Spotlight On…Alternate Flour: Einkorn, Buckwheat & Rice

The einkorn used in this bread was given by a friend. To let its flavour shine, I paired it with white whole wheat flour.

40% Einkorn Sourdough

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

180g      60%       Whole white wheat flour

120g      40%       Whole einkorn flour

For leaven:

10g       3.3%       Starter

25g       8.3%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

25g       8.3%       Water

For dough:

275g     91.7%     Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

201g       67%      Water

50g      16.7%      Whey

60g         20%      Leaven

9g            3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g         1.7%       Salt

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305g       100%     Whole grain

281g      92.1%     Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 25g for leaven. Soak the rest in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 4 hours.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the salt, leaven and soaked bran, autolyse for 15 minutes. Knead in the reserved ingredients and ferment for 30 minutes. Fold in the add-ins then ferment for 3.5 hours longer.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave to proof for 20 minutes before retarding for 11 hours.

Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F.

Score the dough and bake straight from the fridge at 230°C/446°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let cool for at least 3 hours before slicing.

Einkorn flour made the dough sticky and I almost failed to release it from the benetton. Despite the stickiness, the dough was manageable and quite elastic with the added gluten. The dough was likely slightly over-proofed, as evidenced by the lack of oven spring. Next time, I would skip the room temperature proof and retard directly after shaping.

This bread is very moist and chewy. As opposed to what some bakers suggested, I do not recognize any bitterness offered by einkorn. It is sweet and malty, with aroma that almost reminds me of coconut.

Lemon Black Sesame Sourdough with 30% Buckwheat

Dough flour:

210g      70%       Whole red wheat flour

90g        30%       Buckwheat flour

For leaven:

10g       3.3%       Starter

10g       3.3%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

10g       3.3%       Water

For dough:

290g     96.7%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

206g     68.7%       Water

59g       19.7%       Whey

30g          10%       Leaven

12g            4%       Alt Altus

9g              3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g           1.7%       Salt

1/4 tsp        -%       Lemon zest

Soaker:

15g           5%       Black sesame seeds

30g         10%       Water

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305g        100%     Whole grain

310g     101.6%     Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 10g for leaven. Soak the rest in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 4 hours.

Toast the black sesame seeds and pour the water over the hot seeds. Set aside until needed.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the salt, leaven, soaked bran and soaker, autolyse for 15 minutes. Knead in the reserved ingredients and ferment for 30 minutes. Fold in the add-ins then ferment for 5 hours longer.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave to proof for 20 minutes before retarding for 9 hours.

Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 20 minutes. 

Score the dough and bake at 230°C/446°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let cool for at least 3 hours before slicing.

The crumb texture is a bit gritty thanks to the buckwheat flour. Though still reasonably moist, I might up the hydration a bit in an attempt to improve it.

This bread is rather bitter tasting without any form of sweetener. It would be better to compliment the unique earthiness of buckwheat with some sprouted flour, or glazed nuts or dried fruits. 

Adzuki Bean White Sesame Matcha Swirl Bread

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

280g      70%       Whole white wheat flour

120g      30%       Brown rice flour (I used Japanese short grain)

For tang zhong:

20g          5%      Whole white wheat flour 

20g          5%      Brown rice flour

200g      50%      Water

20g          5%      Honey

10g       2.5%      Matcha powder

For adzuki bean paste:

80g         20%       Dried adzuki beans

320g       80%       Water (1st round)

30g        7.5%       Sugar

100g       25%       Water (2nd round)

1/8 tsp 0.16%       Salt

For sesame paste:

75g     18.75%       Toasted white sesame seeds

45g     11.25%       Condensed milk (I used low fat)

25g       6.25%       Smooth peanut butter

20g            5%       Hot water

For dough:

360g       90%        Dough flour excluding flour for tang zhong

<269g   <67.25%   All of the tang zhong

100g       25%        Water

50g       12.5%       Whey

9g         2.25%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g         1.25%       Salt

1/2 tsp  0.44%       Instant yeast  

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400g          100%      Whole grain

353.4g    88.35%      Total hydration (including tang zhong and honey)

Make the tang zhong. Slowly whisk together the flour and water until no lump remains. Cook over medium-low heat until a thick paste is formed. Remove from heat and stir in the matcha powder and honey to dissolve. Let cool to room temperature.

For the adzuki bean paste, pressure cook the adzuki beans with the first part of water for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Roughly mash the beans. Pour in the remaining water, sugar and salt, then pressure cook for 5 minutes longer. When all pressure is naturally released, stir through the mixture to mash the beans to desired consistency. Let cool to room temperature.

For the sesame paste, ground the sesame seeds to a coarse texture. Combine the rest of the ingredients then stir in the ground seeds. Set aside until needed.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients and set aside for 20 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough for a few times gently. Let ferment for an hour or until doubled in size. Divide the dough into two equal portions and roll into two rectangles of the same size. Spread the sesame paste onto one piece of dough and the adzuki paste onto another. Put the one with adzuki paste on top of the other. Pinch them together and roll into a log. Cut it crosswise into 4 equal pieces. Place them into a prepared pan with the cut sides facing the long side planes of the pan. Let proof for 20 minutes at room temperature before retarding for 10 hours.

Bake at 180°C/356°F for 50 minutes or until the bread reaches 185°F. Let cool for 1 hour before slicing.

This sweet, moist and soft bread is made for babka lovers. Both the sesame paste and adzuki paste are sweet but no overly so. The recipe for the sesame paste follows loosely of that of the filling for Chinese sesame buns麻蓉包. It was left rough and lumpy to provide some texture to this bread. As matcha and adzuki paste belong to Japanese cuisine, this bread is a fusion between Chinese and Japanese.

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Sorry for the long post!