Benito's blog

This started out as Eric’s Sourdough Deli Rye, but I started to worry about my KA mixer after I added the levain to the developed initial dough as is just wasn’t building any strength.  My KA mixer is a newish model with the plastic gears so I didn’t want to kill it just to bake this as a hearth loaf.  So I decided to make my first lean sandwich loaf.  I poured the dough (it was pretty loose) into the greased pullman pan, smoothed the top and placed it into the proofing box.  I baked it after it had risen to 1 cm below the rim of the pan.

It turns out that this makes a great sandwich loaf and one that is super fast to put together.  This is just like an Approachable Loaf from the CB but with far less whole grain.  So like Dan’s method with the Approachable Loaf, this gets one fermentation, no shaping just a rise in the pan and then a bake.  Sure a shaping and another rise would give a more even crumb, but I didn’t care, it was a perfect vehicle for a fried egg sandwich for dinner.

The recipe for this bread is located here ——> Community Bake Rye

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Some of you maybe familiar with anko, but for those of you who aren’t it is a paste that is made from azuki beans and sweetened with sugar and is a popular component in many Asian desserts.  For this bread, I made a Koshian Anko (smooth anko) but a Tsubuan or chunky anko could be used as well.  If anyone is interested I can post the recipe for the anko.

Overnight levain build

14 g starter + 86 g cold water + 86 g bread flour left to ferment at 77ºF overnight.

For the Black sesame powder

Grind 86 g of toasted black sesame seeds (I used a coffee grinder) then combine with 18 g of sugar.  Cover and set aside until the morning.

Prepare Koshian  (smooth) Anko 1 day ahead of time, use 65 g.

The next morning mix the following except for the butter.

312 g bread flour

1 large egg

30 g sugar

126 g milk

6 g salt

180 g levain 

Using a standmixer, mix until incorporated at low speed.  Then mix at higher speed until gluten well formed.  Then gradually add the butter and mix until the dough is elastic, shines and smooth.

Remove the dough from the mixer, shape into a ball and divide into approximate thirds.  Shape the largest third into a boule and set aside covered with a towel.

Take the smallest third and combine with the black sesame powder and knead by hand until the black sesame powder is well incorporated.  Shape into a boule and set aside under a tea towel.

Finally take the third dough ball and gradually combine with the anko paste smearing it on the surface and folding it in.  Knead until the dough is a uniform colour and smooth.  Shape into a boule and place under a tea towel to rest for 5 mins.

Lightly flour a work surface and the plain dough boule.  Roll out to at least 12” in length and almost as wide as the length of your pan, set aside.  Continue to do the same with the other two balls next rolling the black sesame dough out to 12” and placing that on top of the plain rolled out dough.  Finally rolling the anko dough out again to 12” and finally placing that on top of the black sesame dough.

Next tightly roll the laminated doughs starting with the short end until you have a swirled log.  Place the log in your prepared Pullman pan with the seam side down (I like to line it with parchment so it is easy to remove from the pan).  Place in the proofing box set to 82-84ºF to proof until the dough comes to approximately 1 cm below the edge of the Pullman pan.  This takes about 8-8.5 hours at 82ºF. 

At about 30 mins before you think your dough will be at 1 cm below the edge of the pan, preheat your oven to 355ºF with a rack or baking steel/stone on the lowest rack.  At this time prepare an egg wash and gently brush it on the top of the dough.  When the oven is ready 30 mins later, brush the top of the dough again with the egg wash.  Bake for 45 mins turning once halfway through.  Keep an eye on the top crust and be prepared to shield it with either aluminum foil or a cookie tray above if it is getting dark too soon.  After 45 mins remove from the pan to check for doneness.  Place the bread back in the oven for another 5 minutes to ensure that the crust on the sides is fully set and baked.

Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool completely before slicing.

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I am not having any luck with my 100% whole grain bakes.  I thought I’d give it another try, but this time with a different grain, this is a stoneground 100% whole wheat.  I should have applied some of the lessons from my previous two whole red fife bakes, those would have been to lower the hydration (isn’t that what we always advise new bakers?  I should take my own advice) and reduce the proofing.  Being a bit stubborn I went ahead and ignored some of that advice and thought that it was the red fife flour that was the problem.  No I think my methods and high hydration are the problem.  

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In the morning add levain to saltolyse dough, mix to incorporate with Rubaud mixing.

Slap and fold to good gluten development. 

Rest 30 min then bench letterfold ferment at 82ºF removing 30 g of dough for aliquot jar

Rest 30 min then lamination

Then every 30 mins coil fold until dough showing good structure

End bulk when aliquot jar 60% rise

Shape then bench rest until aliquot jar 100% rise  

Then cold retard until next day.

Next day

Preheat oven 500ºF with dutch oven inside.

Once over reaches temp, turn dough out of banneton, score and bake in dutch oven for 20 mins at 450ºF with lid on.  Drop temperature to 420ºF and bake 10 mins with lid on.

Remove lid band bake for 20 mins or until done with the bread out of the dutch oven on rack directly.

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Not sure I will keep banging my head on the wall with doing 100% whole grain.  Perhaps for me, doing 75-80% might be the sweet spot.  That amount of whole grain certainly has the flavour and has been much more successful for me.  On the other hand I hate calling it quits and not figuring something out so who knows.....

Anyhow, not my finest baking that’s for sure.

Benny

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Although my last two bakes of the 100% whole red fife were delicious, they didn’t turn out as well technically as I would have liked.  In an attempt to regain some confidence, I am returning to my country sourdough formula which has been reliable.  In retrospect, this being the third time I have baked with this new batch of whole red fife flour, I suspect this is a very fresh bag as it isn’t absorbing water the same as when I have used this flour from this mill in the past.  It usually takes me some time to get through a bag of red fife so it probably dries out over time.  In the morning after the overnight saltolyse, the dough had a sheen that appears wetter than I am used to seeing.  And when handling the dough, it is definitely wetter than it should be.  I’ll have to try the 100% red fife again and just really drop the hydration as it is acting like a freshly milled flour I think.

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Poppyseeds, sesame seeds, petitas and sunflower seeds totally weight 100 g ~20%

Build levain and mix dough with salt for a saltolyse (could holdback 20 g water) in the evening for overnight builds. Ferment at 74ºF so the levain will be at peak in about 8-9 hours or so.

In the morning, add peaked levain to the dough with holdback water if used using Rubaud mixing to incorporate.  Start of bulk @ 80ºF.

Slap and fold until full gluten development (I did 500).  Rest 30 mins.

Bench Letterfold fold, rest 30 mins.  Set up aliquot jar.

Lamination adding mixture of seeds - sesame, poppy, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  Rest 30 mins.

Do a series of coil folds every 30 mins or so watching dough and doing the coil folds when the dough has relaxed.  Stop coil folds when dough is holding shape well.

Shape when aliquot jar reaches 60% (5.5 hours for me) and place shaped dough in banneton.  Allow a further RT rise until aliquot jar shows 95% rise and then start cold retard in fridge overnight.

The following day (20 hours later) preheat oven 500ºF with dutch oven inside.  After one hour remove dough from banneton, brush off excess rice flour and score.  Brush on water and then place dough in dutch oven and place lid on DO.  Bake 450ºF for 20 mins.  Drop temperature to 420ºF and continue to bake for 10 mins.  Remove bread from dutch oven and bake directly on rack for another 15 mins rotating halfway through.

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Southern carrot cake. I’ve never made a carrot cake before believe it not. I’ve never been a huge fan of them, I’ve always said they’re just fine. This recipe is from Southern Living Magazine and was intended to make carrot cake bars. I’ve adjusted the weights to make a 9” round cake instead. 

Ingredients (tall 9” round)

• 
  2 cups all-purpose flour (1.5 cup)
• 
  1 ½ tsp.s ground cardamom (1.125 tsp)
• 
  1 tsp. baking soda (0.75 tsp)
• 
  ½ tsp. kosher salt (0.375 tsp)
• 
  1 ½ cups granulated sugar (1.125 cups)
• 
  ¾ cup canola oil (½ + ⅛ cup)
• 
  4 large eggs (3 eggs)
• 
  2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided (1.5 tsp) Divided half for batter and half for icing
• 
  2 cups grated carrots (from 2 large carrots) (1.5 cups)
• 
  ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, plus more for garnish (0.375 cup)
• 
  1 (8-oz.) can or 1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained (about 1/2 cup drained) (0.375 cup)
• 
  Cooking spray
• 
  1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, at room temperature (170 g)
• 
  ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (0.375 cup)
• 
  2 cups powdered sugar (1.5 cups)
• 
  Toasted coconut chips

Directions

Step 1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together flour, cardamom, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and 1 (0.75) teaspoon of the vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk flour mixture into sugar mixture until well combined and smooth. Fold in carrots, walnuts, and crushed pineapple until combined. Grease a 13-x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray, and pour batter into prepared pan.

Step 2 Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and top is deep golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cake cool completely in pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour.

Step 3 Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla, and beat on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating on low speed until mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. (Beat butter and sugar first, then add cream cheese and vanilla and beat further)

Step 4 Evenly spread frosting on top of cooled cake. Garnish with toasted coconut chips and additional chopped toasted walnuts. Cut into 12 bars.

This is quite good, my partner really loved it as did my neighbors.  I’m OK with it, but I think that is because I’m just not huge on carrot cake.  I’d probably add a few more spices the next time and add orange or lemon to the frosting. 

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I actually baked this twice now because I thought I had severely overproofed my first loaf.  After shortening the bench final proof before cold retard on my second loaf to compensate the second loaf was more or less the same.  Unfortunately I believe that this flour is too soft for me to bake at 100% as a hearth loaf.  It is hard to believe the difference between this loaf and the one I very recently baked at 75% red fife.  If my belief that red fife is too lacking in gluten is incorrect please let me know, I’m interested in hearing your ideas.

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During bassinage, I actually increased the hydration to 87% as the dough seemed to want more water.

Overnight saltolyse and levain build done.

In the morning add levain to saltolyse dough, mix to incorporate with Rubaud mixing.

Slap and fold to good gluten development. 800 done good windowpane 

Rest 30 min then bench letterfold ferment at 80ºF removing 30 g of dough for aliquot jar

Rest 30 min then lamination and add black sesame seeds

Then every 30 mins coil fold

End bulk when aliquot jar 60% rise

Shape then bench rest until aliquot jar 90% rise  

Next day

Preheat oven 500ºF with dutch oven inside.

Once over reaches temp, turn dough out of banneton, score and bake in dutch oven for 20 mins at 450ºF with lid on.  Drop temperature to 420ºF and bake 10 mins with lid on.

Remove lid and bake for 20 mins or until done with the bread out of the dutch oven on rack directly.

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I’ll post crumb photos later today, this is hot just out of the oven.

I don’t remember the last time I made a cobbler, and I was looking at my final half bag of frozen rhubarb sitting in my freezer that a friend gave me last spring from his garden and thought time to make a cobbler.  Of course, also feeling lazy I decided to buy frozen strawberries instead of fresh.  Although that is the lazy route, the frozen ones are much better than the fresh I can get this time of year so this should be better than fresh.  I don’t recall where I found this recipe that I’ve had saved in my Notes app for some time so cannot give the author credit.

PREP TIME

40 mins

COOK TIME

35 mins

TOTAL TIME

75 mins

The cobbler as written is pretty tart; if you prefer a sweeter cobbler you may want to take up the sugar a notch, perhaps another 1/4 to 1/2 cup.

Ingredients

Fruit mixture

• 4 1/2 cups rhubarb stalks (about 1 1/4 pounds or 560 g)  cut into 1-inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
• 1 1/2 cups strawberries (1/2 pound or 225 g), stemmed and sliced
• 1/2 cup (100 g) white sugar (1/4 cup to 1/2 cup more if you want the cobbler filling sweeter)
• 2 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
• 1 teaspoon of grated orange peel

Cobbler crust

• 1 cup (130 g) all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp white granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp, 57 g) butter, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

• Toss the rhubarb and strawberries with sugar, tapioca, zest, let rest: 
  In a bowl, mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, and orange zest. 
  Let sit to macerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F:

(175°C).

Make the biscuit topping:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, the baking powder and salt.

Use your (clean) hands to work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with pieces of butter no bigger than a pea.

Stir in the milk and egg until just moistened (do not over-mix!).

• Put fruit in casserole, top with biscuit dough: 
  Pour the strawberry rhubarb mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Drop the biscuit dough on top of the fruit, like cobblestones. 
  
• Bake: 
  Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 35 minutes until cobbler crust is golden brown.

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I had some success with my last focaccia and wanted another go at it to improve the crumb.  This time I did a direct dough and baked it same day.  That bake had an overnight cold retard.  I also extended the proof to 5.5 hours from the original recipe posted by Maurizio on The Perfect Loaf.  What follows is my adjusted recipe for one or two 9” pans and adjusted instructions.

9” round pan

Total dough weight 450 g

Levain 19%

Hydration 76%

Total flour 247.5g

Levain build 1:6:6 75ºC 8-9 hours

4 g starter + 24 g water + 24 g bread flour

9”x13” pan or two 9” round pans

Total dough weight 900 g

Levain 19%

Hydration 76%

Levain build 1:6:6 75ºC 8-9 hours

7 g starter + 42 g water + 42 g bread flour

Method

Mix – 9:00 a.m.

This dough can be mixed by hand (I would use the slap and fold technique) or with a stand mixer like a KitchenAid.

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add both the flours, water, salt, and ripe sourdough starter (hold back the olive oil until later in mixing). 

Mix on speed 1 for 1 to 2 minutes until incorporated. Then, mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes until dough strengthens and clumps around the dough hook. Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes.

Next, turn the mixer on to speed 1 and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the bowl while mixing. Once all of the olive oil is absorbed, turn the mixer up to speed 2 for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough comes back together.

Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover.

This highly hydrated and enriched dough is  wet and loose , it won’t strengthen to the same degree as a typical bread dough.

Immediately after mixing the dough is still very wet and chunky. However, it’s not falling apart or soupy. Resist the temptation to add more flour at this point, as you can see below in the image at the right, by the middle of bulk fermentation it’ll strengthen after several sets of stretch and folds.

Transfer the dough to a covered container for bulk fermentation.

Bulk Fermentation – 9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Give the dough 4 sets of stretch and folds, starting 30 minutes after mixing, and a set every 30 minutes thereafter.

Every 30 minutes for the remaining 2 hours of bulk fermentation gently stretch the dough, with wet hands, toward the corners of the rectangular container. The dough will resist stretching and spring back (especially with the oil underneath), but don’t force it—each time you stretch it’ll relax a bit more and eventually fill the container.

Proof – 11:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Transfer the dough to a deep rectangular pan or two round pans that have been greased with olive oil. If you don’t have a pan with a silicone liner, make sure to heavily oil the pan’s interior so the focaccia doesn’t stick during baking.

At 76-78°F (24-25°C), the dough will proof for 4 hours. This time period is flexible and dependent on the temperature: if it’s cooler, let it proof longer, and conversely, if it’s warm, you might be able to bake sooner.

Every 30 minutes for the first hour, uncover the pan and gently stretch the dough with wet hands to the pan’s edges to encourage it to fill the pan. The dough will naturally spread out during this proofing period, so it’s unnecessary to spread the dough aggressively. Once the dough is mostly spread to the edges, cover the pan and proof for 4 hours.

I felt that the focaccia needed 5.5 hour of proof and would consider going even longer next time.

Top & Bake – 3:15 p.m.

First, dimple the unadorned dough with wet fingers. Make sure the dimples are evenly spaced and go all the way down to the bottom of the pan. Then, drizzle on 1-2 tablespoons of your extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with herbs and coarse sea salt. If using other toppings, add them now as well—I like to press them into the dough gently.

Bake the focaccia in the oven at 450°F (232°C) until deeply colored on top, about 30 minutes. Rotate the pan front-to-back halfway through this time. Keep an eye on it during the last 5 minutes and pull it out if it’s coloring too quickly, or leave it in longer if you’d like it a little darker.

Let the focaccia cool a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. It’s fantastic warm from the oven, and best on the day of baking, but it’ll keep well for a couple days loosely wrapped in foil (reheat under the broiler before serving).

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Of note, I found that baking the focaccia in the cake pan resulted in much better oven spring than the one baked in the cast iron skillet.  Because both were proofed in their baking vessels the cast iron takes a lot longer to heat and as a result by the time the dough gets hot enough to rise, the top crust is starting to set.  Whereas the focaccia baked in the thin cake pan, while also cool at the beginning of baking, heated much more quickly before the crust started to set and ended up with much great oven spring and lovely bubbles which I like to see in focaccia.  If I want to make two focaccia at a time again, I may need to purchase another 9” cake pan.

These were topped with locally grown cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, shallots, feta (the feta and shallots were buried beneath the tomatoes and olives) olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper.  This made a wonderful dinner what a simple salad.  I love this combination and you should give it a try, feta is wonderful on focaccia.

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So after having some luck with my first greater than 40% whole grain bake last week with the 75% whole red fife, I thought I’d push my luck and try another with a formula I put together.  Still chicken to go 100% whole grain I thought I’d inch it up a bit to 80% with whole Kamut and whole spelt.  The idea came to me when I noticed that Melissa had posted a Kamut spelt sourdough on Breadtopia, but that was 100% without any white flour. 

I should note that I forgot to add the honey as indicated in the recipe.

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I also finally got around to using the BBA based spreadsheet that Dan so kindly shared with me a while back.  Hope you like this new format.

Do overnight saltolyse and levain build.

In the morning add levain to saltolyse dough, mix to incorporate with Rubaud mixing.

Slap and fold to good gluten development.

Rest 30 min then bench letterfold ferment at 80ºF removing 30 g of dough for aliquot jar

Rest 30 min then lamination

Then every 30 mins coil fold

End bulk when aliquot jar 60% rise

Shape then bench rest until aliquot jar 90% rise. 

Then cold retard overnight

Next day

Preheat oven 500ºF with dutch oven inside.

Once over reaches temp, turn dough out of banneton, score and bake in dutch oven for 20 mins at 450ºF with lid on.  Drop temperature to 420ºF and bake 10 mins with lid on.

Remove lid band bake for 20 mins or until done with the bread out of the dutch oven on rack directly.

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Sacrilege I know, focaccia is Italian but I wanted feta today on my focaccia.  So this really is just a simplified Greek salad on bread, what’s not to like?  Cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, shallots, feta cheese, salt, pepper and oregano are the toppings.  The feta is buried under each pair of tomato and olive, I wanted lots of toppings.  I followed Maurizio’s sourdough focaccia recipe again however, I did adjust down the dough weight so I would end up with a more “normal” thickness of baked focaccia in the end.  Because of scheduling, I had to do a cold retard of the dough overnight for the bake today.  I wasn’t sure how long to let it final proof for and I’m not sure if it is over or under proofed.  I was hoping to have lots of big bubbles, which I also didn’t get on my last focaccia.  

9” round skillet

Total dough weight 450 g

Levain 19%

Hydration 76%

Total flour 247.5g

Levain build 1:6:6 75ºC 8-9 hours

4 g starter + 24 g water + 24 g bread flour

Method

Mix – 9:00 a.m.

This dough can be mixed by hand (I would use the slap and fold technique) or with a stand mixer like a KitchenAid.

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add both the flours, water, salt, and ripe sourdough starter (hold back the olive oil until later in mixing). 

Mix on speed 1 for 1 to 2 minutes until incorporated. Then, mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes until dough strengthens and clumps around the dough hook. Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes.

Next, turn the mixer on to speed 1 and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the bowl while mixing. Once all of the olive oil is absorbed, turn the mixer up to speed 2 for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough comes back together.

Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover.

This highly hydrated and enriched dough is  wet and loose , it won’t strengthen to the same degree as a typical bread dough.

As you can see below on the left, immediately after mixing the dough is still very wet and chunky. However, it’s not falling apart or soupy. Resist the temptation to add more flour at this point, as you can see below in the image at the right, by the middle of bulk fermentation it’ll strengthen after several sets of stretch and folds.

Transfer the dough to a covered container for bulk fermentation.

Bulk Fermentation – 9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Give the dough 4 sets of stretch and folds, starting 30 minutes after mixing, and a set every 30 minutes thereafter.

Every 30 minutes for the remaining 2 hours of bulk fermentation gently stretch the dough, with wet hands, toward the corners of the rectangular container. The dough will resist stretching and spring back (especially with the oil underneath), but don’t force it—each time you stretch it’ll relax a bit more and eventually fill the container.

Proof – 11:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Transfer the dough to a deep rectangular pan that’s been greased with olive oil. If you don’t have a pan with a silicone liner, make sure to heavily oil the pan’s interior so the focaccia doesn’t stick during baking.

At 76-78°F (24-25°C), the dough will proof for 4 hours. This time period is flexible and dependent on the temperature: if it’s cooler, let it proof longer, and conversely, if it’s warm, you might be able to bake sooner.

Every 30 minutes for the first hour, uncover the pan and gently stretch the dough with wet hands to the pan’s edges to encourage it to fill the pan. The dough will naturally spread out during this proofing period, so it’s unnecessary to spread the dough aggressively. Once the dough is mostly spread to the edges, cover the pan and proof for 4 hours.

OVERNIGHT OPTION: After two hours in proof, cover the rectangular pan with an airtight cover and transfer to the fridge. The next day, take out the dough and let it come to room temperature, and continue with the Top & Bake step below.

The rectangular pan I use fits perfectly inside my B&T Dough Proofer. I keep it inside the proofer, covered with reusable plastic, and set to 78°F (25°C) until ready to bake.

About 30 minutes before you anticipate the sourdough focaccia dough being ready, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) with a rack placed in the bottom third (a baking stone is not necessary).

Top & Bake – 3:15 p.m.

First, dimple the unadorned dough with wet fingers. Make sure the dimples are evenly spaced and go all the way down to the bottom of the pan. Then, drizzle on 1-2 tablespoons of your extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with herbs and coarse sea salt. If using other toppings, add them now as well—I like to press them into the dough gently.

Bake the focaccia in the oven at 450°F (232°C) until deeply colored on top, about 30 minutes. Rotate the pan front-to-back halfway through this time. Keep an eye on it during the last 5 minutes and pull it out if it’s coloring too quickly, or leave it in longer if you’d like it a little darker.

Let the focaccia cool a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. It’s fantastic warm from the oven, and best on the day of baking, but it’ll keep well for a couple days loosely wrapped in foil (reheat under the broiler before serving).

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