Buckwheat Cranberry Walnut Boule at Whole Foods
I saw this at Whole Foods in Manhattan:
The ingredients were listed as these (my comments in italics):
(high?) gluten flour, dried cranberries, whole wheat flour, walnuts, buckwheat groats (must be a soaker), molasses, rice flour, salt, malt powder, yeast, rye flour, vitamin C powder
I think there is something like it in Hamelman, which I will try to adapt. 5-7% each cranberries and walnuts as a garnish, the kasha (buckwheat groats) as a scald (boiling water soaker).
I think the malt powder and vitamin C probably speed up production for a commercial setting; I think that I can skip them. The rice flour might just be sprinkled on the banneton and the bottom of the loaf to eliminate sticking.
So the rest is working out the proportion of the (high) gluten flour (which must be the biggest ingredient, since it's listed first), and the whole wheat and rye flours. WIth rye at the very end of the list, there is barely enough to make a difference, unless maybe yeast + rye flour => starter culture. And the hydration, of course.
Any suggestions?
BTW, I was encouraged that the breads at Whole Foods looked more or less like mine - some are lower and wider than others, some of the whole grain breads don't get big oven spring.
Most formulas I've seen for cranberry walnut bread have them in the 10-20% range, so 5-7% seems low to me. Especially when you consider that the whole wheat content for this bread is somewhere between the amount of cranberries and the amount of walnuts. My personal formula is 50% whole wheat, 20% walnuts, and 20% dried cranberries, but I doubt that's what Whole Foods is selling for $7.
I think it would be reasonable to reduce the relative amount of walnuts with the inclusion of a buckwheat porridge, as long as the groats stay whole and provide their own texture.
Without cutting open or tasting that loaf, if I were to make a bread based on it, I would start with this formula:
I've never baked a hearth loaf with molasses, so I don't know how much would be too much, but it has to be more than the salt.
Good evening, Fred.
Your numbers seem reasonable. However, these calculations leave out the all important hydration. Since I am a fan of easy to handle dough, my formula would be no higher than 70% hydration, since the white flour is high extraction. 69% may even serve my purpose better. Without much thought, I would substitute non diastatic malt syrup for molasses. Off the top of my head 2% seems reasonable.
Best,
Will F.
70% might be a good place to start if you don't include the porridge water in that, but I would be prepared to add more water, as the cranberries will absorb quite a bit. I use a long bulk ferment (~12 hrs), which gives the cranberries time to equilibrate, and I know that the dough has to feel pretty slack at the beginning because it will tighten up by the time I shape. If you want a shorter bulk ferment and to get a good feel for the dough at the beginning you should pre-soak the cranberries in part of the water.
"rice flour ... rye flour"
floor sweeps.
I have used a formula based on one from Yotam Ottolenghi that might be close to what you are looking for. I have made a few modifications from the original which is in one of his cookbooks, but I don't remember which one. The original used dried cherries but I sub in dried cranberries. I mill the buckwheat groats into flour, I've used groats in another bread but didn't like the appearance, it made the bread look like it had pimples. This is a straight dough process bread. And the last time I made it I have a note that the dough seemed dry so be prepared to add more water. These were shaped as boules without a tight seam, flipped over for a natural opening when baked.
63.6% Bread Flour
20.6% Buckwheat Flour
15.8% Whole Wheat Flour
100% Total Flour
50.7% Water
13.3% Orange Juice
1.9% Salt
1.8% Yeast
4.2% Olive Oil
15.8% Dried Cranberries
15.8% Walnuts
Thanks, that looks as if it could be a match for that bread.
I started with Hamelman's Workday 100% whole wheat 100% Whole Wheat "Workday" Bread, from "Bread" and added 7% walnuts and 3.5% dried cranberries (soaked in hot water, assuming that they would double to 7%).
Here's the result Workday 100% WW with Walnuts and Cranberries
I try to avoid added sugar for health reasons, so I leave out the honey. My wife liked the bread but wanted more of the walnuts and cranberries.