Christmas is fast approaching and life has been quite hectic recently...
I simply don't have time to maintain my beloved lievito 2.0. So instead with the little time I have had, I made my regular yeasted version of Pandoro.
It has a wonderful aroma thanks to the cocoa butter, vanilla, lemon, and fancy pandoro sugar. Although this version lacks the softness typical of the real thing made with natural yeast.
To me, the pinnacle Panettone. Formula comes from Iginio Massari.
This is the most challenging formula for Panettone, hence why I have been so drawn to it. I rise to technical challenges. I followed the formula, timings and temperatures without compromise.
I’m still experimenting and making observations my with my natural “lievito 2.0”. All that experimenting and nothing to show for it… So while I had the time I decided to actually make something. Something different to Panettone…
Biga acida
Lievito dissolved in water first then mixed with flour to create a very dry dough. Pin rolled until smooth. Rolled flat, ~4mm thick, wrapped in cling film and refrigerated for 2 days before removing and left overnight until mature.
Final dough
I couldn't resist making my favourite Panettone again!
As I wrote previously my regular Italian sourdough has been dried up and stored away in the fridge so that I could focus on making rustic sourdough breads. I created a new, wet 100% hydration starter but the temptation to convert it into a new Italian starter was too strong. And after bringing it to maturity I couldn't resist making Panettone again!
Whenever I make bread my main goal is volume. Admittedly this isn't the most rewarding feature of bread but I am a technical junkie and love taking things to the limit. Not to mention, I love super-light bread.
This loaf is somewhat akin to the improved loaf I made a few months ago but uses acidity from sourdough to boost volume. Milk and diastatic malt are used to soften the crumb.
Here I am again with another highly hydrated white spelt loaf. This time around it's sourdough raised...
I didn't set out to make this sour but boy, I mean wow is this sour!
If ever proof was needed that warm and wet makes for a more sour bread, then this is it!
On a flying visit to Dorset my family and I stopped off in Sturminster Newton to take a tour around the water mill. Wonderful! A very informative and interesting tour provided by delightfully friendly staff reminded us of times gone by. Fully automated machinery that is surprisingly old for the ingenuity. I highly recommend this tour.
I made an enormous ciabatta weighing nearly 1 kilo. I used an 18hr-fermented biga starter and a combination of medium and weak flours. This thing was massive!
Biga:
400g '00' flour from Shipton Mill
160g cold water
1.3g Instant yeast
Final dough:
Fermented biga
320g cold water
200g plain flour (9.4% protein)
24g Extra virgin olive oil
12g Non-diastatic malt powder
12g Salt
2g diastatic malt powder
olive oil for S&f.
