I strayed from my 'usual' bakes this weekend and had some fun experimenting with some new recipes. My jumping off point was a post for a sourdough loaf I saw a month or so ago on Breadtopia that used blue cornmeal. That recipe called for freshly milled corn, which I didn't have, but I did have blue cornmeal in the freezer (which makes superior cornbread BTW).
I had made another walnut loaf a while back but wanted more flavor punch, so I upped the amount of toasted walnuts and decided to add some toasted sesame seeds. The sesame seeds seemed to disappear in the dough but really accentuate and compliment the walnut flavor. The seeds and nuts were laminated in.
I ended up halving the amount of blue cornmeal soaker called for in the recipe because it seemed like it was going to be too much and swapped out the white wheat for some sifted whole wheat that I've been trying to use up. I also adjusted the bread flour/whole wheat flour ratio slightly in favor of more bread flour, in an attempt to lighten up the crumb and add some strength to what I knew was going to be a heavy dough, and added 30 g of honey.
Followed my 'usual' autolyse method with staged additions of starter then salt rather than mixing everything together at the beginning. However, trying to pinch in the cornmeal soaker (at the same time as the salt) took quite a bit of mixing in and was a pain to get it evenly incorporated. Wondering if it could just be incorporated during the autolyse or if the grittiness would impede gluten development too much...? Would love some feedback/direction from anyone that has incorporated cornmeal into their bakes.
The toasted walnut flavor is really pronounced (in a good way) and the sesame and blue cornmeal flavors linger in the background. I will try to increase the amount of cornmeal next time but will try to find a better method to incorporate it into the dough. We cut into it tonight and it is really tasty--would be perfect with a cheese board (thinking some goat cheese and orange marmalade would be delicious...I almost added some orange zest to the loaf...maybe next time). The crumb turned out pretty light, given all the add ins, and is super moist. I let the loaf break where it wanted, which I thought was a better plan rather than trying to score it with all those walnut speed bumps in the way ;-)
Looking forward to some toast in the morning!
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Don't recall seeing your bakes for a while, the loaf and the crumb look great, nice work Leigh.
Thanks Ming! I've just been baking some of my usual weekly loaves, so nothing much new to report on lately, and have been super busy at work, so not able to be as involved here at TFL as I would like. Finally was able to take some time this past weekend to do some experimenting. Thanks for the kind comments!
Great looking split! Nice crumb. I've shied away from nut inclusions but they look so good in those slices.
I'm not sure how your soaker works... hot or cold or the length of time.
How do you feel about really scalding the cornmeal? I find a yudane (equal weight grain and boiling water mixed, left overnight) can be broken up the next morning and incorporated into an autolyse to share the moisture, or mixed into dough. Plus it lets me up hydration withOUT ill-effects because the scald traps moisture in gelatinized grain. I used the method for whole grain farro I incorporated into rolls this weekend. Creamy texture.
Hey HC! Thanks for the info. The recipe did call for a scald, which is what I did--basically, just pouring boiling water over the cornmeal and then letting it cool down sufficiently. It was pretty pasty when it came time to incorporate and really resisted getting worked into the dough. That's what I was curious about, to see if I could just incorporate it at the beginning of the autolyse...seems like it would be much easier, but was just concerned about it interfering with the gluten development. But, repeating the process with this tweak will be the best way of telling I guess!
I remember you posting about yudane before. I did actually try to use it with some cinnamon twists recently, which was probably not the best recipe to try first--the amount pulled aside for the yudane was pretty small, which turned out to be even smaller after all the little bits got left behind on the pot and whisk (and fingers, LOL). I'll definitely give it another go, but with a larger recipe. The farro rolls sound delightful! Rolls are very much appreciated around here for their 'grab and go' qualities ;-)
Thanks for the kind comments! The nuts were no issue as far as incorporating and were actually very well distributed in the loaf (although the pictures of that slice, right in the middle, seem to show more on one side). The toasted flavor is really great. I've started letting a few loaves here and there 'do their thing' as far as splitting (if I remember before plonking in the banneton)...it's interesting to see how they break open. I was worried about it negatively impacting oven spring, but I haven't really noticed any negative impact.
Thanks again!
Another option is to make your scald, then after it's done/cooled, mix the remaining water into the scald paste to break it up, then mix that with the remaining flour etc.
One clarification: tangzhong is the roux version (small amount of grain or flour mixed with 5x water or milk on stove to make paste). Yudane is equal parts grain (usually a lot more than tangzhong) and boiling water mixed and left overnight.
Good idea...I think I will try your suggestion next time--mix the scald in during the autolyse rather than the 'raw' cornmeal going in there. It might be beneficial to double the autolyse time as well.
Beautiful loaf Leigh, very nice idea of using both walnuts and sesame seeds. If you want more walnut flavour another idea is toasted walnut oil! The crumb is nicely open considering the inclusions and the cornmeal soaker. I haven’t tried using any cornmeal in my bread yet, but I do like David’s idea of a cornmeal scald/Yudane for this.
Benny
Thanks Benny! I have used walnut oil in the past with sweet bakes but never in bread...interesting idea! I will try to look for a smaller bottle though to purchase again--they seem to go 'off' quicker than I can use them (in the past) even with refrigerating the oil. One trick I've used to incorporate more walnut flavor into sweet bakes, since most of the 'crew' here are nut-averse as far as texture, is to grind up the roasted walnuts very finely with some sugar (after freezing to cool them down), just before it breaks into a butter, and will fold this into brownies or (my favorite) flourless chocolate torte...it takes the flavor profile to the next level and no one knows they are there. All the health and taste benefits without any of the complaints or whining ;-)
The sesame and walnut flavors seem to work very nice together!
Thanks again!
I like your idea of grinding toasted walnuts with sugar to add to baked goods!