake when the pH has dropped by a total of 1.4 or the dough has had a rise of 70-80%.  If doing a cold retard, can place in the freezer for 1 hour when the pH has fallen a total of 1.3 and after 1 hour in the freezer transfer to the fridge for baking the next day.

 

The next morning pre-heat the oven 500°F and set up for steam baking.  30 mins before ready to bake pour 1 L of boiling water into your metal loaf pan with the Sylvia towel rolled tightly inside to pre-steam the oven.  When the oven reaches 500°F flip the dough onto a parchment paper sheet, brush off excess rice flour, score and then brush water onto the dough but not the main score.  Transfer to the oven and onto the heated baking steel or stone.  Pour 250 mL of boiling water into your cast iron skillet.  Drop the temperature of the oven to 450°F baking with steam for 25 mins.  After 25 mins vent the steam and remove the steaming gear.  Drop the temperature to 420°F and bake for a further 20-25 mins, turning half way through and moving the bread to a rack instead of the baking steel.






My index of bakes.

January 19, 2023 - 2:09pm
albacore's picture
albacore

Quarter Sponge Revisited

The quarter sponge system was a method of professional breadmaking developed in Scotland and was designed to produce tall, airy tin loaves with the minimum amount of yeast possible. The quarter refers to the fact that a quarter of the total recipe water is used in the first sponge.

I've tried it a few times before, but the loaves were never as tall as they should be and lacked oven spring.

Not liking to give up on my breadmaking missions, I decided to have another go.

I have two recipes, one from Manna, by Walter Banfield (1946), and the other from The Modern Baker from John Kirkland (1911). Both recipes are pretty similar and this time I went with the Manna recipe. I upped the hydration from the original 55% to 61%. These old recipes always have low hydration - I guess it was because of the wheats used in those days.

 

 

Previously I think I've followed the recipe times too closely and not fully taken account of what was actually going on with the dough.

The recipe starts with the Quarter Sponge (a stiff sponge):

229g Canadian bread flour

134g water

1.8g salt

1.35g fresh yeast

DDT 24.5C

Made in the Kenwood with the dough hook with some gluten development and stored for 14 hours at 25C

After 14 hours this was well risen and starting to drop. Time for the next stage, which is the batter sponge:

Batter Sponge

All the stiff sponge, chopped up

357g BF

5g malt

393g water

6.3g salt

DDT 28C

Made in the Kenwood with K beater

Well mixed at moderate speed to give good aeration

Stored at 28C

This is allowed to rise fully and is then ready for use when it starts to drop. This should take an hour, but actually took 2hrs 40mins!

Batter songe dropping:

 

Main dough

All the batter sponge

314g BF

100g white wholemeal, coarse bran sifted out

83g water

11.5g salt

10g glucose

Mixed in the Famag with 5 minutes high speed

DDT 28C

Punchdown and knead when well risen - 1hr 20mins, then fermented for another 1hr before turning out. (The recipe time for bulk is just 1 hour.)

Scale and bench rest 20 mins

Dough degassed by pinning out into squares and then shaping and placing into tins.

Final proof lasted 1hr 40mins, until dough had reached the shoulder of the tins

Ideally the loaves should be baked in wooden frames, (the loaves are then called Scottish plain loaves), but my wooden frame experiments are over, as I don't think they are suitable for a home oven. So I baked in tins. I do have one big tin that approximates pre-war tins in size and shape so I used that. It has tapered sides which I believe give better rise than straight sided tins.

Masterclass large bread tin used:

 

The result

Much improved compared to my previous efforts! Good oven spring and a soft fluffy crumb. And very tasty, helped by the 22 hour fermentation. It's incredible to think that the yeast rate was only 0.135% fresh yeast!

 

Lance

 

 

 

 

 

January 17, 2023 - 1:32pm
foodforthought's picture
foodforthought

Viennoiserie and pâte fermentée

Been on something of a viennoiserie jag lately brought on, of course, by the holidays, visitors and deliciousness. With 7 dozen croissant, 4 dozen kouign-amann and one chausson aux pommes under my belt (gonna need a new one if this keeps up), a few brainworms have been nibbling on my thoughts.

First, I have to thank Benny (@Benito), TFL’s magellanic bread explorer, for his testimonials to the Ankarsrum roller and bread doughs. I’d been kind of stuck on the Ank hook since mine landed last June-ish and have revisited the roller for breads. It turns out that incorporating levain, poolish, etc. into the liquid components of the dough require less management (or dough herding as I think of it) with the roller. I also like the ability to adjust the roller depth during kneading of lower hydration doughs of yeasted viennoiserie. 


Secondly, It occurs to me that the pâte fermentée I have been using in my croissant dough bears a moderate resemblance to Benny’s sweet, stiff levains. At 60% hydration, it’s quite a bit wetter than several of Benny’s levains that I’ve reviewed, less sweet (at a mere 5%), contains a bit of butter (7.5%) and I’ve been using ADY for leavening it. I generally add my standard sourdough levain to the dough at mixing, more as a pre-ferment than as the sole leavening agent, so more ADY is added there. I’m not sure there are any direct parallels to Benny’s doughs here as the dough barely gets any bench time until final proofing. The pâte gets at least 12 hours of bench fermentation and the final dough gets at least 12 hours in the refrigerator after a short bench rest. But the dough definitely turns out sweetish with little or no sour notes, I think it’s safe to say that the sweet, stiff path works well in this context.

Pâte fermetée formula

T45 or pastry flour     100%

Salt                                2%

Sugar                             5%

ADY                               2%

Water                           60%

Butter                          7.5%

 I shoot for the flour in the pâte to represent ~17% of the total dough flour, or more simply, to equal 20% of all the other flour in the dough. So for 2 dozen croissants, 200g of pâte fermentée containing 114 g of flour was added to 685 g flour for a final dough of ~1400 g requiring 470 g of butter for lamination.

 Pâte feuilletée is a related but unyeasted laminated dough. Just for laughs, I used some I had stashed in the freezer to fancy up a chausson aux pommes (apple turnover) for Christmas dinner.


Been having a great time at it. Thanks to Benny and the many TFL folks who inspire me and make me think about what makes our bakes better.

January 15, 2023 - 2:03pm
Benito's picture
Benito

Gua Bao

I am still working on my steamed buns.  Today I prepped to try again with a new sourdough gua bao recipe.  I’ve added a tangzhong to make the flavour more complex and increase the hydration without making the dough handle like a higher hydration.  There is also some vegetable oil to help with moisture and tenderness.  I have kept the baking powder in the recipe since almost all the recipes I’ve seen have either baking powder or baking soda to help reduce any sourness, I’m not sure that it is necessary or not.  I decided to use a stiff sweet levain to reduce the sour tang so again, I’m not sure that the baking powder is needed.  I’ll eventually have to try making these without, that might be the only way to know.

The stiff sweet levain was at 3 times rise in the morning so everything seemed to be fine.  However, after 4 hours of fermentation at 82°F there was only 10% rise.  This the second time this has happened, both times with the sourdough boa recipe, each recipe was different, but both had baking powder in them.  I cannot think of a reason that the baking powder would have such a negative effect on the dough.  At this point, I didn’t want to have another total failure, so I dissolved 0.2 g of IDY in 2 g of water and kneaded it into the dough and reset the clock.  After that, fermentation went along quickly.  I wonder if I was just impatient, but I hate total failures that are almost inedible.  I say that, but I always taste the failures too.

I will make these again, but will start with the small amount of IDY from the start and make these as a hybrid dough with both the sourdough levain and tiny amount of IDY.  I am making these for a birthday party next weekend along with homemade pork shrimp and chive dumplings I’ve made for appetizers.  At some point in the future I’ll have another go at a fully sourdough version.



 Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 76°F to 78°F).

 

Tangzhong

In a sauce pan set on med heat with about 1.5 cm of water, place the bowl of your stand mixer creating a Bain Marie, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool.

 

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the Tangzhong, water, milk, sugar and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder, cornstarch and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop or with your stand mixer  knead the dough until good gluten development.  Drizzle in the vegetable oil and mix until well incorporated.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

 

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

 

Remove the dough to the counter and divide into six equal portions shaping each into a tight boule.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  Roll out the dough into a 3 × 6-inch oval. Brush the surface of the dough with canola oil and gently fold the dough in half. Place on a 4-inch square of parchment paper.

Cover the buns with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow them to proof until they are 1 ½ times larger,

 

Cover the filled bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach about 100% rise.

 

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Once the water is boiling turn the heat down to medium.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

 

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.



My index of bakes.

January 14, 2023 - 1:55pm
CalBeachBaker's picture
CalBeachBaker

Lumberjane Loaf

Today's bake: Lumberjane Loaf

Source: Sourdough Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads Sweets, Savories, and More - Sarah Owens

Thanks! to  cfraenkel for bringing this to our collective attention - her post can be found here:

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/71694/lumber-jane-loaf

Thanks! to Abe for forwarding the screenshot to me.

Note(s): Modified fermenting times, quartered 1/2 of the total apricots, substituted tricolor quinoa for millet, chia seed for poppy seed.

This bread is made from a majority of KA bread flour, some Palouse Brand Hard Red Winter Wheat-100% Extract, Organic Rye-50% Extract, Buckwheat Flour and a bit of whole rye which is in the culture. I was surprised by the buckwheat flours darkening  the dough coloration.

There are in addition some whole and quartered apricot, pecan pieces, chia seeds, and quinoa as add-ins that provide a wonderful flavor and texture to this bread.

One loaf is baked in a Challenger bread pan which produced a really crispy crust, another on a baking steel with a steam pan which produces a less crunchy crust.

This is my 1st attempt making this bread and will definitely will be baking it again.

Changes/Recommendations - When I make this bread again I'll reduce the baking temperature which I've adjusted in the process screen shot.

Tasting Notes

Crumb: Sour/Dairy with notes of plain yogurt, the blend of the apricot, pecan, chia seeds, and quinoa make for nice fruit and nut overtones combined with crunchiness of the chia and quinoa.

Crust: Roasted - Baked Chestnut.

Grain Character: Complex - Cooked Whole Grains.

This is a really nice dense bread which I will be making again.

Recipe and Process are below for those that are interested.


 



 



January 14, 2023 - 1:32pm
Isand66's picture
Isand66

Durum Big Country Whole Wheat Egg Sourdough Bread

 

 

   This is a pretty simple durum semolina style sourdough bread made with high extraction home milled durum and Big Country whole wheat from Barton Spring Mills.  The added egg yolks add a nice extra kick of moisture and flavor.

I milled and sifted the durum berries and whole wheat berries twice with a # 30 and #40 drum sieve.  I really like the flavor of the Big Country whole wheat and paired with the fresh durum this was an excellent bread, perfect for mopping up sauce or grilled or toasted.  The addition of the black and white sesame seeds were a welcome addition.

Formula

Levain Directions 

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 6-7 hours or until the starter has almost doubled.  I used my proofer set at 76 degrees so it took around 5 hours for me.  Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flour and water (leave about 50 -70 grams to add after the first mix), together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  After 30 minutes or so  add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces),  egg yolks and remaining water as needed and mix on low for 5 minutes.   Note: If you are using the Ankarsrum mixer like I do, add your water to the bowl first then add in the flours.  After your autolyse add in the starter, salt, remaining water and mix on low to medium low for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 1.5 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours or if using a proofer set at 80 degrees for one hour.  Remove the dough and shape as desired and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap Sprayed with cooking spray and let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 – 2 hours.  (I use my proofer set at 80 F and it takes about 1 hour to 1.5 hours).

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for around 35 minutes or until the breads are nice and brown and have an internal temperature around 200-210 F. 

Take the bread(s) out of the oven when done and let them cool on a bakers rack for as long as you can resist. 

January 14, 2023 - 11:19am
Melmelan's picture
Melmelan

Flour for bread

I am a new bread baker.  My Tartine Bread cookbook says to use white and whole wheat flour.  Does this mean white whole wheat or all purpose flour?  I read that all purpose flour has more protein.  Please comment.

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