Portuguese Corn Bread (Broa de Milho) for Homemade Bread Day
The original post for this bread credits Varda for requesting a recipe for it. The poster (whom I neglected to record - sigh), found and adapted a recipe, and it was that formula I chose to prepare. It contains whole wheat, spelt, rye and BF, along with a scald of cornmeal. It employs a 4-hour levain and an overnight bulk ferment on the counter.
There were several steps, so I had read the recipe carefully, assembled ingredients, and (thought) I followed the directions. All went fine with the levain and with the scald, but once I brought everything together for the final dough... I had soup. No way was the flour going to accommodate all that liquid. I still can't figure where I misstepped, but reviewing the formula, it was clearly my mistake.
So, Tillie (my erstwhile apprentice and harshest critic) and I conferred - it was either: toss the mess and start over or attempt a repair. Plan B it was! In went more flour, and more, and more (plus salt), nearly 400 g. How could I have mismeasured by that much?! But it came together and I left it on the wet side (% wasn't possible at this point) to allow for hydration. So into an oiled bowl for the night on the counter, and woke to this...
It looked disastrous, but all was recovered, a few stretch and folds later, it was a lovely, resilient dough that I divided into 6, rather than the intended 4 small loaves. Wow. Two hours later, it went into the oven, baked on parchment at 450F for 20 minutes with steam and at 400F for 25 minutes without. They sprang nicely, but didn't brown beyond a sunny, corny gold.
I'd like to make this one again - correctly next time - but I'm not displeased with it. The crumb is a bit closer than I would have wished, but soft and pliant, the corn flavor comes through and there's a noticeable, but not overpowering sour. There's no denying that it's homemade bread, but that's exactly what I wanted it to be.
Looking forward to seeing all the posts! Happy Homemade Bread Day!
Cathy
Comments
And a fine one, at that. I just need to follow the recipe more accurately.
Cathy
Good for you for persevering and not throwing out the mess. You ended up with some nice loaves. Nice crumb too!
Your loaves look great :)
I look forward to seeing the second attempt.
Ru
Glad you gave this one a try. I have not made it in a while and was actually thinking about trying it again soon. Looks like you persevered and it came out just fine. Crumb looks perfect. I don't think mine was very open either. Did you do the swirl technique to shape the loaves?
Happy Baking!
Ian
can't expect to live in heaven all the time:-) Nice recovery, That was a lot if flour so it had to be soup! That's a good dipping bread and has to make some good sandwiches. Well done and happy baking Cathy. I usually blame these things on Lucy.........
Mandatory for dressing with the turkey, and easily my favorite part of the entire meal.
Yes, it was incredibly soupy, but I really hate to waste. The right stuff was in there, just needed to correct the proportions. I was glad that it turned out as well as it did, and am looking forward to sandwiches. This weekend, I'm thinking it's time to get more Chocolate Stout (or Porter, though I wouldn't know the difference). I feel a beer bread coming on... Tillie's just about forgotten about the goof up and she always approves of beer breads.
Oh, the best part! I'm glad I wrote my Bread Challenge a day early, because yesterday I became a grandmother, and was soooooo emotional and distracted by it that no way would I have been able to write anything. I can hardly wait to meet my new grandson!
Happy baking and Happy Thanksgiving!
Cathy
Yeah. I'm guessing that's why they call it ........ Portuguese .......cornbread.
for your kind, supportive words. I've seen many of your posts and some spectacular bread baking. You all are so talented, and it's a privilege to share an interest in common with you.
Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!
Cathy
I'm glad it turned out beautifully for you!