INFINITY TECHNO SOURDOUGH

Posted in Breads by sallybr

I love a gadget. I cannot lie, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Some are huge disappointments, and end up forgotten or donated. But most show up to play on a regular basis. Today I join two gadgets to make sourdough: the Sonic blade adapter and my beloved electric turntable. Watch a short video of the action right below the recipe.

SPIRAL TECHNO SOURDOUGH
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

480g bread flour
20g spelt flour
10g salt
370g water
80g sourdough starter at 100% hydration

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. After four hours bulk fermentation, shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Leave at room temperature one hour, and then place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F. Invert the dough over parchment paper, sprinkle tapioca flour over it for a very light coverage. Next, use a brand new razor blade to score the design.

Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Of course, there is no need for a turntable but it was a ton of fun to use it, plus it allows me to bring that baby to play in more ways than cake and cookies. The Sonic blade works well and I do use it often, independent of the turntable. It makes a very clean, sharp cut, perfect for intricate designs. You can read more about it and find ordering info in this post from my past.

ONE YEAR AGO: Incredibly Easy Times Two

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THREE YEARS AGO: Air-Fried Cauliflower with Pomegranate Seeds and Tahini Sauce

FOUR YEARS AGO: Pistachio-Rose Donuts

FIVE YEARS AGO: Smoked Chocolate Macarons

SIX YEARS AGO:Chocolate Celebration Cake

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EIGHT YEARS AGO: Tangential Quiche with Asparagus and Fennel

NINE YEARS AGO: Fakebouleh

TEN YEARS AGO:Yellow Squash Soup

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Grilled Chicken with Tamarind and Coconut Glaze

TWELVE YEARS AGO:Chicken-Apricot Skewers

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO:Asparagus Quiche

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Two-stage Pea and Prosciutto Risotto

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO:Mellow Bakers: Corn Bread

29Nov2024

FALL LEAVES PANCH PURAN SOURDOUGH

Posted in Breads by sallybr

PANCH PURAN SOURDOUGH
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

500g bread flour
350g water
75g starter at 100%
9g salt
1 tsp pinch puran spice mix

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the flour, salt and spice mixture. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. You will notice the dough will gain quite a bit of structure even with just 4 minutes in the mixer. Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. Because the dough is already a bit developed from the initial time in the mixer, you should get very good structure after 3 and a half hours, or even sooner than that.

After four hours bulk fermentation, shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Leave at room temperature one hour, and then place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F.Place a parchment paper on top of the dough, a flat baking sheet, and invert the dough, flipping it out of the banneton. Flour the surface of the dough, score with a razor blade, and bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I love the yin-yang feel of this design which is quite popular for batard-shaped loaves, you can see examples everywhere in social media. Coupling razor blade with small scissors is all you need to get this simple look going.

Before I leave, let me share a few more designs of the recent past…

For the above look, a very simple grid is the initial scoring, then just a few extra touches in the center of each square.

Another batard shape that is super simple and effective, relying on a central deep cut and a few decorating light touches with the blade…

A little stencil adventure…

And a festive scoring coupled with a slightly heavier coating with tapioca flour…

That’s all for now, folks, stay tuned for more soon!

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TWO YEARS AGO: Bison a la Mode de Bourgogne

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EIGHT YEARS AGO: Happy Thanksgiving!

NINE YEARS AGO: Two Takes on Raspberries

TEN YEARS AGO: Spice Cake with Blackberry Puree & The Global Pastry Review

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Own Your Kitchen with Cappuccino Panna Cotta

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Chicken Parmigiana, the Thriller

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FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Pugliese Bread

27Jan2023

VALENTINE’S SOURDOUGH, THREE WAYS

Posted in Breads by sallybr

You can use any formula for your sourdough bread, it is all about the scoring, or scoring & painting, if you are so inclined. I offer a simple recipe, that you can flavor with different spices or leave plain.

BE MY VALENTINE SOURDOUGH
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

475g bread flour
25g spelt flour
365g water
70g sourdough starter at 100% hydration
10g salt
1 tsp spice flavoring (Garam masala, Ras-El-Hanout, Za’atar)

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the two types of flour, and salt. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. You will notice the dough will gain quite a bit of structure even with just 4 minutes in the mixer. Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. Because the dough is already a bit developed from the initial time in the mixer, you should get very good structure after 3 and a half hours, or even sooner than that.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F.

Place three strings over the dough nicely spaced, and touch the strings to glue them lightly to the bottom of the bread. Place a parchment paper on top, a flat baking sheet, and invert the dough, flipping it out of the banneton. Flour the surface of the dough, and tie the strings on top as shown in the composite picture. Score as desired, forming a heart pattern. You can paint with an air-brush, if desired.

Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. I cut the strings quickly after 30 minutes when I open the pan, and moved them gently out of the bread. Don’t worry if some parts of the string stay glued to the bread, you can remove later. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

The first bread is a flash-back from a couple of years ago, and you can read all the details here.

If you like to add some color to this basic scoring, here’s how to do it…

Simply tie the bread as explained in the recipe, score the heart shapes, and carefully air-brush the design with red. This particular loaf was smaller (400g total flour instead of 500g), so I did not have much space to work on additional details with the razor blade. But I still like the end result…

And the third design, might be the simplest, as you won’t need to tie strings around the shaped dough before baking.

I floured the top of the bread, placed a cookie cutter on top, air-brushed the inside with red dye, removed the cookie cutter and cut the heart with a razor blade first, then used the scissors to clip all around it. A little spiral scoring all around, and that was all!

Comments: I am not sure which design is my favorite, maybe the last one, although the bread had such strong oven spring that the spiral scoring ended up a bit removed from the heart design on top. If you don’t have an air-brush, you can paint with a regular brush, diluting the food dye with a little vodka or water, depending on how fast you want the paint to dry (vodka or any other alcohol will dry faster than water). You can also just score the heart and leave it plain.

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TWO YEARS AGO: Springerle Painting 101

THREE YEARS AGO: Mincemeat Pies, when the third time is a charm

FOUR YEARS AGO: Shibari Bread]

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SIX YEARS AGO: Two Salads and a Blog Award!

SEVEN YEARS AGO: When Three is Better than Two

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Somebody Stop Me!

NINE YEARS AGO: Zucchini Pasta with Cilantro-Cashew Pesto

TEN YEARS AGO: Bran Muffins, Take Two

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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28Jun2022

FOR THE LOVE OF SOURDOUGH

Posted in Breads by sallybr

Playing with different scoring styles for sourdough… The only new recipe is Pecan Flour Sourdough (top left). I had a bag of pecan flour hanging around, and did a little sourdough experiment with it. Pecan flour brings flavor and some fat to the party, but no gluten, so it’s not a good idea to add too much to your basic bread formula. We loved the texture of the crumb, the delicate flavor, and the slight purple tone it contributed. The bread lasts longer at room temperature without drying. And of course, it freezes beautifully, like any sourdough does.

PECAN FLOUR SOURDOUGH
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

480g bread flour
20g spelt flour
20g pecan flour
10g salt
370g water
80g sourdough starter at 100% hydration

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the three types of flour, and the salt. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. If the dough is too sticky, add 1/4 cup flour, you want the dough to start clearing the sides of the bowl, but still be sticky at the bottom.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F. Invert the dough over parchment paper, sprinkle tapioca flour over it for a very light coverage. Next, use a brand new razor blade to score the design.

Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The picture did not really show the color too well. In real life, there was a very very light hint of purple. The bread is delicious, with a complex flavor, not clearly associated with pecans. I wanted to keep just the flour in this version, but adding pieces of toasted pecan to the formula will be happening in the future.