
My starter John Dough has been revived from the dried frozen starter I had. For those who haven’t yet dried some backup starter, I would highly recommend doing so.
My first bake using the new starter is this black sesame honey spelt sourdough sandwich loaf. I’ve increased the honey a bit and used a higher pre-fermented flour to ensure that this was ready to bake so we could head out to dinner last evening. Everything worked out quite well and I’m quite pleased with the bake. I haven’t sliced it yet and will do so tonight.

For 1 loaf in a 9x4x4” Pullman pan.
Build stiff levain, ferment at 74°F for 10-12 hours overnight.
In the morning add the salt and honey to the water and dissolve. Then add the levain and break down the levain as well as you can. Add both the flours and mix well until no dry bits are left. After 10 mins of rest start gluten development with slap and folds or use your mixer. Once the dough is well developed, while the mixer is running, drizzle in the toasted sesame oil until well incorporated. Next gradually add the toasted ground sesame seeds until well incorporated. Bench letterfold, remove aliquot, then at 30 mins intervals do coil folds until good structure is achieved.
Once the dough has risen 40% then shape the dough into a batard and place in prepared pan.
Final proof the dough until it has had a total rise of 90% from the start of bulk fermentation. Pre-heat oven at 425°F and prepare for steam bake about 30 mins prior to the dough reaching 90% rise.
Once oven reaches 425ºF score top of dough and then brush with water. Alternatively, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with black sesame seeds and then score. Transfer to oven and bake with steam for 25 mins. Vent the oven (remove steaming gear) rotate the pan and drop temperature to 350ºF. Bake for another 25-30 mins rotating as needed until browned. Remove from the pan and place directly on the rack baking for another 5-10 mins to firm up the crust if desired.




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Nice to see you back, Benny. Beautiful and inspiring as always
I will soon join the true-sourdough enriched bread bandwagon! (Finally a good reason for me to use aliquot!)
Jay
Thank kindly Jay, I look forward to your enriched bread.
Benny
Nice bake Benny! Welcome back and I'm glad to heat that John Dough is back in action.
Tony
Thank you Tony, it is a relief that John Dough is back and better than ever.
Benny
How did you grind them?
Hi Gary, I usually use my coffee grinder. However, when I was at a local Asian grocery store last year I found preground black sesame seed and I'm using that now.
Benny
Lovely bake as always. Glad to see your starter has risen from its' hibernation and is as good as new.
Happy Baking!
Ian
Thank you Ian, it is quite a relief that my starter is healthy again.
Happy baking.
Benny
Lovely bread, and glad to hear the old/new starter is this good.
I think I might actually prefer loaves like this as opposed to those made with the 3 or 4 rolled up loaves in the pan. I guess the latter gives the traditional appearance of a milk loaf; however I just love the regular and perfect appearance here.
-Jon
Jon, I’m so glad my starter is working and healthy. That mold looked awful and I was so sad that I had to throw it all away.
This is certainly much simpler to shape than the milk bread loaves. Since this is less enriched I prefer this shaping as it allows a more open crumb too.
Benny
Jon, you are talking about aesthetics, but I think doing the sideways rolls in a pan also changes the texture of the loaf. Maybe it's just me, but the bread seems a bit chewier and doesn't seem to spring back after a bite.
There was an interesting discussion once with Mini Oven about the direction of a loaf's "grain", regarding slicing with or against it.
Moe, I agree that the way we chased definitely alters the crumb of our bread. When I do the four lobe shaping, I fully degas the dough. This results in a much more closed crumb which is what I want for my milk breads. Shaped that way the dough has much greater tension and I find that the ovenspring can be enormous. I can’t say that I have noticed the bread being chewier or have less spring when eaten. I’ll have to look for that next time.
Benny
Very pleased with this loaf. It has a hint of sourness balanced by some honey. I might increase the honey just a bit more next time. The bread made for excellent sandwiches last evening.
Wonderfull results! Very nice fermentation.
Thank you very much! I certainly not disappointed.
Benny