I don’t regret that many things in my life, but if I could go back to the period that I lived in Paris, I’d take some time to travel to Belgium. I was so close to that beautiful country, but never saw it in person… it’s a shame and it’s sad. Plus, I’ve never met a person from Belgium who wasn’t super-nice! All my Belgium friends have a great sense of humor, a great appreciation for the fun side of life, and many positive things to say about their home country, that excels in so many things. Two of their special delicacies are chocolates and beer! The very best of both are produced in small quantities and not exported, but some excellent Belgium beer makes it all the way to the US, examples being Chimay, Leffe, and Hoegaarden, the latter of which is a beer that brings fond memories of my days as a single woman in Paris… 😉
I don’t drink beer anymore, but I still like to cook with it, or include it in breads- for a quick flash back, click here. So, when I saw this post not too long ago, I changed all my baking plans for the weekend, to accommodate a little Hoegaarden sourdough, and take the Bewitching Kitchen on a virtual trip to Belgique!
HOEGAARDEN BEER BREAD
(adapted from Fab Food Blog)
For the sponge:
120 g 100% hydration sourdough starter
60 g bread flour
45 ml Hoegaarden white beer
For the final dough:
235 g bread flour
65 ml Hoegaarden white beer
40 ml lukewarm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Mix all the ingredients for the sponge in a small bowl, mix well and leave it overnight at room temperature. It should be very bubbly and more than double in size. If it rises too much and collapses, it’s fine.
Next morning, place the sponge, flour, beer and water in a large bowl. Mix for a few minutes until barely combined, then let it sit for 20 minutes undisturbed. Add the salt, fennel seeds, and rosemary, and mix by gentle kneading. Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, knead again (20 seconds cycle), let the dough rise for about 40 minutes. Do one more cycle of quick kneading and let the dough rise for another 40 minutes. Knead one final time and let the dough rise undisturbed for 1.5 to 2 hours, until almost doubled in size. Shape as a ball, and place with the seam side up inside a well floured banetton type container.
Let it rise undisturbed for 2 hours. Heat the oven to 450 F with baking stones or tiles inside. Invert the dough on the tiles, quickly score the surface, and bake with initial steam. If covering the dough, remove the cover after 30 minutes, reduce the temperature of the oven to 425 F and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, until golden brown. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Comments: This recipe makes a small boule, so if you want to serve it in a dinner party for several people, consider doubling the recipe and baking two loaves. The bread smells wonderful during baking, and fennel is the dominant flavor. As to the beer, it would be interesting to bake two loaves side by side, substituting water for beer in one of them – I imagine that there will be a slight difference in sourness and complexity of flavor, but it’s hard to know for sure with the competing taste of fennel and rosemary (which, by the way, I increased a bit from the original posted recipe). In my experience, fresh rosemary has a tendency to lose its punch once it’s incorporated in bread dough, so I now use it with more abandon.
Fennel lovers: pair this delicious bread with some hearty Italian type sausage, for a double-fennel kick… Don’t like fennel? Simply omit it, the bread will still be delicious with a nice crust and moderately open crumb.
I am submitting this post to Susan’s Yeastspotting event… stop by and visit her weekly showcase of breads.
ONE YEAR AGO: Ancho-Chile Marinade: Pleased to meat you!
TWO YEARS AGO: The Handmade Loaf (the book that got me into sourdough baking!)
Related articles
- Spicy Kalamata Sourdough (bewitchingkitchen.com)
- Bread Winner (Part 1) (tienunscripted.wordpress.com)
- Pane De Casa & Crostini (bewitchingkitchen.com)
- Homemade bagels! (kerrycooks.wordpress.com)
Bewitching Kitchen 
Oh, what a success! That is one good looking loaf. Must be the beer giving ‘rise’ to that gorgeous, rustic appearance, and… I’m quite intrigued by the fennel and rosemary – yummm! Thanks Sally.
LikeLike
Fennel and rosemary worked beautifully in this loaf – now that you have your sourdough starter going, you’re all set!
LikeLike
Sally, I hope that one day you’ll get the chance to come back around here and visit!;-) I’m delighted that you liked my recipe and happy you can easily find some of our most famous beers. Cheers!
LikeLike
Fabrice, nice to “see” you here! Your recipe is great, glad I found it over at Yeastspotting, so I could try it too….
LikeLike
That looks wonderful. We have a lot of friends who don’t drink, but still make beer bread.
LikeLike
Beer is great for cooking, isn’t it? When winter comes, I’m going to make some carbonade flamande to go on with the Belgium celebration
LikeLike
Spectacular looking boule Sally !
I love this beer, it’s one of my favourites. Can you taste the coriander and orange peel along with the fennel and rosemary?. What a rich taste that must be! I think you should definitely pop back to Belgium one day and explore their beers and chocolate some more. I am not a big beer drinker, but I make an exception for Belgian brews 🙂
LikeLike
One day I’ll definitely go to Belgium – I know it will happen. Same with China. One day… 😉
LikeLike
Hello Sally; I am leaving a comment on your blog only tonight (however, I am reading on regular basis updates of your blog). Slowly, life starts to be normal here – I started a new job (duties, tasks, no time). I believe it will allow me to leave comments on my favorite blogs more often…and to come back to blogging on regular basis…
Beer from Belgium is great (fortunately, since 2-3 years available in Poland). Chocolate too…but for me also Belgium is a taste of French fries 🙂
Kind regards, all the best to you 🙂
LikeLike
Magdalena, great to have you around, particularly with great news on your life!
For those who have never visited her blog, Magdalena makes traditional Polish food and I learn A LOT every time I visit her site – a must-bookmark place!
LikeLike
Belgian beer (and belgian-style beer) is my favorite! I’ve never used it in bread, but I need to try it. Your loaf looks fantastic, and the fennel and rosemary in it sound great.
LikeLike
Not sure why I stopped drinking beer, but all of a sudden I just did not care for the taste anymore. When I drink now, it’s a glass of white or red wine, that’s about it. Such a boring lady I became….
Well, I still like a Cosmopolitan every once in a while 😉
LikeLike
i am definitely going to make this..it looks absolutely fantastic..my two week old sourdough starter is ready for some bread making action! jane
LikeLike
OH, you got a new starter! How cool… go for it!
LikeLike
That looks fantastic! Love the little bubbles on the crust and the slashed top. Looks yummy 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, Heidi! The crust was spectacular indeed, with a very nice reddish tint to it, not sure if the beer did it, but I was very happy with it
LikeLike
Sally, estive uma unica vez na belgica, e para mim foi inesquecivel, especialmente no quesito gastronomico, jamais me esqui de um prato de frutos do mar que degustei naquele país.maravilhoso. seu pão ficou fantastico.bjs
LikeLike
Sem duvida! Em Paris eu ia a um restaurante belga comer moules frites, oooooh, they were sooooooo good! COm um pao rustico para mergulhar no molho…. HEAVEN!
LikeLike
That is a beautiful boule- and I know my husband will get excited by its feature ingredient!
LikeLike
Your husband can drink the leftover beer in the bottle, helping with the cleaning! 😉
THanks for stopping by, Deborah…
LikeLike
I was in Belgium for a few nights after college on my tour through Eurpoe. The two things that I remember the most are the architecture and the food. The food was amazing!!! I had heaping (and I mean heaping) platter of fresh seafood.
This bread looks amazing!!! We had a beer bread the other day and it was fantastic – especially with grilled meat. I may have to try this one soon. I’m feeling a little less intimidated now (just a little – ha). 🙂
LikeLike
The more breads you make, the easier will get… 😉
LikeLike
Love the crust on this boule. Absolutely perfect! Bravo.
LikeLike
Thank you, Sasha – I really like baking the bread under an inverted roaster to create steam, the difference in the crust is pretty amazing, compared to any other method I tried.
LikeLike
OMG! I have to make double just for myself! I’m not a beer drinker but have used beer in recipes in the past. The bread just looks amazing, love the crusty exterior. You lucky lady to have lived in Paris! One of these days I truly hope to visit!!
LikeLike
Paris is a must-see place, indeed. I’ve had my best and my worst times while living there, but the best times won the competition by a looong shot! That’s what counts!
LikeLike
thank you thank you thank you. i have been searching high and low for a beer bread that captures my fancy. your crust has won me over!
LikeLike
Frankie, I hope it will turn out as the bread of your dreams, but I cannot take any credit for the recipe, Fab is the one who gets the prize 😉 His recipe is a winner, definitely
LikeLike
I love to cook with beer, and this bread is beautiful!
LikeLike
Thank you!
LikeLike
Wow, that is one phenomenally gorgeous loaf! I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for that beer. It’s funny, I have cooked and baked with beer, but never actually had any to drink, lol.
LikeLike
I stopped caring for the bitter taste of beer, not sure why, because I tend to like sourness to some extent – limes, lemons, vinegar. But drinking beer just doesn’t do it for me anymore.
LikeLike
This looks delicious! I only wish your blog could be called bewitchin kitchin:)
LikeLike
Actually, Maggie… we considered that name, but there was another blog with a very very similar name, and we went with Bewitching instead. oh, well – too many food blogs out there, isn’t it?
LikeLike
Hi Sally, the photo of that bread makes me want to ripe off a hunk and dip it in something. If you get a chance, you must go to Belgium. The photo that appears with my comment was taken in Brugge, Belgium. Everything about it was wonderful.
LikeLike
For some reason your photo did not post… 😦
I would LOVE to see Brugge, as well as Liege – my dear friend who got me hooked into Hoegaarden was from Liege, and kept insisting I should go. I bet those cities are amazing
LikeLike
Beautiful loaf.
LikeLike
Pingback: Weißbierbrot – Plötzblog
I was predisposed to love this bread and it was wonderful! I halved it, used Shock Top white beer, and roughly ground the (dried) spices in a mortar and pestle. I was a bit worried because I was unsure about the kneading directions. After mixing the main dough and letting it rest, I kneaded for about 10 minutes. The gluten strands were definitely underdeveloped at that point, but was no longer a shaggy mass. Across the 20 second cycles (was this in a stand mixer? I kneaded lightly for about a minute), the gluten formation progressed nicely. As it was quite warm (90F+ outdoors), I then worried about overproofing. For the second fermentation, I threw it in the refrigerator after an hour. It sat there for 15 minutes before I baked according to directions. I’m not adept yet at recognizing the perfect proofing (I need to get in the habit of the finger/poke test) and while I was really happy with the oven spring, it was probably a bit underproofed. But this is a keeper – can’t wait to make it again!
LikeLike
Thanks so much for letting me know! It is a wonderful bread indeed, I should make it again…
I am not at all comfortable with the “finger poking” method, I’ve been trying to do it with every bread I bake, but to be completely honest, I just don’t “get it” – oh, well – what matters is that most breads are turning out good enough to eat! 😉
LikeLike
Does the type of beer used make a big difference?
LikeLike
Great question, and I must confess I don’t know the answer – I suspect that if you keep it in the light range there won’t be much change. I would not use a stout for this bread, though. But, as a friend of mine says, bread is just water, flour, salt and yeast – why not experiment, right? Although in this case, there is also beer!
LikeLike