UBE SOURDOUGH, TWO WAYS

Posted in Breads by sallybr

Back in December last year I had a lot of fun playing with ube, the Filipino ingredient that was new to me. Today I share two ways to make sourdough bread incorporating ube. The basic recipe is the same, but in the first version I substituted some of the flour with ube powder. The second version incorporates 1/4 tsp ube extract in the dough. The one with the ube powder got a super light purple tone and the texture and structure of the bread was slightly different from a regular sourdough. If you are looking for color impact, definitely go with ube extract. A little goes a long way, and the taste is very mild.

UBE SOURDOUGH – VERSION #1

UBE SOURDOUGH, TWO WAYS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

480g white bread flour
20g ube powder
10g salt
350g water
75-90g 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 flour, ,ube powder 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.

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, add the stencil and air-brush if so desired. Score with a razor blade.

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

FOR VERSION #2
Use 500g bread flour and add 1/4 tsp ube extract to the dough, following the same method to prepare and bake the bread.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: You will notice that the crumb is tighter than usual for a sourdough, and also the color purple is super subtle, quite light. Version #2, with ube extract got a lot more color.

UBE SOURDOUGH – VERSION #2

I used a different method to decorate it, with oats to form little flowers and black sesame seeds in the center. Just wet the surface of the dough a little bit and that acts like a glue.

It was a bit time-consuming to do, so I ended up forming just 4 little flowers. Maybe next time I can go for full-coverage…

The crumb was open and super purple!

So, if you like to play with this ingredient, I would recommend the extract, because I felt the dough was quite affected in its structure when some of the flour (therefore gluten) was removed and replaced with the powder. Also, the color that the extract provides is quite spectacular and stayed unchanged with baking. Flavor is very subtle.

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28Dec2023

UBE LINZER COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

Another adventure with ube, my newfound love. For these cookies I went the extra mile and made the jam myself, from frozen grated ube that I bought at one of our Asian grocers in town. The process is simple, in fact quite similar to making Brazilian brigadeiros and results in a smooth, not too sweet delicacy perfect to fill cookies. I opted for a little air-brushing to decorate the tops instead of the usual showering with powdered sugar.

UBE LINZER COOKIES
(adapted from Instructables)

FOR THE UBE JAM:
1/3 cup condensed milk
1/4 cup evaporated milk
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup grated ube
1 tsp ube extract
1/8 tsp salt
Squeeze of lemon

FOR THE COOKIE DOUGH:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened at room temperature
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp ube extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
pinch of salt
Extra icing sugar for dusting

Make the jam: Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir until butter is melted in low heat. Add grated ube. Stir continuously until thickened, it should take about 10 minutes. Add ube extract, salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Continue stirring until you reach the consistency of thick pudding, about minutes longer. Remove from heat and let cool at room temperature.

Make the dough: Using a paddle attachment, cream together butter and icing sugar. Add egg yolk.
Continue to cream together until pale and fluffy. Add ube extract. Mix until throughly combined.
Add all purpose flour, almond flour, and salt. Mix just until combined. Roll the dough out, cut shapes, and for half of the cookies, cut a design of your choice in the center.

Bake the cookies at 325F for 15 minutes. Once cool, spray a pattern on the cookies with the cutout, if so desired. Spread ube jam on the underside of the bottom cookie layer, so that the smooth side is on the outside. Find matching tops and make a cookie sandwich.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you can find frozen grated ube, you are in luck! Having tried both kinds, I can tell you that the home-made jam is much better, both in taste and texture. Totally worth the extra work. The Linzer cookies had a nice flavor and amazing color just from the ube extract.

To make the pattern I used a simple stencil and air-brushed white color over the naked cookie, after baking and allowed to come to room temperature. You can of course omit this step and just cover the tops with powdered sugar, but I find those hard to transport and eat without getting the fingers all coated with sugar. Your kitchen, your rules…. At any rate, these are truly delicious, and if you want a very unusual take on Linzers, I cannot think of a better version. MAKE IT!

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21Dec2023

UBE MACARONS

Posted in macarons by sallybr

Are you familiar with this Philippine ingredient? I was not, until my dear daughter-in-law Courtnie professed it to be her favorite flavor for all baked things… I was intrigued. Read a lot about it, gathered ingredients and went to work. For the macarons you will need ube extract and ube jam, which you can make yourself or buy it ready at the store. We do have a couple of great Asian markets in town and they carry exotic ingredients from all over the planet. For this adventure, I used store-bought jam, but stay tuned for my next post about it, in which I will show you how to make the jam from scratch.

UBE MACARONS
(from The Bewitching Kitchen, adapted from several sources)

For the shells:
200g Icing/powdered sugar (1 ⅔ cups)
115 g Almond Meal (1 + scant ¼ cup)
115 g egg whites at room temperature (approx. 4 eggs)
1/8 tsp of cream of tartar (optional)
100 g granulated sugar (½ cup)
¼ tsp ube extract
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Line 3 heavy baking sheets with parchment/baking paper or Silpat mats. Layer the powdered/icing sugar and ground almonds/almond meal in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like fine meal, about 12 pulses. Pass through a sieve and transfer to a small bowl or to a sheet of parchment/baking paper. Set aside.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Make sure that the bowl and the whisk are impeccably clean. Starting on medium speed, whip the whites with the cream of tartar until they look like light foam. The whites should not appear liquid. The foam will be light and should not have any structure.

Slowly rain in the granulated sugar in five additions, trying to aim the stream between the whisk and the side of the bowl. Turn the speed up to high. Continue to whip the meringue until it is soft and shiny. It should look like marshmallow creme (marshmallow fluff). Add the vanilla and ube extract. Whip the egg whites until the mixture begins to dull and the lines of the whisk are visible on the surface of the meringue. Check the peak. It should be firm. Transfer the whites to a medium bowl.

Fold in the ground almond/almond meal mixture in two increments. Paint the mixture halfway up the side of the bowl, using the flat side of a spatula. Scrape the mixture down to the center of the bowl. Repeat two or three times, then check to see if the mixture slides slowly down the side of the bowl. Add drops of gel color and mix them briefly with a toothpick. Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with your choice of piping tip (round, ¼ or ½ inch in diameter or 6 – 12 mm). If you don’t have a macaron mat, draw circles on baking/parchment paper about 2inches/5cm in diameter & turn the paper over before placing on the baking sheets. Pipe shells, I like to count numbers in my head and use the same count for each shell so they end up similar in size.

Slam each sheet hard four to six times on the counter/worktop. Let the unbaked macarons dry until they look dull but not overly dry. Drying time depends on humidity. In a dry climate, the macarons can dry in 15 to 20 minutes; in a humid climate, it can take 35 to 40 minutes.

While the macarons are drying, heat the oven to 300 F (150 C/130C Fan oven/Gas Mark 2). Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack. Check in 11 minutes. If the tops slide or move (independently of the ‘feet’ when you gently twist the top), then bake for 2 to 3 more minutes. Check one or two. If they move when gently touched, put them back in the oven for 1 to 2 more minutes until they don’t move when touched. Let the macaroons cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. The macarons should release without sticking.

Assemble the macarons: find two macarons similar in size and add a good amount of filling to the bottom of one of them. Place the other on top and squeeze gently to take the filling all the way to the edge. Store in the fridge for 24 hours for perfect texture.

Make the filling:

UBE BUTTERCREAM
100g Unsalted butter, room temperature
65g Cream cheese, room temperature
50g Ube halaya (If you can’t find any use ½ tsp ube extract and 20g icing sugar)
¼ tsp Ube extract

Whisk butter, cream cheese and ube halaya together until light and fluffy. Add ube extract and mix until well combined. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Match similar sized macaron shells with each other, fill and sandwich the cookies. Decorate the top with Royal icing swirls and sanding sugar, if so desired, or leave them plain. Keep in the fridge for 24 hours for perfect texture.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I am pretty happy with these! The ube gives the macarons a very interesting flavor, cutting the sweetness a bit. If you have never tried ube, please do so, you might fall in love with it, as I did… Big thank you to Courtnie for bringing this ingredient to my attention!