Warm autumn day | The Fresh Loaf

Amazingly nice weather here today. Supposed to be rainy all week, but today was definitely a day to be outside. That said, while I was planting bulbs I had a loaf rising. I did a white poolish bread that turned out excellent. french bread

I gave this about 10 minutes in the Kitchen Aid and very little yeast. I was very pleased with the crumb. french bread crumb

I also made an apple sourdough bread. It was about 15% whole wheat flour. apple bread

While I had the autolyse going I took a look in Dan Lepard's book and saw his recipe with oats and apples. That sounded good, so I quickly soaked some oats in boiling water and threw them in too. apple bread crumb

It is well baked and not at all gummy since I accidentally left it in the oven an extra 10 or 15 minutes, but the oats and apple kept it moist inside.

Floydm's Blog
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So, how does it taste? It has a beautiful crumb. I'm thinking if the apple taste comes through it would make an awesome bread for chicken salad, left over turkey sandwiches!!

It is good. The apple flavor is very subtle, but it adds a slight sweetness to the loaf. I grated the apples this time, so the flavor is spread throughout the loaf. A year or two ago I did one with tart apples that I left in chunks, which I think I may have preferred. It definitely was more appley than this one.

Floyd, That crumb looks just perfect. I like it that way. The apples sound great, especially now in the fall. Here in NJ, apples and apple cider are a fall thing. I used pears in a focaccia a while back. The flavor was subtle, as you say, but very good. Bill

Floyd, your photos are wonderful. Both of those look great and what incredible crumb structure. I feel I've taken a couple steps backward in the crumb department lately so I appreciate how yours look.

Is that the pain sur poolish recipe you have written about? It always looks so good. I love the idea of apple bread and have been meaning to make Lepard's apple and custard loaf for months. There are just too many recipes to bake! But, yes, fall does inspire us to try new things.

Is that the pain sur poolish recipe you have written about? Pretty much. I didn't post any recipe because it was one I completely eyeballed. I used roughly 1 cup water and flour and a large pinch of yeast for the poolish, then the next day add the poolish to approx a pound of flour, enough water, and some salt. 2 folds, I think, after the 10+ minutes in the mixer, then a final shape.