Elsie_iu's blog

You know how bread (or specifically, naan) is perfect for soaking up every last drip of curry? And how addictive paneer curry dishes are? Palak paneer, methi malai paneer, paneer butter masala and achari paneer, to name but a few. Curry bread is definitely not a new idea. See the popular Japanese fried curry bread (Kare-Pan) for evidence. Here, I combined Indian curry spices, Thai strong-flavoured condiments and Western cheese in this bread, a surefire way to wake one’s dimmed summer appetite.

Indian-Thai-Inspired Cheese Curry Sourdough

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

150g      50%       Whole spelt flour

90g        30%       Spouted spelt flour

60g        20%       Pearl barley flour

For leaven:

10g        3.3%       Starter

40g      13.3%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

40g      13.3%       Water

For dough:

264g        88%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

173g     57.7%       Water

57g          19%       Whey

90g          30%       Leaven

9g              3%       Vital wheat gluten

5g           1.7%       Salt

-g               -%       Curry spice mix (1/8 tsp each of coriander, cumin, turmeric and black pepper, and a pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon)

Add-ins:

60g        20%       Gloucester cheese, cubed (or sub a strong Cheddar)

1.5g      0.5%       Dried fried shallots

1.5g      0.5%       Dried fried baby shrimps

3g            1%       Fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

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245g      80.3%       Whole grain

275g      90.2%       Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 40g for leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, around 5 hours.

Soak the dried shallots and shrimps in a little hot water to rehydrate. Set aside until needed.

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 15 minutes. Fold in the add-ins then ferment for 2 hours longer.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Retard for 9 hours after proofing at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Let the dough warm up at room temperature for an hour. Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F.

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 2 hours before slicing.

The crust of this bread is extra crispy as the fats of the cheese fried the dough surface. It is contrasted by the moist crumb and gooey cheese. I love the spiciness of this bread but feel free to tone it down by reducing the spices used.

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To be honest, I have never been much of a fan of beetroot. The only way it tastes good to me is when roasted to slightly caramelized on the edges. This bread was a request from a friend who kindly gave me some high quality beetroot powder.

Beetroot Hazelnut Sourdough with 20% Rye

Dough flour:

240g      80%       Freshly milled whole white wheat flour

60g        20%       Whole rye flour

For leaven:

8g         4.7%       Starter

36g        11%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

36g        11%       Water

For dough:

264g        88%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

211g     70.3%       Water

62g       20.7%       Whey

80g       26.7%       Leaven

9g             3%       Vital wheat gluten

5g          1.7%       Salt

15g            5%      Beetroot powder

Add-ins:

30g          10%      Toasted hazelnuts

___________

304g       100%       Whole grain

313g     103.0%      Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 36g for leaven. Soak the rest in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, around 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 4 hours longer. I used cold water this time to prevent over-proofing.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Retard for 10 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 2 hours before slicing.

I’m aware that adding ascorbic acids to dough can preserve the bright red colour of beetroot. However, red is an eldritch colour for bread crumb to me…Brown bread beats red bread anytime of the day :) Despite the absence of red crumb, I can taste the presence of beetroot. This bread is not noticeably sour even though the leaven was on the mature side and rye flour was included. I attribute this to the addition of beetroot, which its sweetness masks the sourness.

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Fish tacos with homemade corn tortillas (100% masa harina at 160% hydration)

Stir fried rice noodles

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

___________

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

___________

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  

___________

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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Corn man tao

Dabrownman’s Chili Verde. Thanks again for the recipe. My family loved it!

Smoked salmon kedgeree

Barley risotto with garlicky shrimp and summer veggies

Sorry for the long post!

After baking a loaf of yellow bread, it makes total sense to attempt creating orange bread next, right? This might sound odd at the beginning: mangoes, carrots, coconuts, oranges, ginger and coriander with… pancetta? But not so much if you think about how heavenly a combo prosciutto and peaches (or melons) make.

Vibrant Orange Sourdough with Pancetta

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

180g      60%       Whole white wheat flour

60g        20%       Sprouted white wheat flour

60g        20%       Pearl barley flour

For leaven:

10g        3.3%       Starter

40g      13.3%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

40g      13.3%       Water

For coconut milk (or sub 42g canned coconut milk):

14g        4.6%       Coconut cream powder

28g        9.3%       Hot water

For dough:

260g     86.7%      Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

156g       52%       Water

49g      16.3%       Whey

42g         14%       Coconut milk

90g        30%        Leaven

9g             3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

10g        3.3%       Alt Altus

5g          1.7%       Salt

90g         30%       Finely shredded carrots

1/2 tsp       -%       Orange zest (from 1 medium orange)

1/4 tsp       -%       Coriander powder

1/4 tsp       -%       Freshly grated ginger

Add-ins:

30g        10%       Dried mangoes

12g          4%       Crumbled crisped pancetta (from 4 thin slices)

___________

245g      80.3%     Whole grain

292g      95.7%     Total hydration (the carrots contribute to extra moisture)

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 40g for leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 5 hours.

Soak the dried mangoes in enough hot water to rehydrate. Set aside until needed.

Dissolve the coconut cream powder in the hot water if using.

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 1.75 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 20 hours.

Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 40 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 nuttiness and sweetness of barley and sprouted white wheat go very nicely with the fruits and spices in this bread. Biting into the pancetta bites gives a surprising burst of saltiness, which helps to balance the sweetness and keeps things interesting.

Inspired by Dabrownman’s mushroom-pie-looking apple pie, some of the pancetta went into this miso mushrooms stuffed aubergine  

100% Whole Wheat Sourdough with 50% Sprouted

Dough flour:

150g      50%       Whole red wheat flour

150g      50%       Sprouted red wheat flour

For leaven:

10g        3.3%       Starter

40g      13.3%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

40g      13.3%       Water

For dough:

260g    86.7%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

208g    69.3%       Water

52g      17.3%       Whey

90g         30%       Leaven

9g             3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g          1.7%       Salt

___________

305g      100%     Whole grain

305g      100%     Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 40g for leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 5 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 2.5 hours, with two rounds of stretch and fold after 20 and 60 minutes.

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

Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 40 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.

Due to improper shaping, the cross-section of the bread came out to be a bit irregularly shaped. However, it was well-proofed with pretty open crumb and a lightly blistered shiny crust.

This one has a very robust flavour with prominent sweetness. Its taste is distinctive to regular unsprouted red wheat bread.

Chocolate ganache filled sweet buns for mom

There were plenty of chocolate sourdough posts recently. I was a bit hesitant in baking my own because, you know, the idea of chocolate bread is just a bit…boring… Cherries, raisins, cranberries, hazelnuts, coffee and not much else. It’s also conventional to pair chocolate with rye or spelt flour. Really, there’s not much creativity to speak of.

If you know anything about me, you understand that I’ve to put my own spin on every bread I bake. Not long ago, I made use of the sweetness of milk chocolate to compliment the strong flavour of goat cheese in bread. However, for this bake, it’s the chocolate that takes the centre stage.

Darjeeling Tea Chocolate Orange Sourdough with Masa Harina and Buckwheat Flour

Dough flour:

210g       70%       Whole red wheat flour

60g         20%       Masa Harina

30g         10%       Buckwheat flour (raise to 15% for more pronounced flavour)

For leaven:

10g        3.3%       Starter

10g        3.3%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

10g        3.3%       Water

For tea:

10g         3.3%       Darjeeling tea leaves

50g       16.7%       Hot water

For dough:

290g     93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

206g     68.7%       Water

64g       21.3%       Whey

50g       16.7%       Darjeeling tea

30g         10%        Leaven

30g         10%        Unsweetened cocoa powder

20g         6.7%       Maple syrup (tastes a bit bitter at this %, feel free to increase up to 15%)

9g             3%        Vital Wheat Gluten

6g             2%        Dark barley malt powder

5g          1.7%        Salt

Add-ins:

9g             3%       Candied orange peels (might be better at 6%)

33g         11%       Chopped dark chocolate

___________

305g       100%      Whole grain

335g     109.8%     Total hydration (still felt a tad stiff because of the addition of cocoa powder, I suggest upping it further to 112%)

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.

Soak the orange peels in enough hot water to rehydrate. Set aside until needed.

Steep the tea by pouring the hot water over the tea leaves. Leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture and discard the tea leaves.

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 6.5 hours longer.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 20 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave to proof for 12 minutes before retarding for 12 hours.

Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 40 minutes. Spray the dough with water and sprinkle the poppy seeds onto its surface.

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.

This bread bloomed well in the oven. It’s also a rare occasion that I got the scoring right. The crust is pleasingly shiny and crispy.

It was a bit shocking when I cut the bread open. Despite the fact that the dough was properly proofed and carefully handled, the crumb was not as open as I had hoped for. I think the cocoa powder added some significant weight to the dough which resulted in the rather close crumb. The crumb is by no mean dry but could definitely be moister. It might be a wise decision to up the hydration next time I work with cocoa powder.  Nevertheless, the dough structure achieved is pretty decent.

I like the corn and Darjeeling tea flavour in the background of this bread. However, the buckwheat is somewhat masked by the cocoa powder. Increasing the percentage of maple syrup and candied orange peels would help in achieving a better balance between sweetness and bitterness.

My first bake with white flour (yes, really) was dedicated to txfarmer’s sourdough ciabatta

It’s been a while since some strong-flavoured bread came out from my oven. I decided it’s the time for the comeback of my most-loved bread type.

Smoked Chipotle Onion and Parmesan Sourdough

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

120g     40%       Whole white wheat flour

90g       30%       Whole spelt flour

60g       20%       Whole red wheat flour

30g       10%       Sprouted spelt flour

For leaven:

5g         1.7%       Starter

20g       6.7%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

20g       6.7%       Water

For dough:

280g   93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

208g   70.6%       Water

52g     17.3%       Whey

45g       15%        Leaven

9g           3%        Vital Wheat Gluten

6g           2%        Dark barley malt powder

5g        1.7%        Salt

1/4 tsp      -%       Smoked chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp      -%       Dried thyme

Add-ins:

15g         5%       Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

15g         5%       Dehydrated onions

For crust:

3g          1%       Poppy seeds

___________

302.5g      100%       Whole grain

282.5g     93.4%       Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 20g for leaven. Soak the rest (I got 14g) in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 5 hours.

Rehydrate the onion in enough hot water. Set aside until needed.

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 1.5 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 20 hours.

Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 40 minutes. Spray the dough with water and sprinkle the poppy seeds onto its surface.

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.

There was decent oven spring and the crust even blistered a little. It’s not common for me to a lot of blisters so I was pretty excited about it. However, I obviously have to work harder on my scorings…

Rye is the typical grain to go with onion and cheese. As I happened to have none on hand at the moment, the amount of dark barley malt powder used was doubled as compared to my usual 1% addition. Not only did it give a darker-colour-bread, but also enhanced the flavour profile by contributing some bitterness and toastiness. 

The onion-cheese-smoked-chipotle combo works so well. This bread smelled terrific while baking! Waiting for it to cool long enough before slicing was a arduous task. The spelt imparted some sweetness, adding to the complexity of this bread.

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Whole spelt sourdough naan, spice stuffed okra, and mushroom and soya chunk in tomato cashew curry

Corn and black bean enchiladas with onion and pineapple salsa 

Shimeji mushroom, pea and egg tofu saute with oyster sauce 

Before I talk about the details of this bread, I have to express my gratitude for Joze and Alan. Without their tips and advises, it would not be born. Thank you so much! 

This is my fifth attempt at barley flour, which also happens to be the first successful one. Regarding the challenges I faced when working with it, please refer to my recent forum post:  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/56589/does-barley-have-exceptionally-high-enzymatic-activities

The major changes I made for this bake are cutting the room temperature bulk fermentation drastically from around 8 hours to 1.75 hours only, as well as skipping the autolyze. They're essential for the preservation of gluten and thus the structure of the dough.

Barley, Spelt and White Wheat Bread With 10% Sprouted Spelt

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

120g      40%       Whole white wheat flour

90g        30%       Pearl barley flour

60g        20%       Whole spelt flour

30g        10%       Sprouted spelt flour

For leaven:

20g       6.7%       Starter

20g       6.7%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

20g       6.7%       Water

For dough:

280g     93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

212g     70.6%       Water

53g       17.6%       Whey

60g         20%        Leaven

7g           2.3%       Powdered Alt Altus

9g              3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

6g              2%       Salt

___________

215g      70.5%      Whole grain

295g      96.7%      Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 20g for leaven. Soak the rest (I got 4g) in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients for a minimum of 4 hours.

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

Roughly combine all dough ingredients and set aside for 15 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough until the gluten is lightly developed then ferment for 15 minutes. Construct another two sets of stretch and fold with a 30 minutes fermentation in between. Leave the dough to ferment for the last 45 minutes untouched. This gives rise to a total of 1.75 hours of bulk fermentation.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave it on the counter for 15 minutes before retarding for 16.5 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/480°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Score the dough and bake at 250°C/480°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 205°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

I love this crust despite the slight over-bake! It’s shiny and crispy: just how all rustic bread crust should be like. The dough rose by approximately 20% only during the retard but it did spring a bit in the oven. Extending the bulk fermentation by 15-30 minutes may promote a better rise. 

No gluten degradation this time! The crumb is not very open but I do not get pancakes… As always, this bread is chewy but very moist at the same time.

The sweetness and nuttiness of barley shines through in this bread. I put just 10% sprouted flour into the formula for this bake to limit the enzymatic activities. Now I’ve more confidence in working with barley flour, a higher percentage of sprouted flour would go into the mix for sure in future bakes. That’s because nothing beats the taste and aroma of freshly milled sprouted flour:)

Mixed mushrooms and bursted cherry tomatoes spaghetti with balsamic glaze

Mexican quinoa, sugar snap peas and roasted salmon glazed with tamarind date chutney

I seriously can’t believe it. There’s now a grain mill in my kitchen! Needless to say, I planned a bake with freshly ground flour the day I took it home.

Brie, Hazelnut and Goji Berries Sourdough with White Whole Wheat Flour

Dough flour:

294g      98%       Freshly milled white wheat flour

6g            2%       Buckwheat flour

For leaven:

20g       6.7%       Starter

20g       6.7%       Bran shifted out from dough flour

20g       6.7%       Water

For dough:

280g     93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

224g     74.7%       Water

56g       18.7%       Whey

60g         20%        Leaven

13g         4.3%       Powdered Alt Altus

9g              3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g           1.7%       Salt

Add-ins:

50g      16.7%       Brie

15g           5%       Toasted hazelnuts

15g           5%       Goji berries

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310g      100%      Whole grain

310g      100%      Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 20g for leaven. Soak the rest (I got 16g) in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients for a minimum of 4 hours.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 3.5 hours.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except the soaked bran, salt and leaven. Autolyse for an hour. Knead in the rest of ingredients then let the dough ferment for 8 hours.

Re-hydrate the goji berries in enough warm water. Cube the brie (I left the rind on). Keep refrigerated until needed.

Fold in the add-ins. Stretch and fold the dough for a few times then let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave it on the counter for 30 minutes (mine was under-proofed at 20 minutes) before retarding for 10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/480°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Score the dough and bake at 250°C/480°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 205°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

Same formula except for that all red wheat flour was subbed for white and the add-ins were 10% toasted walnuts and 20% vanilla infused figs instead.

There’re two major changes I made for these two bakes. Not only did I use such a large percentage of freshly milled flour for the first time, but I also experimented on a different steaming method. Instead of generating steam using two wet towels while leaving the loafs uncovered, the loafs were covered using a round disposable aluminum pan. No external sources of steam were provided yet the resulting bread has the crispiest and shiniest crust I’ve ever achieved!

Both bakes were somewhat flawed as I under-proofed the dough for both times (How could I??). As a result, the crumb was not as open as it could have been, especially at the bottom part. Fortunately, the bread is still very moist and chewy.

The flavours of grains were intensified when they’re not given much time to oxidize. I noticed heightened sweetness and bitterness in red wheat flour. They added more character to the bread and allowed it to pair with stronger flavours without them being overwhelming.

The difference in taste between freshly milled flour and bagged flour is more subtle than that between freshly milled sprouted flour and un-sprouted flour though. So next time for sure I’ll be incorporating some sprouted flour as well! How much complexity is it going to add!

I decided to offer the formula of my last bake another chance as the bread tasted too good to abandon. To solve the spreading issue, the hydration is dropped from 88% to 83%. This produced a much more manageable dough. In the hope of preserving the fragile gluten, I also added a 15 minutes autolyse and reduced the round of stretch and fold from two to one only. 

100% Whole Spelt Sourdough with 50% sprouted flour

Dough flour:

150g      50%       Whole spelt flour

150g      50%       Freshly milled sprouted spelt flour

For leaven:

10g       3.3%       Starter

20g       6.7%       Bran shifted out from dough flour

20g       6.7%       Water

For dough:

280g     93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

182g     60.7%       Water

46g       15.3%       Whey

50g       16.7%       Leaven

13g         4.3%       Alt Altus, powdered

9g              3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g           1.7%       Salt

3g              1%       Dark barley malt powder

___________

305g       100%      Whole grain

253g         83%      Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 20g for leaven. Soak the rest in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients for a minimum of 4 hours.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 3 hours.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the soaked bran, leaven and salt. Autolyse for 15 minutes. Mix in the reserved ingredients and let the dough ferment for 7 hours.

Stretch and fold the dough for a few times then let the dough rest for 15 minutes.Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave it on the counter for 7 minutes before retarding for 12 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/480°F and pre-steam at the last ten minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge and score it. Bake straight from the fridge at 250°C/480°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 205°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

I still struggle with the double score

The bread tastes just as nice as the last time. It didn't spread this time thanks to the adoption of a more appropriate hydration level. The crust was slightly better developed with many tiny blisters that's gone invisible in the picture:) 

However, the crumb is not as open as the last loaf. It might be attributed to the lower hydration and slight under-proofing. Anyway, I think a 100% spelt sourdough is worth paying the extra effort to master. Especially with the sprouted flour, it has to be one of the best tasting bread.

________

Lunch today: Spaghetti Carbonara with Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, porcini mushroom (I'm not Italian so I don't have to follow the rules, right?), egg yolks, bacon, black peppers and whole wheat pasta (so that there needn't be any guilt at all) 

Before you turn away, please allow me explain why I’m posting this poor-looking bread. There’s no doubt that it had poor rise, yet it’s also true that its flavour is so exceptional it deserves to be shared.

This is not a complete replication of dabrownman’s bake but there’re plenty of similarities. Obviously, the dough flour used is the same and I adopted his idea of bran leaven. However, the baked scold was skipped to make my life easier. I also included Tom’s Alt Altus after realizing how much flavour it added to my past bake. Another change I made, which was a stupid mistake, is upping the hydration slightly as it felt like the dough can take a bit more water (WRONG!). 

100% Whole Spelt Sourdough with 50% sprouted flour

Dough flour:

150g      50%       Whole spelt flour

150g      50%       Freshly milled sprouted spelt flour

For leaven:

10g       3.3%       Starter

20g       6.7%       Bran shifted out from dough flour

20g       6.7%       Water

For dough:

280g     93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

193g     64.3%       Water

48g          16%       Whey

50g       16.7%       Leaven

13g         4.3%       Alt Altus, powdered

9g              3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g           1.7%       Salt

3g              1%       Dark barley malt powder

___________

305g       100%      Whole grain

266g      87.2%      Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 20g for leaven. Soak the rest (I got 22g) in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients for a minimum of 4 hours.

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

Roughly combine all dough ingredients. Skip the autolyse so as to lower the risk of gluten breakdown. Let the dough ferment for 6 hours.

Stretch and fold the dough for a few times then let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Conduct another round of stretch and fold before another 15 minutes rest. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave it on the counter for 10 minutes before retarding for 12 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/480°F and pre-steam at the last ten minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge and score it. Bake straight from the fridge at 250°C/480°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 205°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

As anticipated, the dough spread out immediately after entering the oven. It was unquestionably over-hydrated. I had a seriously hard time shaping it. However, it did rise quite a bit after the spreading stopped. The crust browned and crisped up well thanks to the sprouted spelt, dark barley malt powder and Alt Altus. This bread has considerably open crumb being over-hydrated and 100% whole grain. The crumb is moist, custardy and chewy, which are basically everything I could ask for. 

Let’s move on to the flavour. It has to be outstandingly good such that I’d be willing to share this unsightly loaf to embarrass myself. Really, this is the best tasting bread I’ve made so far. It’s sour but not overwhelmingly so, forming a nice balance with the mild sweetness of the sprouted spelt. But what sets it apart from other bread is its complexity. The three flavour contributors Alt Altus, dark barley malt powder and the spelt flour work together to achieve well-rounded savour. The experience of eating this bread is like wine tasting, there’re so many layers of flavour: sweetness, saltiness, sourness and slight bitterness. Once you acknowledged the delectability of whole grains, you'd have a hard time going back to bland commercial white bread. 

I'm sure this would have turned out amazing if the hydration was dropped back to 83%!

No. You didn’t read it wrong.

It’s goat cheese with milk chocolate. Not in their chucky form but melted into the dough. Confession: I absolutely hate the idea of chocolate cheesecake. I mean, both of them are heavenly food on their own but when combined together? Neither of them can be tasted. Well, to me at least. Many of you would disagree. Still, I’m not changing my mind. Then what’s up with this bread? The thing is, the thought of making chocolate bread came to my mind again yet I didn’t want to include any dried fruits (because I dislike the combo of chocolate and dried fruits as well…). Using nuts only seems a bit boring. Therefore a quick research was conducted and the goat cheese chocolate truffles caught my attention. I figured that the strong flavour of goat cheese might go well with the sweetness of milk chocolate so this bread is born.

Chocolate Goat Cheese Sourdough with Cashews 

Dough flour:

210g      70%       Whole spelt flour

90g        30%       Freshly milled oat flour

For leaven:

10g       3.3%       Starter

20g       6.7%       Bran shifted out from dough flour

20g       6.7%       Water

For chocolate-goat-cheese mixture:

68g        22.7%      Soft goat cheese  

33g           11%       Milk chocolate

For dough:

280g     93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

116g     38.7%       Chocolate-goat-cheese mixture

196g     65.3%       Water

49g       16.3%       Whey

50g       16.7%       Leaven

15g           5%       Tom’s Alt Altus, powdered

9g             3%       Vital Wheat Gluten

5g          1.7%       Salt

Add-ins:

30g        10%      Toasted Cashews

___________

305g      100%       Whole grain

270g      88.5%      Total hydration (the chocolate-goat-cheese mixture should have added a significant amount of                                                               moisture as well)

Shift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 20g for leaven. Mix the rest back into the dough flour or soak them in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients for a minimum of 4 hours.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, about 6 hours.

Bring a shallow pot of water to a boil. Turn off the heat. Cut the goat cheese and chocolate into small pieces and put them into a bowl covered by cling wrap. Place the bowl into the pot. Put on the lid and let steam until the chocolate and cheese are melted, about 10 minutes. Stir until smooth then set aside until needed.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients. No autolyse since it’s mostly spelt. Let it ferment for 6 hours. 

Fold in the cashews and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Stretch and fold for a few times and let it rest for 20 more minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Leave it on the counter for 20 minutes before retarding for 10 hours.

Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes. At the same time, preheat the oven at 250°C/480°F and pre-steam at the last ten minutes. 

Score the dough and bake at 250°C/480°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 205°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

There’s little oven spring as the dough is already fully proofed out of the fridge. The crust is very crackly and has a rather matt colour. I suspect that it has something to do with that uncommon addition of melted goat cheese and chocolate. The scoring is far from perfect but it’s already one of my better scores.

I failed once at making Tom’s Alt Altus: it was burnt completely. This time, the starter dilution was skipped so that I was left with a thicker paste. Also, the oven temperature was turned down to 300°F. And what’s the result? A great success! Thanks Tom for the brilliant idea! It surely added some toastiness and depth to this loaf.

This bread smelled divine when it’s baking. You can definitely taste the goat cheese so it is not one for goat cheese haters. It’s noticeably tangy but with a subtle sweetness from the chocolate. Unexpectedly, this closed-crumb loaf has a very crumby but also a porridge-bread-like texture. It’s something I’ve never had before.

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Some pretzels made with a baked baking soda bath.