Yippee's blog

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

I rarely baked whole-grain bread in the past because my family did not like it. But the whole-grain loaves I recently made with CLAS turned out so great – they were as tender and tasty as white bread - that my family did not even notice they were whole-grain! Encouraged by my family's reaction, I made another whole-grain bread with CLAS. I converted a Le Cordon Bleu formula, which mainly uses T55 flour, to 100% home-ground whole-grain flours. The workflow is super simple – four-hour pre-dough followed by less than two hours of bulk and proof.  The smell and taste of this bread is marvelous, and my family loves it! I am thrilled that I've successfully introduced more healthy foods to them!

Pre-dough

5% whole rye CLAS

95% fresh white whole wheat, ground by Vitamix

30% eggs

40% scalded full-fat milk

0.15% gold yeast

DT 30C/86F –ish

28C/82.4F x 240mins

Dough

Pre-dough

22.5% butter

8% scalded full-fat milk

2% salt

0.5% freshly-ground black pepper

50% Comte cheese - I could not find any semi-hard cheese (except the stinky one) from the Auvergne region, which is said to be the origin of this bread.

0.6% gold yeast

Shape

9x4x4 pullman

total dough weight ~1100g; reduce the dough weight next time to prevent the dough from overflowing the top

Bulk

32C/89.6F x 45mins

Proof

32C/89.6F x 55mins

Bake

egg wash

no steam

210C/410F x 35mins

cover with foil

210C/410F x 20mins

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Another whole-grain dessert bread! You may already notice that I  sweets. Eating wholesome sweet bread as a snack is much healthier than eating candies! Made with CLAS, this whole-grain cinnamon raisin bread is a delicacy! Try CLAS, making delicious bread has never been easier!

Pre-dough

5% whole rye CLAS

95% fresh white whole wheat flour, ground by Vitamix

60% scalded full-fat milk

16% eggs

12% water

0.15% gold yeast

DT 30C/86F-ish

28C/82.4F x 240mins

Dough

pre-dough

0.6% gold yeast

1.5% salt

2.5% Vietnamese cinnamon

10% butter

7% water

76% raisins (unsoaked; briefly rinsed right before mixing)

Bulk

32C/89.6F x 60mins

Shape

9x4x4 pullman

total dough weight ~1100g

Proof

32C/89.6F x 45mins

Bake

191C/375F x 10 mins w/ steam

177C/350F x 50 mins w/o steam

Oopsy! Just noticed some slices are "redder" than the other - I probably did not evenly mix the cinnamon in the dough cos I dumped it in the mixer all at once😛😛😛

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Thanks to CLAS (and Rus ), making this decadent dessert bread is truly a piece of . It is a fancy and thoughtful gift that will definitely wow your friends! Let the results speak for themselves.  

OR = original recipe %, and our procedures differ.

Pre-dough

(mix in KitchenAid and bulk in it's bowl and your hands will thank you)

10% whole rye CLAS

90% fresh, unsifted rye flour ground by Vitamix

(OR: white rye/medium rye 50/50)

50% full-fat homemade yogurt (OR: milk, of which I ran out)

34% water (OR: 28.6%)

0.15% dry yeast (OR recalculated: 0.37%)

dough temp 30C/86F -ish

30C/86F x 240 mins

Dough

pre-dough

3% water (Yippee +)

salt 1.8%

26% raisins, soaked with rum and water  (OR: 20% raisins, syrup 3.9%)

12% candied orange (OR: 5%)

38% toasted pecan (Yippee +)

1.8% orange zest (OR recalculated)

Total dough weight ~1500g

Bulk

30C/86F x 60 mins

Shape

9"x2" round pan

Proof 

30C/86F x 75 mins

Bake

glaze (3.8% honey + 1.9% warm water)

220C/430F x 10 mins

200C/390F x 50 mins

glaze again, let dry overnight

 Top

 Bottom

To prevent unsightly pinhole crumbs caused by excessive hydration of whole wheat flour, before I bake, I test the flour's absorption capacity by autolyzing it under different hydration levels and observing its gluten development. The hydration at which the dough starts to slack/tear is the bottom line for me to stop adding water to the dough. 

Alternatively, if my dough contains more than whole wheat flour, I can still judge the maximum hydration of the dough during the mixing process without pre-testing (such as how I do it here).

At the pre-dough stage, I use just enough water to form a dough that I can knead/mix easily later on.

 At the mixing stage, I mix the pre-dough, to further develop/strengthen its gluten to ~ medium+ development before adding more water.  I continue to mix and add more water gradually to maximize the dough's hydration. I take care not to over-mix since the whole wheat dough is fragile. 

Also, I found that using CLAS in the whole-wheat dough can significantly improve its quality. In addition to imparting superb flavors to the whole-wheat bread, CLAS also tenderizes its crumb, making it supple like white bread, even if it's a lean dough with no fat, dairy, sugar, or vital wheat gluten (such as this and this).

I apply similar principles when developing gluten for "white" dough.

So, when I mix the dough, it looks like this:

1. Add flour to the mixer
2. Start the mixer
3. Gradually add water until a dough is formed
4. Make a note of how much water has been added so far for future reference
5. (At this point, you may autolyze the dough) 
6. Gradually add more water until the mixer can easily knead the dough.
7. Stop adding water
8. Continue mixing the dough to develop gluten until the dough feels strong
9. Add salt and yeast, and sugar, if using, and continue to mix to incorporate
10. Add fat, if using, and continue mixing until incorporated
11. Gradually mix in more water until the dough is about to "collapse".

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Cranberry walnut bread is my family's favorite dessert bread. I used to make it mainly with AP flour. I am excited to transform this delicious recipe into a tastier and healthier 100% whole-grain bread using freshly ground flour and more advanced CLAS techniques. Thanks to CLAS, this whole-grain bread is as soft as its AP cousin and does not have the unpleasant grassy taste generally associated with whole-wheat bread. Rum-soaked cranberries, toasted walnuts, fresh flour, and CLAS create a moist whole-grain bread with mellow, complex flavors that one finds irresistible. 

As usual, it's super simple to make such delicious bread with CLAS. 

P.S. To prevent unsightly pinhole crumbs caused by excessive hydration of whole wheat flour, you can test the flour's absorption capacity by autolyzing it under different hydration levels and observing gluten development. The hydration at which the dough starts to slack/tear is the bottom line for you to stop adding water to the dough. 

Alternatively, if your dough contains more than whole wheat flour, you can still judge the maximum hydration of the dough during the mixing process without pre-testing (such as how I do it here).

 Pre-dough

3% whole rye CLAS

97% fresh WW flour ground by Vitamix (Central Milling organic hard red spring wheat berries)

72% water P.S. (just enough water to hydrate the flour so that you can knead/mix easily)

0.2% dry yeast

dough temp 86F/30C-ish 

86F/30C x 240 mins

Dough

pre-dough

8% water P.S. to reach your dough's maximum hydration (or slightly under) 

1.6% salt

38% rum-soaked cranberries

38% toasted walnuts

Total dough weight ~1650g

P.S. Mix

Knead/mix to further develop/strengthen the pre-dough's gluten to ~ medium+ development before adding more water

Continue to mix and add more water gradually to maximize the dough's hydration 

Bulk

86F/30C x 60 mins

Shape

Proof

86F/30C x 60-75 mins

Bake

425F x 10 mins w/ steam

375F x 50 mins w/o steam (P.S. adjust timing according to dough size)

For my reference-so that I'll remember which is which. Hope it's useful to you, too. 

•  To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Ingredients (pre-warmed and maintained at 30-32C/86-89.6F throughout the process):

50% freshly ground, unsifted whole wheat (All the whole rye/wheat flours I bought are rancid.)

42% freshly ground, unsifted whole rye

8% whole rye CLAS

30% + 9% water

50% home-made yogurt, full fat

8% honey (recipe calls for 1.3% sugar)

2% salt (recipe calls for 1.3%)

0.3% instant yeast (recipe calls for 1%)

sunflower seeds as needed

I decided to change the sweetener to honey and increased its amount to 8%.

Still using my Vitamix to grind the flours since I am not ready to play with my new toys yet. 

whole wheat

whole rye

I autolyzed the whole wheat flour with yogurt; gluten was quite well-developed after ~2 hours. 

I added some rye flour to the wheat-yogurt mixture and mixed them in my Zojirushi bread machine for ~10 minutes to strengthen the gluten. Then I added all the remaining ingredients and mixed for another 10 minutes, and added more water during the mix until the dough couldn't take in any more. The dough looked like this when mixing was complete:

I halved the recipe to 523g total dough weight, which fits perfectly in a 8x3x3 pan. 

Proof: 32C/89.6F x 60mins

My bread machine "hack". 

Baked in my Zo x 70mins, dark crust. 

Baked loaf. 

Crumb shot (click to enlarge). 

 P.S. 20210601

Since my family likes this bread, I want to share it with my friends, too.  This time I pre-fermented 100% of the flour and increased the amount of CLAS to 10%.  The bread turned out even more flavorful and was slightly tangy. If time permits, I think I will continue to make a pre-dough in the future. I made this bread with a 9x4x4 tin, so the slices are standard size.  I used organic white hard wheat berries to grind flour for one of the loaves because I ran out of red berries.  

I kept the loaf that was made with white whole wheat.

Sent this loaf (made with hard red wheat) to my friend with kumquat and homemade marmalade.

Harvesting kumquat makes me happy!

Preparing to make a traditional panettone can sometimes be daunting, especially when I don't have MANY ingredients!  A panettone recipe from Chef Alphonso Pepe calls for several citrus fruit paste. It is discouraging that I have to pause to prepare these ingredients every time before I can make his panettone.  I like spontaneous baking, and that's why I love CLAS.  Any extended prep work before a bake will most likely deter me from baking. But Chef PePe's panettone sounds so refreshing with all the citrus fruit ingredients, and I want to try it. So I came up with the idea of making various citrus fruit marmalades to expedite the prep work. This way, I will have these ingredients handy and I can make his panettone whenever I want. But the workflow of making marmalades that I can find is laborious; even those which claim to be "simple" are not simple enough for me. So, I decided to use my tools to turn it into an easy job.  Here's how I do it:

Weigh the citrus, then weigh an equal amount of sugar (1:1). You may adjust the sugar amount according to your preferred ratio. For every 2kg of sugar used, you need to add the juice of at least one lemon ?. 

 🥝

Buddha's hand (citron)

 To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

After decoration

Before decoration 

Crumb

89%    T55/Beehive AP                                                                          

8%      almond flour

3%       whole rye CLAS

13%     water

37%     milk

17%     butter

10%     egg

1%       dry yeast

5%       sugar

1.3%    salt

12.5%  rum-soaked raisin

12.5%   candied orange

Bulk

30-33C x ~45 mins until doubled

Rest

Shape

Proof

30-33C x ~75 - 90 mins until doubled

Egg wash

Score (scissor-cut)

Sprinkle pearl sugar

Bake (1.2kg)

410F x 20 

rotate

410F x 10 

cover with foil

410F x 10

rotate, cover with foil

410F x 15

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

This is another yummy formula from Rus. Thank you! 

My largest panettone production in one go.