Tartine semolina bread variant with cranberries, orange zest, fennel & coriander
The Tartine book has an interesting variation on the semolina bread called "Golden Raisin, Fennel Seed, and Orange Zest." I've got a friend who makes this bread, but substitutes the raisins for cranberries and calls this her "Christmas bread."
I used a 100g bag of cranberries which were presoaked in boiling water (120g after drainage).
Also, I've struggled in the past with semolina 'rinacinata' in bread, so I developed two doughs and laminated them together with the inclusions, this let me develop the gluten in the semolina dough at lower hydration and get quite a strong dough upfront. In the pic below of the two doughs the semolina dough (70% of the flour) is the bowl on the right and the bowl on the left (30% of the flour) is strong bread flour dough. I used a little bit less water than Chad (used 330g of water in total, whereas the book had 375+25g listed), but followed what the dough felt like it could hold.
The bread had the lovely yellow semolina colour, and was my first successful high semolina bread! Think I have the double dough lamination to thank for that!
Taste wise the fennel seeds do dominate, so it isn't an everyday bread, but the combination with orange zest, coriander and cranberries was quite interesting to try out. Perhaps too, that floral linalool flavour from the toasted coriander seeds is the thing that held the flavour and made this an interesting bread.
In the light by my window it looks a little golden.
Comments
I've never had a problem incorporating semola rimacinata with regular flour, but I can't speak for others' experiences. I like the idea of using orange zest as it seems like such a natural with cranberries.
A few years ago a friend asked if I could reproduce a similar bread to this, which was her favorite from the local bakery in NYC. The version I was able to make includes toasted pine nuts as well, and that might be a welcome addition for your bread down the road.
As I'm certain yours is, mine was an instant hit with friends and family.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/54325/semolina-wfennel-seeds-golden-raisins-and-pine-nuts
Hit with friends and family.... well the kids ate it when it was fresh, but they're fuss pots and have now given it a wide bearth. Oh well, win some, lose some. Fennel isn't for everyone!
Doesn't stop me from making it just for me though. Yum, pine nuts sound extra special.
Lovely creative flavours in your loaf Jon, I’ve not had problems using semolina rimacinata in the past so I wonder what problems you’ve had with it? I have found it beneficial to give it a good long time to absorb water, otherwise it is like wet sand. Once it has absorbed the water though, and it can absorb a lot of water, it makes a beautiful strong dough if you knead it to build its gluten. Anyhow, I’m sure that loaf you baked was tasty.
Benny
I'm thinking maybe because it is Italian semolina rimacinata that I'm using.
Don't have the original bag - I buy it repackaged in brown paper bags but do know it claims to be from Italy.
Haven't stress tested this flour, other than having had disasters with it, but suspect it is better at low hydration. Maybe that is why the double lamination method seems to have worked out for me as I can make a low hydration semolina dough and mix with a higher hydration bread flour dough.
The durum that you buy is grown in Canada, I assume?
Hey Jon, no the semola rimacinata I use is also from Italy, I haven’t seen anything similar in Canada.
Looks enticing. I love the flavour combination. Nice crumb. Well done. Kids are usually the toughest critics as they have no tact filter :).
And the orange zest is going to be added to my next cranberry loaf. I make this bread quite often. https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/66200/cranberry-spelt-pepitas
My grandkids aren’t crazy about them either. Kids these days
that's a gorgeous loaf Jon! I find orange zest, cranberries make lovely bakes, though I've yet to use fennel seeds in breads, I do use them for cooking. Must find time to test this!
- Christi