So, I tried this recipe from Teresa Greenway's e-book "Discovering Sourdough Part III-A". It's a lower hydration dough at 61% using a stiff starter that has been fermenting for 3 days in the fridge; a warm bulk ferment (80-90 degrees F.), and a 12 to 15 hour retard. The flavor and texture is very reminiscent of my memories of the San Francisco sourdoughs of my youth. I'm quite excited about it!
Here is a crumb shot:
With the hot weather and no central air conditioning, I needed to be able to bake in the morning when it is still cool. Trevor helped me to work out the timing with his Champlain Sourdough. First day, in the early evening, I mixed the flour, water and salt for the long "autolyze" and popped it in the fridge. Took it out at bedtime and set on counter. In the morning I mixed in the starter and for the next six hours did hourly stretch and folds. Then I pre-shaped and let it rest for an hour.
So, I was browsing on Instagram and ran across a post by @nanascakekitchen for a really yummy looking dessert. It turned out to be a recipe for Sourdough Latvian Apple Cake by Teresa Greenway at Northwest Sourdough. So, I just had to try it. It's a fun way to use up any extra starter you might have. And it turned out so well that my daughter and her family told me that I need to make another one soon!
Well, it has been a while. Having sufficiently recovered from my broken wrist, I have finally been able to start baking bread again. I have been chronicling my progress on Instagram, but was so excited with this new recipe that I decided to come back and blog about it. I ran across Trevor Wilson on Instagram (I see that he is also here. Hi Trevor!) and was drooling over his yummy loaves and then the video for his Champlain sourdough came up on my YouTube suggestion list. I was intrigued by his technique that I just had to try it!
I have been trying raisin bread off and on for a while, but haven't been totally satisfied with the result. This one, however, turned out very well so I want to document it for future reference. Here is the recipe:
Central Milling all-purpose flour: 400 grams
King Arthur white whole wheat: 35 grams
Water: 261 grams
100% starter: 145 grams
Salt: 10 grams
Golden raisins: 1 cup
cinnamon: 2 teaspoons
butter: 1 tablespoon
honey: 2 tablespoons
The family has been asking for fluffy white bread, so lately I have been baking very fluffy, plain white rolls (actually a hamburger bun recipe). They love it. Go figure. Did sneak wheat germ in it though.
For a change, I thought I would try adapting one of Hamelman's recipes to see if I could make a light, but more nutritious loaf that also includes some sourdough starter. So, this is what I came up with:
The night before build levain and leave on counter overnight:
Bread flour: 72 grams
Water: 90 grams
Starter: 14 grams
I went through a spell of baking scones last year, but stopped when everyone in my family seemed to have their fill of them. Lately though, they have been asking for scones. I have been having really good success with my sourdough biscuits, so I decided to try my hand at sourdough scones. I have always used volume measurements for my biscuits and scones, so I'm comfortable using that method for this recipe. The starter is leftover starter straight out of my fridge. The scones turned out fluffy and flaky. Might of been even more fluffy if I had used starter that was more active.
So, my first loaf turned out really well. But I thought maybe I would tweak it a bit and see if I could adjust the flavor a bit. The original recipe for the levain was 35% in the final build. I decided to up it to 50% so that more of the whole wheat flour would be in the preferment. Certainly made for a very active dough. I only bulk fermented for a little over 2 hours and the final rise was a little over an hour.
I have a friend who wanted a loaf with more whole wheat in it, so I decided to try Jeffrey Hamelman's Whole Wheat Levain. It is 50% whole wheat and 50% bread flour. Hydration is 69%. I used KA white whole wheat. I think it turned out pretty good! I like how the crumb turned out. I am working on using a lighter touch when handling and forming the loaf.
Today a friend and I took a little trip up to the tiny town of Freestone to visit the popular Wild Flour Bread bakery. They bake sourdough bread in a wood fired oven. I gotta say I think their stellar reputation is well deserved! Here is the menu:
This time around I chose the "Wonder" white sourdough and the "Wildflour" loaf. Also had to try the lemon blueberry poppy seed, peach pecan, and apple cherry marzipan scones.
