HeiHei29er's blog

Day 1

Hard to believe it's been almost a year since I've made a blog post!  The timing for the latest Community Bake was perfect as I've been wanting to try variants of two breads I've made recently.  The two breads are quite different, but both follow the same method...  A 2-build poolish using yeast water (14% PFF) combined with a loose biga (60% hydration) using ADY (10% PFF).

The yeast water was refreshed last weekend and refrigerated.  It was pulled from the fridge this morning to warm up and get good and active.  My yeast water has changed a bit over the last year.  I've stopped using honey and sea salt and have gone to a combination of blueberries and peeled Pink Lady apples.

The poolish for both breads was started late tonight and should be ready for mixing around 7:00-8:00 PM tomorrow night.

Method for both breads
1) Start first poolish build 18-20 hours before mixing.  Ferment 1st build at 75-77 deg F for 12 hours.
2) After 12 hours, combine 1st build with 2nd build ingredients and ferment at 75-77 deg F for 6-8 hours (or up to 12 hours if needed to develop good fermentation activity)
3) Combine scald ingredients with boiling water at the time of the 2nd build.  Cover and let cool on counter.
4) Mix biga ingredients at time of the 2nd build and ferment at 75-77 deg F for 6-8 hours.
5) Leaving out the salt, combine final dough ingredients with poolish, biga and scald.  Mix until flours are just wetted.  Fermentolyse for 15-20 minutes.
6) Add salt and develop dough to medium gluten using your preferred technique.
7) Stretch and folds on 30-45 minute intervals until dough starts to show signs of fermentation.  Cover and refrigerate overnight to finish bulk.
8) Remove from refrigerator and let dough warm up at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.  Degas dough and pre-shape followed by 30-45 minute bench rest.
9)  Shape for pan or banneton depending on preference/dough strength.
10)  Bake after final proof.

It's late...  Ingredients lists and photo updates tomorrow... 

Day 2

Busy day but making progress...  

The 1st yeast waster build doesn't look all that impressive.  Because of the high hydration (200%), there really isn't a dough.  It's more like a soup and any fermentation gases are usually not trapped.  You won't see much.  Just a few bubbles in the dough and maybe a couple on the surface.  But...  the aroma coming from the container when opened lets you know good things are happening!

Rye poolish after 1st build

Kamut poolish - 1st build.  The Kamut is harder and a little coarser than the rye.  Notice how the fermentation bubbles have classified the bran to the top leaving the flour to settle to the bottom.

Bread flour biga gently mixed until just wetted.  Ready for fermentation.

Roasted cereal grains (barley, buckwheat, and Bloody Butcher cornmeal) ready for milling

Roasted cereal grains/sunflower seeds and Ginger/Coconut flour/White rice flour/Roasted sesame seed scalds ready for boiling water

More to come later tonight after mixing along with full ingredient list....

Day 3
And they're baked!  Take a step back and include the ingredient list...

Roasted Cereal Grains (Total Ingredient List)
148.5g  Bread Flour
148.5g  Turkey Red (Fresh milled)
63g       Whole Rye (Fresh milled)
18g       Whole Spelt
18g       Whole Einkorn
18g       Bloody Butcher cornmeal (Roasted)
18g       Buckwheat (Roasted)
18g       Hulled Barley (Roasted)
225g     Water
90g       Blueberry-Apple Yeast Water
9g         Sea Salt
13.5g    Molasses
13.5g    Honey
4.5g      Coriander
22.5g    Sunflower Seeds (Roasted)
0.5g      Active Dry Yeast (ADY)

1st Poolish Build
18g      Whole Rye
36g      Yeast Water

2nd Poolish Build
45g      Whole Rye
27g      Yeast Water

Biga
45g     Bread Flour
27g     Water
0.2g    ADY

Scald
18g     Bloody Butcher
18g     Buckwheat
18g     Barley
22.5g  Sunflower seeds
133g   Water (boiling)

Honey Ginger Sesame (Total Ingredient List)
148.5g  Bread Flour
148.5g  Turkey Red
63g       Whole Kamut (Fresh milled)
22.5g    Whole Spelt (Fresh milled)
45g       Coconut Flour
22.5g    White Rice Flour
225g     Water
90g       Blueberry-Apple Yeast Water
9g         Sea Salt
22.5g    Honey
22.5g    Fresh Ginger Root (minced)
11.3g    Sesame Seeds (Roasted)
0.5g      Active Dry Yeast (ADY)

1st Poolish Build
18g      Whole Kamut
36g      Yeast Water

2nd Poolish Build
45g      Whole Kamut
27g      Yeast Water

Biga
45g     Bread Flour
27g     Water
0.2g    ADY

Scald
45g     Coconut Flour
22.5g  White Rice Flour
22.5g  Ginger Root
11.3g  Sesame Seeds
135g   Water (boiling)

Poolishes after 2nd Build...  I had some scheduling conflicts and these went longer than they should.  They were ready at about 9 hours, but I didn't mix until 12 hours.  The Kamut formed a weaker dough or finished sooner.  At the 9 hour mark it looked like the rye, but it collapsed significantly.

Bulk was 3 hours followed by a 20 minute bench rest after final shape and then 7 hours final proof in the refrigerator.

Baked with steam for 4 minutes (450 deg F), 4 minutes (425 deg F), 14 minutes (400 deg F).  Vented oven and then baked 20 minutes (425 deg F), 20 minutes (375 deg F).  I didn't get the bloom I was hoping for, especially with the Honey Ginger.  It's my first time using coconut flour and I was surprised at how thirsty it was during the scald.  In the end, this loaf smells wonderful and I think it will have a soft crumb, but it is more along the lines of a Gluten Free or high rye loaf in density.  Overall though, I think they will both taste great, which is priority #1!

Honey Ginger Sesame on the left

I've tried making a single baguette a few different times.  Each time was a different recipe and each time it was a last minute "Let's throw this together and make a baguette" approach.  Got really lucky the first time with nice spring and an open crumb.  Told myself that baguettes were easy.  The next couple of tries had no spring at all and turned out dense enough to be used as dowel rods.  This is the first time I went into it with a plan.  I based the approach off Boubasa's recipe, but I used a flour blend that I had recent success with on a regular yeasted loaf that contains 30% semolina.

I used a small preferment (7.5%), a small amount of yeast in the overall formula (0.15%) with a 24 hour cold bulk after gluten development, and 72% hydration.  Due to timing, I did a relatively short preferment (4 hours) by using more yeast than I typically would.  The semolina was re-milled using my Mock Mill and given a 1 hour autolyse prior to mixing.  For the next bake, I will go bake to the 12 hour poolish fermentation to help with flavor development.  Baked on stone that was preheated to 490 deg F with steam for 12 minutes and then at 450 deg F with convection for 10 minutes.

Happy with the crumb,  Soft and moist and the flavor was not too bad.  I will increase the ferment time on the poolish next time.  Jury is still out on the crust.  Good flavor but quite chewy.  I've never had a baguette before, so I'm not really sure what the target is for the bread.  Is a baguette crust typically really chewy?  How do you store your baguettes after they're baked?

My first use of teff flour came during our Gluten Free Community Bake.  Comments made here intrigued me, and I finally got around to experimenting.

To get a good taste of the teff flour, I kept the recipe simple.  I created a teff flour starter over a 3-day period by using my white flour starter and then doing a 1:4:4 refresh every 8 hours.  From there, I used my standard sourdough loaf approach but used a 100% teff flour levain for the 15% prefermented flour.

As Gina mentioned in her comment, the teff flour goes through a range of aromas as it ferments.  It is actually quite sweet smelling after maybe 5-6 hours and then gets noticeably tangy sour after 8+ hours.  Even though it was 100% teff flour in the levain, it had no trouble with wheat flour and leavened the dough right on target with a 15% PFF taking about 4 hours to reach 75-80% volume increase at 76 deg F.

As expected with 15% gluten free flour, the crumb is even/closed, but is not at all dense.  It is moist but not gummy.  The teff almost has a shortening effect.  The taste of the loaf is excellent!  Whole grain, nutty flavors/aromas.

Levain
67.5g    Teff flour
64.1g    Water
9g         Teff starter
Combine and ferment at 70 deg F for 12 hours

Final Dough
225g    All Purpose Flour
157.5g Bread Flour
228.4g Water
9g        Salt

1)   Excluding salt, combine final dough ingredients with levain until just wet
2)   Fermentolyse 20 minutes
3)   Fold in salt and any bassinage water (if needed).  Use Pinch and Squeeze to fully mix.  Bowl knead until dough comes back together.  Rest 10 minutes.
4)   Three sets of bowl kneading with 10 minute rests
5)   Bulk ferment at 76 deg F.  Folds every 30-45 minutes until "puffy".  Preshape at 75-80% rise
6)   Preshape at rest 20 minutes
7)   Final proof at 76 deg F
8)   Preheat oven to 465 deg F with oven setup for steam
9)   Bake with steam at 465 deg F (2 minutes); 400 deg F (18 minutes); vent oven; 435 deg F (15-20 minutes); bake until hollow thump

Two fun bakes this weekend...  A Lithuanian Black Rye recipe that I found on IG, and my 40% Whole Grain (Emmer and Einkorn).  All the whole grain flours in both breads are fresh milled using berries from Janie's Mill.

LITHUANIAN BLACK RYE

Rye Sour
100g   Whole Rye flour
100g   Water
30g     Starter
1)   Combine ingredients and ferment at 76 deg F for 8-10 hours

Scald
20g    Fermented Red Rye Malt (Solod)
30g    Whole Rye Flour
10g    Caraway Seed
4g      Coriander Powder
48g    Molasses (Blackstrap)
130g  Water (boiling)
1)   Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Add boiling water and stir until no dry ingredients present.
2)   Cover and cool on countertop for 1-2 hours

Final Dough
200g   Whole Rye Flour
150g   Whole Wheat Flour
170g   Water
10g     Salt
30g     Honey
1)   Combine flours and salt in a mixing bowl.  Whisk together and create a well.
2)   Combine water, honey, scald, and rye sour in flour well and mix to combine.
3)   Mix in flour salt blend until all flour is wet.
4)   Hand mix/knead for 20 minutes.  Dough is sticky.  Use wet hands to minimize stickiness.
5)   Place in oiled bowl and bulk ferment for 4 hours at 76 deg F
6)   Roughly shape dough and place in loaf pan.  Press dough evenly into pan with wetted spatula.  Smooth top.
7)   Final proof for 1-2 hours at 76 deg F.  Let dough roughly double in size until first few pin holes present in surface
8)   Preheat oven to 465 deg F.  Lightly mist dough surface.  Bake at 465 deg F for 40-50 minutes.

This bake went very smoothly until the very end.  I didn't quite oil my pan enough and the loaf stuck all the way around the very top edge.  It easily released when I ran a knife along it.  Made a "glossy" edge around the top perimeter, but it softened as the loaf matured overnight.  Really happy with how open the crumb is on this bread!

NOTE:  No beer was used in the recipe.  I just thought a Russian Imperial Stout was the perfect "celebratory" beverage for this bake.  :-) 

40% WHOLE GRAIN (EMMER AND EINKORN)

Levain
45g  Bread Flour
54g  Water
9g    Starter
1)   Combine all ingredients and ferment at 70 deg F for 12 hours

Blueberry Yeast Water Poolish
45g  Bread Flour
54g  Blueberry Yeast Water
1)   Combine ingredients and ferment at 76 deg F for 12 hours

Whole Grain Autolyse
90g   Whole Grain Emmer
90g   Whole Grain Einkorn
126g Water
1)   Combine ingredients and mix until all four is wet.  Cover and rest on counter for 60 minutes before final mix.

Final Dough
67.5g    All Purpose Flour
112.5g  Bread Flour
58.5g    Blueberry Yeast Water
9g         Salt
1)   Combine final dough ingredients except salt with the levain and poolish.  Mix until flours wetted.
2)   Fermentolyse 15 minutes
3)   Laminate the whole grain autolyse, final dough fermentolyse, and salt.  Thoroughly mix with pinch and squeeze.
4)   Rest 15 minutes
5)   4 sets of bowl kneading with 10 minute rests.  Bassinage an additional 2-3% water if needed.
6)   Bulk ferment at 76 deg F.  Folds at 45 minute intervals until dough is "puffy".  Roughly 3-3.5 hours.  Allow dough to bulk roughly 75%.
7)   Preshape and bench rest 30 minutes
8)   Final shape and proof at 76 deg F.  I proofed for 75 minutes and then refrigerated for 2.5 hours while we made and ate dinner.
9)   Preheat oven to 465 deg F and set for steaming.  Bake at 465 deg F (2 minutes); 400 deg F (18 minutes); vent oven; 440 deg F (20-25 minutes) until a hollow thump.

Really happy with how this loaf turned out.  Great oven spring and crumb for a 40% whole grain loaf with Emmer and Einkorn.

This is my second bake from the book.  They refer to the recipe as White French Pullman aka Pain de Mie.

I'm enjoying the book so far.  A good read, and the author does a good job with telling the history of the bakers and the bakery and how they have developed and grown.  Likewise, they do a pretty good job of explaining their methods and how their methods are used in each of the bread and pastry recipes in the book.  What I do like is that while their methods are familiar, they're different enough from what I do that I've learned from both recipes (first was a banana bread).

Three facets of this bake were new to me...  a long, refrigerated fermentation for the poolish, no folding or gluten development (only punching down the dough), and a really strong bake for a dark, flavorful crust (and I didn't go as long or as hot as called for).  The result...  Not my prettiest work.  My shaping for pan loaves is out of practice and was a lumpy mess to begin with.  And...  Learned that I either need a new razor or need to lubricate it with a little oil before trying to score a warm, fragile dough.  It stuck and pulled more than it sliced and my diamond pattern turned into...  well....   something not diamond shaped.  :-)

All the good news though...  The dark crust did smell great out of the oven.  Not sure I could have gone for 40 minutes at 500 deg, but I will push it a little harder next time.  The crumb is custardy and creamy.  It's tender, but not at all shreddable.  I would say the exact opposite.  It's firm.  I've made toast and a grilled sandwich with it.  The exterior becomes nice and crunchy but the interior stays "creamy".  A fun bake for something with only white flour, water, salt, and ADY.

Poolish
43.2g    All Purpose Flour
43.2g    Bread Flour
86.4g    Water
0.3g      Active Dry Yeast
1)  Disperse yeast in the water.  Mix in flour until completely mixed with no dry flour clumps.  Target temp = 75 deg F
2)  Ferment at 75 deg F for 2 hours.  Refrigerate for 13-14 hours.
** Poolish should be at least double in size, have some bubbles on surface, and pass the float test.**

Final Dough
156.8g   All Purpose Flour
156.8g   Bread Flour
173.7g   Water
9.4g       Salt
0.7g       Active Dry Yeast
1)   Disperse yeast in the water.
2)   When yeast is completely dispersed, mix in poolish until completely and evenly mixed
3)   Add flour and gently mix until all flours are fully wetted.  Shouldn't take more than 3-4 minutes.
4)   Fermentolyse for 30 minutes
5)   Add salt slowly and mix in using pinch and squeeze until completely and evenly mixed.
6)   Bulk ferment at 75 deg F for 4 hours.  Thoroughly punch down dough to degas after 2 hours and then again after 3 hours.
7)  Preshape into a round using a bench scraper
8)  Bench rest 20 minutes
9)  Final shape for a Pullman pan.  Gently pat down to evenly distribute the dough.
10)  Final proof at 75 deg F for 3-5 hours.
11)  Preheat oven to 500 deg F.  Quickly score the dough and place in the oven.  Throw 4 ice cubes in the oven for steam (one in each corner) and bake for 40 minutes. 
11a) I was too chicken to go that hot for that long.  I went with 450 deg F for 20 minutes with steam, vented oven, 10 minutes at 350 deg F; remove loaf from pan; 350 deg F for 5 minutes to fully set the crust (not sure this was needed though)

Next time, I will go for the full 500 deg F for 40 minutes with just a few ice cubes instead of my full steam set up.

This is my take on a Finnish bread.  I've changed it up quite a bit from the original, so I'm not sure I should even call it that anymore.  For the most part, the ingredients are true to the recipe.  However, this uses a 2-stage pre-ferment, a yeast water for leavening, and a mash.  The original is a straight dough yeasted recipe.

Levain 1
22.5g   Whole Rye Flour
22.5g   Barley Flour (I used fresh milled Hulled Barley)
56.3g   Yeast Water (recently refreshed and active)
1)   Combine ingredients and ferment at 78-80 deg F for approximately 12 hours or until flours are bubbly and doubled

Levain 2
90.0g    Bread Flour
25.2g    Water
1.6g      Sea Salt
1)   Combine ingredients with all of Levain 1 and lightly knead into a dough.  Ferment at 78-80 deg F until 2-3x in volume (6-8 hours)

Mash
22.5g    Cracked Rye or Rye Chops
22.5g    Barley Flour
22.5g    Toasted Sunflower Seeds
22.5g    Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
135.0g  Whole Milk
1)  Pre-heat Crockpot with 1-2" of water in it to 150 deg F using Inkbird Controller with probe in the water.  Cover the Crockpot with two large towels to insulate it.
2)  Combine dry ingredients in a bowl that has a tight cover
3)  Warm milk in the microwave to 165 deg F.  Keep it covered as much as possible to avoid evaporation.
4)  Pour hot milk over dry ingredients, stir until fully wetted, cover tightly and place in Crockpot.
5)  Allow ingredients to cook at 150 deg F for 3-8 hours (I went for about 6 hours overnight)
6)  Set the Inkbird temp to 180 deg F and let cook until mash temperature reaches 180 deg F (1.5-2 hours)
7)  Remove from Crockpot and let cool to room temperature
(Alternative:  Replace sunflower and pumpkin seeds with 1 tsp of crushed fennel seed)

Final Dough
135g   All Purpose Flour
135g   Bread Flour
56.3g  Yeast Water
109.8g Water
6.5g     Sea Salt
1)   Combine flours, yeast water, water, and Levain 2.  Mix until flours are wetted.  It will be on the dry side and stiff.  This is needed to accommodate the mash hydration.
2)   Fermentolyse 15-20 minutes
3)   Fold in salt and mash in 4-5 increments.  Thoroughly mix in the salt and mash using pinch and squeeze method.  Rest 10 minutes.
4)   Perform 4 sets of bowl kneading with 10 minute rests between sets.  Bassinage in additional water as needed to get a supple dough.
5)   Bulk ferment in an oiled bowl at 74-76 deg F.
6)   Fold every 45-60 minutes until dough is feeling puffy.  Allow the dough to bulk 80-100%.
7)   Pre-shape and rest for 20-30 minutes
8)   Gently shape and perform final proof at 78-80 deg F until jiggly and roughly doubled.
9)   Pre-heat to 465 deg F; Bake in steaming oven for 1 minute at 465 deg F; 19 minutes at 425 deg F; vent oven; 20-25 minutes at 425 deg F or until a hollow thump

I made both the fennel and seeded versions for this bake.  I wasn't able to get a crumb shot for either, but the fennel loaf was what you would expect for a loaf with 20% low gluten flour.  Reasonably airy with an evenly distributed crumb and no large open areas.

TFL is such a great community.  We share ideas, advice, recipes, and help each other, in general, along the way.  In some cases, we get to know each other at an almost personal level.  At least as personal as you can get communicating virtually with someone you’ve never met. 😁 Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to put a voice with a virtual face and have lunch with Paul (pmccool).

We had lunch as I made my way to a pre-ride for a mountain bike race today.  We had the chance to discuss our shared alma mater and what’s changed there over the years, our career paths, and how each of us started and progressed on our bread baking journey.  A great conversation that I hope to continue some day.

As you would expect with TFL’ers, our meet-up included an exchange of bread, and I was fortunate enough to get two of Paul’s loaves (and some of his starter).  A pan loaf that smells wonderful (guarded family recipe) and a Swedish Limpa that I’m anxious to try!

It was great to make this connection, and I’m very thankful to Paul for taking the time to say hello in person.  I hope I can meet some other TFL’ers in my travels!

When I read Ian's recent blog post, I put this one on my short list for bakes.  Not only because of the Guinness, but the blend of grains as well.

I translated his recipe into two standard loaves for me and stayed as true to his recipe as I could.  Only a few small changes that I don't think changed anything significantly.  
1) I omitted the EVOO;
2) I used my standard method for potato bread prep (caramelizing the potatoes).  With that I increased the hydration in the formula, but in all likelihood, his method of mashed potatoes (higher hydration than fried potatoes) probably yielded a similar final dough consistency;
3) I used a combination of a stiff starter (45% hydration) and a liquid starter (100% hydration) to achieve his 60% hydration.

My stiff starter is relatively new and I don't have much experience with it.  Due to weekend schedules and work travel, I was only able to get one refresh in after 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  It responded well, but was a little more acidic than I would have liked.  The dough developed well after mixing.  I used my standard 4 sets of bowl kneading for gluten development.  I was finished with gluten development and the dough went into the proofer 90 minutes after mixing.  It appeared to be fermenting quickly at the 30 minute fold and looked even further along at the next 30 minute fold, so I moved to shaping.  This is quicker than I expected, but maybe not surprising given the amount of pre-fermented flour.  Next time, I think I'll do more kneading early to get through gluten development quicker so I can get a better feel for the fermentation progress.  After shaping however, the dough drastically slowed and was in final proof for almost 3 hours.  It was nice and jiggly, but did not reach the level of expansion I expected.  I attribute that to the acidity in the stiff starter but that's a bit of speculation at this point.  Need to get more experience with that starter before drawing too many conclusions.

That said, I did get some good oven spring and very happy with how the loaves turned out.  One is scored with a single long score and the other is coated with the bran from sifting the whole grain and baked seam side up.  The aroma is whole grain with a hint of sweetness and that comes through in the flavor as well.  A firm flavorful crust with a moist crumb!  I used it for a grilled turkey sandwich today and it was great!  The toasted bran on the crust gave the loaf a nice little crunch.  I will make this one again!

Levain #1
113.3g  All Purpose Flour
73.3g   Water
55.3g   White Flour Starter, 60% hydration

Levain #2
113.3g  All Purpose Flour
68.2g   Water
All of Levain #1

Caramelized Potatoes
127.8g   Russet or Gold Potatoes, chopped into small cubes (~1/2")
3.8g       Butter

Final Dough
178.9g   Bread Flour
144.8g   Whole Wheat
133.8g   Whole Rye
115.9g   Whole Spelt
330g      Guinness Extra Stout (or your preferred Stout/Porter)
96.1g     Water
16.2g     Salt
21.3g     Honey

1) Mill grains and sift through a #40 sieve.  Set bran aside.
2) Combine ingredients for Levain #1 and ferment 5-6 hours at 76 deg F (expanded to about 150% and well domed)
3) Combine ingredients for Levain #2 with all of Levain #1.  Ferment for 2-3 hours at 76 deg F
4) Caramelize potatoes by frying at low heat for 1-2 hours in a covered, buttered pan.  Stir occasionally.  The goal is to soften/caramelize the potatoes without forming any brown fry crust on the potatoes. Cool to room temperature.
5) Combine the fried potatoes with the final dough water and puree them in a food processor.
6) Combine all the final ingredients, Levain #2, and potato puree and mix to a shaggy dough.  Autolyse 15 minutes.
7) Add salt and perform 4 sets of bowl kneading with 10 minute rests between sets.
8) Bulk ferment at 76 deg F with folds every 30-45 minutes until dough has expanded 50-75%
9) Divide dough and pre-shape.  Bench rest 15-20 minutes.
10) Final shape and final proof at 76 deg F until doubled in size and jiggly.
11) Preheat oven to 465.  Steam oven and bake at 465 deg F (2 minutes) and 400 deg F (18 minutes); vent oven; bake at 435 deg F (20 minutes)

Pictures and videos of yesterday's bake.

Levain #1 ready for Levain #2

My version of bowl kneading.  3rd set of 4.

Crumb reveal video.  Very happy with how this turned out, especially given 50% whole grain and potato puree. Bit of a shaping error in the center of the slice...
https://youtube.com/shorts/2xLL27EoN34

In the late 1800's, a lot of immigrants from Slovenia and Croatia came to this part of the world to work in the mines.  They brought some of their food influences too.  A local restaurant/bakery makes potica (pronounced Po-TEET-Sah), which is a Slovenian sweet bread with filling.  The most common filling is ground walnuts, and like many foods, each family has their own recipe.  This bread has been on my bake list for a few months now.  I have a friend from Slovenia, and recently, her mother was gracious enough to share their family recipe with me.  Hope I did it justice!  It's a wonderful recipe that introduced some baking elements I haven't used much and this one challenged me a bit. When I first tasted it, my first thought was that it needed cinnamon.  But the more I ate, the simple flavor grew on me and I think something like cinnamon would take away from the walnut. Next time, I think I'd add either a small preferment or less yeast and a longer ferment to develop a little more dough flavor.  Overall, a very fun bake!

The first challenge: holy butter!  I'm sure there are breads that use more than this but I was really doubting that she had copied the recipe correctly when I was looking through the ingredients.  38% butter was well beyond anything I've tried.  Combined with that EIGHT egg yolks.  Thought there was no way this would come together with only AP flour, but I was wrong.  In the end, the dough came together nicely.  I don't think I kneaded it quite enough early on and the dough was a little fragile when rolling, but it rose really well and ended up giving a nice open crumb.  Maybe thanks to the 4% active dry yeast!  :-)  On top of that, it also had 50% scalded whole milk, which is one of my favorite parts of making an enriched dough.  For some reason, I just like the smell of scalded milk and think it adds nice flavor to a dough.

The second challenge...  I didn't have a pan the size the recipe called for, so I had to estimate how much dough was needed for my 8.5" x 4.5" pans.  The remaining dough I formed into buns.  I overestimated a bit and should have made a couple more buns.  My pans were overflowing!  :-)

The third challenge...  Instead of adding the egg whites to the walnuts incrementally, I added the walnuts to the egg whites.  It was too much and made a very soupy filling.  In hind sight, I should have ground some more walnuts.  It did thicken up a bit as it sat, but never got to spreadable paste.  It made forming the rolls and handling them a little tough.  Kind of like a very limp noodle.  :-)

Despite all that, very happy with the result for the first attempt!

Makes 3 loaves for a 8.5" x 4.5" bread pan.  Alternatively, makes two loaves and approximately 5 buns.

Yeast Mixture
300g   Whole Milk, scalded at 180 deg F
32g     Sugar
24g     Active Dry Yeast

Dry Dough Ingredients
600g   All Purpose Flour (I used King Arthur's at 11.7% protein)
3g      Sea Salt

Wet Dough Ingredients
225g   Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
30g     Sugar
~144g  Egg Yolk (8 large eggs)
4g       Vanilla Extract (1 tsp)

Filling
500g   Walnut, ground to meal
300g   Sugar
~260g  Egg White (8 large eggs from above) 

1)  Scald milk by heating to 180 deg F and let cool on counter to room temp.
2)  Cream butter and sugar until fluffy using paddle attachment in a stand mixer. Add egg yolks and vanilla extract.  Mix and medium speed.  The mixture took on a look and texture that reminded me of scrambled eggs.  Wasn't expecting that!
3)  Combine yeast mixture ingredients and let proof for 5-10 minutes
4)  Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.
5)  When the yeast mixture is proofed, add the butter/yolk mixture to the yeast mixture and stir to mix.  Pour the combined mixture into the flour well.
6)  Slowly stir in the flour.  Continue stirring until all the flour is wetted.  Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
7)  Perform 4 sets of bowl kneading with 10 minute rests between sets.
8)  Place in a oiled bowl and let double in size.
9)  While bulk is rising, beat egg whites at high speed until fluffy and firm.  Combine Filling sugar with walnuts and stir to combine.  Slowly add egg whites and rum to the walnuts until a thin paste forms.
10) After dough doubles, punch it down and divide the dough into the desired number of loaves and buns.  For the buns, use about 110g of dough weight.
11) Roll dough out about 16" long and wide enough for dough to be 1-2 mm thick.
12) Divide filling based on number of loaves and buns.  When dough is rolled out, evenly spread the allocated filling on the dough and tightly roll into a log.  For the buns, put the seem side down and then coil the log.
13) Cover the dough with a cloth and let proof in a warm area for at least 1 hour.
14) Preheat oven to 350 deg F
15) When dough is proofed, poke a bunch of small holes into the dough using a bamboo shish kabob skewer
16) Bake loaves for 1 hour and buns (on a sheet pan) for 25 minutes

"scrambled eggs" during mix

I wanted to make some more discard cookies and this time chose to try something different.  It's fall and approaching the holidays.  Molasses cookies seemed like a good candidate.  Did a quick search and decided to use this recipe from Cooking Classy as the base for my discard recipe.  Happy to say that I'm really happy with how these turned out!

Dry Ingredients
100g whole rye flour
230g all purpose flour
8g ground ginger
5g ground cinnamon
3g ground cardamom
5.5g baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients
100g white sourdough discard at 100% hydration
170g unsalted butter (softened at room temp)
150g light brown sugar
120g blackstrap molasses
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk

1)  Approximately 1-2 hours before mixing dough, combine sourdough discard with 25g of the whole rye flour.  Cover and let sit on counter at room temp.
2)  Combine remaining dry ingredients and whisk together to mix.
2)  Mix butter and brown sugar until creamed and fluffy. (I used a stand mixer with paddle attachment)
3)  Add remaining wet ingredients and discard from Step 1 to butter/sugar fluff.  Mix until well combined and smooth.
4)  Slowly add dry ingredients from Step 2 while stirring.  Continue stirring until no dry flour showing and ingredients evenly mixed.  Dough may be a little sticky from the rye.
5)  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (I went overnight).  This hydrates the rye and hardens the butter.
6)  Preheat oven to 350 deg with rack in the middle position
7)  Form the dough into balls approximately the size of a golf ball.  Roll in your palm to smooth the surface and make a round ball.
8)  Roll the dough ball in sugar (I used a mix of coarse and table sugar)
9)  Place balls on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2" apart.
10) Bake at 350 deg for 12-14 minutes.  (May need less time if balls are smaller.  Cookie should appear slightly under baked in the center.)
11) Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack