Sourdough Pain aux Raisins

Another laminated sourdough, as I've said I want to practice lamination in this short cold weather so here is another variation. This is a treat that you either love or hate! I'm a raisin lover (while some really detest raisins and I don't know why) and I love raisin bread in all forms so I decided to try this super deluxe version.

I want to call this Pain au Levain aux Raisins but I don't know which characteristic defines it more: the au levain or the aux raisins so I don't know which one should come first like Pain aux Raisins au Levain;  and the au could also be replaced with avec like Pain au Levain avec Raisins (should I add des or les?) but I feel the first one is the most appropriate but these names may also not may any sense! :P So I just stuck with a simple one.



I did my first levain build at night and let it sit for 12 hours, then the next morning I did the second build and let it sit for 5 hours. With the right schedule this time, the levain was very active! :P I then mixed it with bread flour, water, salt and oil until I have a non-sticky dough and kneaded it just until smooth. I made it wetter than last time and kneaded shorter. Then it goes  to a 3 hour bulk ferment at 27°C. Bulk ferment should not be too long for laminated doughs otherwise the dough will be too strong and difficult to roll out but from my experience my starter doesn't like a cold bulk ferment so I did a bulk ferment but kneaded less to avoid messing things up.



The dough did not double but it clearly increased in size. I then shaped it into a square the put it in the freezer for 2 hours for it to get cold. This "shaping into a square" is akin to a stretch and fold and adds further strength to the dough. I then made my butter block and put it in the freezer too for 15 minutes then to the fridge.



As before I only gave it 2 turns, un tour double et un tour simple. The dough despite being wetter and kneaded less is still too strong for laminating using just a steel pipe on a chopping board. I think I still messed with the  lamination and the butter layers were destroyed but at least it's better than last time!

I said this is a deluxe version of raisin bread because aside from being made with laminated dough, it also filled with custard and plumped up raisins. You can plump the raisins in any liquid like orange juice, syrups, liquors like rum or brandy but I wanted to try the simplest method so I just used plain hot water.



La crème pâtissière



Raisins plumped in water for 24 hours almost look like grapes!

Half of the dough was rolled out, spread with custard, then scattered with raisins, rolled into a log the cut into 6 with a sharp knife. This scene is already making me salivate, it feels like I'm working in a bakery.



I put it in my mini llaneras to proof. I spread some softened butter and sprinkled sugar on 3 of the llaneras as I've seen this variation for caramelized edges. It was a little cold that day so the proofing time was a little long, 4 hours. This time they were proofed right I think, they really expanded well and the layers are very obvious in the following pictures; proofed and unproofed.





These are the ones without sugar. The llaneras were just greased.





The were eggwashed the baked in my clay pot for 18 minutes using live fire. I tried to flip some them but the filling fell so I just let the others cook only on one side that's why the tops were pale but the bottom was really flaky and crispy. The ones with caramelized sugar are a little difficult to unmould because they got sticky and stuck a little to the llaneras.

Don't you just love this tempting scene? All puffed up with the butter boiling! 







Crumb is still a little dense and bread like but the crust was very thin, flaky and crispy! And the taste, wow! Very delicious, the sourdough tang made it taste more buttery! The raisins are very juicy and taste like an intensely flavored grape that goes well with the silky vanilla custard. Texture can still improve a lot but the taste beats anything bought at that store. It was getting dark so I used some artificial light here. :)



As I love the combination honey-raisin too, I made another variation with the other half of the dough with the raisins soaked in honey. They were shaped into bâtons too so they were readily distinguishable from the classic ones.






Honey soaked raisins did not plump up as much. I don't know if macerating them longer will do.

I divided this portion into 3 pieces. 2 spoonfuls of the custard was spread along with a generous amount of drained honey soaked raisins. I really like them overfilled like in pains au chocolat but this softer filling is a little more difficult to roll evenly and nicely.



They were also proofed for 4 hours in my greased llaneras. Here are also some proofed and unproofed photos. The difference was not very obvious in the pictures, they were almost overproofed I think which is good. They almost look hollow, expanded very well with defined layers.


















                                                     The Llanera Army




          ...Proofed and ready to be baked!




I think these photos are unnecessary but I'm really amused with them so I decided to include them! :P The set-up is like a bakery assembly line. 





The honey raisin bâtons were baked for 10 minutes over live fire then flipped and baked for another 10 minutes still on live fire then another 5-7 minutes over embers.



Crumb is also a little dense and bread like (another use of artificial light here :P) but still separates when eaten and the crust is good. Flavor is the same as the first one, tangy that seems more buttery. The raisins are chewier and exploding with honey flavor which the custard also absorbed. Both versions rock!

I don't know what caused them to be dense. either the lamination struggle because of the very strong dough or the flipping. Maybe the dough is too dry too and some butter leaked during proofing because of too high a temperature; but no butter leaked during baking because they were proofed right. Another experiment to be made, maybe I'll try it with AP flour and knead less and make the dough a little wetter. See you all!





By the way, Miss Universe being held here is big news where the reigning Miss Universe, Pia Wurtzbach gets to pass her crown here in her homeland. We wish to watch all the beautiful candidates just for the experience but we can't even if the venue is near. Anyway, here is a "shocking" trivia told by my dad; the very first Miss Universe (1952) Armi Kuusela married a Filipino. I checked it and its true; she even surrendered her crown and did not finish her reign to marry him. My dad knows a lot of things. :) And that's your trivia of the day! :P