tigressbakes's blog

This is my Hubbard Sunflower Sourdough Boule it is an adaptation of Nancy Silverton's Pumpkin Bread in Bread from LaBrea Bakery.

The taste is wonderful. It has a bit of Cumin in it and raw sunflower seeds of course -and I used my last Hubbard taken up from the root cellar from last summer -under the right conditions those beauties last forever!

I am extremely happy with the shape (been working hard on that) and I think that my slashing is getting better (thanks Sourdoug-guy!). I used the LaCloche top on a baking stone for the first 20 minutes for this one - and then another 15 without, crust is great! That technique is really working for me. (I am sorry I foget who explained that one to me but you know who you are - thank you!)

Any suggestions on why the Crumb tuned out this this? This is maybe about the 5th or 6th sourdough I've baked from my 3 month old starter. I really love the taste, and at least in the kinds of breads I have been baking so far, the more rustic, country sourdough breads - I like a bit of a heavier crumb, and moist. I haven't got up the nerve to try Ciabatta, bagette, etc yet - so we will see what happens when I go there. BUT - for this beautiful delicious bread, I don't know why the crumb did this? About half way through it started to show some of these odd shaped large holes here and there.

What is the cause of that?

OK so it's not sourdough, it's not even yeasted. But and this is a big but, i swear it is the best damn cornbread EVER!

In fact, I have just vowed to myself that I can only make this for a special treat because over the course of just today I have lost all reason and have eaten more of this cornbread than i care to admit!

This cornbread recipe is taken from Peter Reinhart's Brother Juniper's Bread Book.

It is the perfect sweetness; I went just a little lighter on the sugar than the recipe called for due to the fact that the actual corn I used was off of cobs that I had frozen fresh from last summer, and I knew how sweet it was. There is a healthy amount of buttermilk in the recipe, and the clincher I think is the generous amount of uncooked polenta (out of the 3 cups of polenta it called for I substituted 1/2 of it with stoneground cornmeal just because I didn't have enough polenta). The uncooked polenta gave each bite a perfect little crunch inside the buttery moistness.

As you can see, the top developed a nice crispy crunch, it is I must say Cornbread Perfection.

For those of you who dare to indulge here is my exact version - ever so slightly altered from Peter's recipe:

• 4 cups all purpose white (I used King Arthur organic)
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked polenta + 1/2 cup stoneground organic cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill)
  
• 4 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt
• 1 cup raw sugar granules
• 2 rounded cups corn kernels (I used frozen corn from farm fresh cobs from last summer)
• 3 eggs
• 1 stick butter melted
  
• 3 cups Buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients together including corn kernels (used fingers). Wisk eggs, then wisk in Buttermilk and butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry and then mix together (I used my hand again) only until all of the flour is hydrated but no more. Pour into a greased pan. I used one that is rectangular, probably an 8X14 or around there. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out fairly clean from the middle. And it rises! It is big and thick and makes a lot.

So, if you like cornbread, your in for a treat. Make this if you dare, but be prepared!

It is really perfect the way it is, but I am wonderng if a few chopped up hot chile peppers might make it even more sinful!

Enjoy!

This is Rosemary Olive Oil Sourdough from Nancy Silverton's book. I used the starter that I have been growing since Feb - my first one (not Nancy's formula) and I have to say I am proud of this little starter! Oven spring!

I tried the La Cloche top on a preheated stone for 20 minutes. I sprayed the top of the loaf and the inside of the La Cloche top when I put it in and boy did it get crispy!

It came out great! Moist with a nice light sourdough taste, I even think next time I would use slightly less Rosemary than the recipe called for because it is just a bit overpowering to the delicate sour taste.

My slashing technique needs help!

This is the second bread that I've baked with my white sourdough starter and it is mmm-mmm good!

This is the Mill Loaf that is in Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf. Which I might add is a beautiful book!

I must say that I followed this recipe pretty much to the T - and it really worked! I have to work on my shaping and scoring but YUM! And I am very happy with the rise, much higher than my first sourdough attempt. I think that is due to my getting a bit better at shaping. 

It has 60% white, 30% wholewheat, and 10% rye, that is pretty much it, and water at 55% and 2% salt. I did not add the malted grains which were optional. Dan suggested that one could work with any grain flours to fullfill the 40% - as long as 60% was white flour. I did it as the recipe said the first time around. 

What was interesting was the technique of basically kneading the dough for only 10-15 seconds for 5 rounds - and than letting it set for 10 minutes to 1 hour depending on the round. This was actually the series for each round: 10 min, 10 min, 30 min, 1 hr, 1 hr. And then the final proofing for me lasted just bit over 5 hours. Scored and put the loaf in the oven on the preheated stone at 430 - sprayed the top and put a cup of hot water in a pan I had preheating in the oven. And then did 2 more rounds of spray to create steam. The recipe said 50 to 70 minutes. But after 40 it looke done - and interenal temp was 200. (I tried a new oven rack position and unfortunately the rise was so good the top got a little close to the heat source - I think the bottom could have gotten just a tad darker but I was afriad to ruin the beautful top crust).

I would recommend this loaf highly. I lived in Paris for almost 5 years and this bread reminds me of a country loaf that I used to buy at the local bakery.

It is a hearty loaf, quite substantial, but moist and lightly sour. It is VERY good! I am very pleased with myself I must say!

I am hooked more than ever!