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If you like the flavor of licorice in jelly beans or fennel in sausages, you may like ground anise in breads too. I have not used anise seeds before in breads. But, why not? This unique and warm spice enlivens the fig and hazelnut bread. For the start, the sweetness of dried figs and the smoky nutty notes of roasted hazelnuts bring big flavor to the bread. Just the right amount. The surprising finish of anise is merely the icing on the cake, I mean, the bread. There is just so much to like about this bread.

The specifics of the fig hazelnut bread are shown in the cheat sheet below. In summary, a 12-hour stiff levain build, 20% in whole wheat flour, about 70% hydration, one fold half way through the 2 ½-hour bulk ferment and a 2-hour final rise. This is a straight-forward formula I’ve borrowed and adapted from Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman.

I made two loaves, ate one and froze the second one (which I forgot to score late at night.) Once reheated, the second loaf develops an unexpected crunchy crust, even better than the freshly baked loaf (the slice standing up, right below) as I can remember. Hard to believe.

Here is the bread reheating setting which have worked well for me: full steam at 212°F for 7 minutes, then convection bake at 320°F with 20% humidity for 35 minutes. The timing may differ depending on the size of the bread. The bread usually goes directly from the freezer to the cold oven. In case you wonder, there are countertop convection steam ovens which are fairly affordable and priced competitively. They are not heavy duty enough for baking breads, but perfect for reheating.

What goes well with the fig hazelnut bread? A fig salad tossing together fresh figs, baby kale leaves, prosciutto and a simple dressing. On its face, I’m convinced that the sum is better than the parts, including the bread!

https://www.everopensauce.com/fig-and-hazelnut-levain-bread/

I issued myself a challenge (posted here in the Challenge forum) to see what kind of fun I could have with a simple 123 method sourdough. In other words, 1 part fresh starter, 2 parts water (or other liquid) and 3 parts flour. Also, a customer had asked me to create a 'sweet' version of my Three Friends Levain (Tom[ato], Olive and Rosemary) that she could have with peanut butter and jam. So, a double challenge!

My first version was bread flour and whole wheat flour, 100% hydration fresh levain, chopped Brazil nuts and dried figs, and a bit of cardamom. It turned out very nice, but still needed something. Oh, and just as an aside - I use Brazil nuts because they are about the most environmentally-sustainable tree nuts around. They grow best in an intact rain forest!

I had to try it with my home made nectarine jam, just to check! :)

Good, but still needed a couple of tweaks.

Today's version was much the same, but I toasted the chopped Brazil nuts and added a bit of honey and some poppy seeds.

Here's the formula:

The method was pretty basic:

• Mix flours, water and levain and let sit for 30 minutes
• Add salt and add-ins and mix [note, I mixed this in the big Univex mixer (Max) because I actually made six loaves today; you can mix and develop the dough in other ways]
• Stretch and fold every 30 minutes over the next couple of hours, until the dough is strong, stretchy and springy
• Leave in a cool basement to bulk ferment overnight [in the morning the dough had nearly tripled in volume and was beautiful - soft and jiggly but with a nice dome on it and still a lot of strength]
• Bench, scale and pre-shape
• Shape and let proof for about an hour
• Load onto peels, then into hot stones (475F) with steam. After 5 minutes, turn heat down to 425F. Turn loaves after 15 minutes, then bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Internal temperature around 205F

It looks a little rough at the pre-shape stage but was actually beautifully strong and springy.

You can see how nice and taut the shaped dough ended up.

Slashed and ready to load.

Very nice oven spring and burst, and a lovely colour on the crust.

The crumb is divine - very moist and chewy, and the flavour is now everything I was looking for.

So, over to you! See the 123 challenge on the Challenge forum for details... :)

A relatively new TFL member recently asked how to make a sourdough bread. His description of the desired characteristics brought to mind a bread we made in the San Francisco Baking Institute Artisan II Workshop on sourdough baking. It was a decidedly French-style pain au levain with minimal acidic acid tanginess but a creamy, sweet complex flavor. It was the preferred bread of the SFBI faculty. The special features of this white bread were a liquid levain fed every 12 hours that made up about 30% of the total flour in the final dough.

My bake differed slightly from the original, but I give the SFBI formula as it was given to us.

Note: for the starter feedings, including the levain mix, I actually used my usual starter feeding mix of 70% AP, 20% WW and 10% Rye. So, in the levain, rather than the AP and Rye specified in the SFBI formula, I used 107 g of the above mix.

1. Mix ingredients thoroughly.

2. Ferment 12 hours at room temperature. (Note: Because of my own scheduling needs, I refrigerated the levain overnight before mixing the final dough. This was not the procedure at the SFBI, and it would be expected to make the bread somewhat more sour. If you can, omit this levain retardation.)

Procedures

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, pour in the water, add the liquid starter and mix to dissolve the starter.

2. Add the flour and mix to a shaggy mass.

3. Let rest, covered, for 20-60 minutes.

4. Add the salt (and yeast, if you are using it) and mix with the dough hook at Speed 2 for 5-6 minutes. Adjust flour or water to achieve a medium consistency. (Note: I did not use added instant yeast.)

5. Ferment for 2-3 hours at 76ºF with 1 or 2 folds, as needed to strengthen the dough. (Note: The fermentation time depends on whether you use the instant yeast and on your fermentation temperature. As usual, “Watch the dough, not the clock.” The dough should end up expanded by 25-50% and should be light and gassy. If you ferment in a transparent container, your should see the dough to be well-populated with tiny bubbles.)

6. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and pre-shape as boules or cylinders.

7. Let the pieces rest, covered, for 25-30 minutes.

8. Shape as boules or bâtards.

9. Proof for 90-120 minutes at 80ºF. (I had a class to teach, so I refrigerated the loaves for 3 hours, then proofed for 2 hours at 80dF)

10. Bake at 460ºF with steam for 25 minutes. ( I baked at 460dF with steam for 12 minutes, then another 16 minutes at 435dF convection bake in a dry oven.)

11. Leave in the turned-off oven with the door ajar for another 10 minutes. (Optional)

12. Cool thoroughly on a rack before slicing.

I also baked a couple loaves of a Pain de Campagne. It is based on the one in FWSY, except I leave out the instant yeast and boost the whole grain flours a bunch. For today's bake, I halved the recipe in the book to make 1100g of dough and divided that into two. We are traveling next week, and I wanted to take a small loaf along for breakfasts and picnics.

Happy baking!

David