Buckwheat Sourdough Loaf

Take 40g of the starter and add 90g of water and 90g of flour, mix, cover and let stand for 12 hours  If the starter doubles, you should have a starter that is strong enough to make bread. 

357g flour

153g buckwheat flour

12g   salt

365g water

220g active starter

Mix ingredients just until incorporated.  Do not knead.  Place in large container with lid and cover.  Let stand for 1 hour.  Wet you hands and fold the dough over itself from all sides.  The dough should be much smoother then when first mixed.  Cover and let stand 30 minutes.  Wet your hands and fold the dough over itself again.  Repeat these 4 times in total.  After the fourth time, place the dough in the fridge for 24 hours. 

Pre-heat your oven to 230°C.  Remove the dough from the fridge and on a floured surface final shape and place the loaf upside down in a bowl covered with a tea towel or a banneton and dusted with white rice flour.  Cover and let sit at room temperature for an hour.  Once the oven is hot, invert the dough onto the baking tray or Dutch oven.  Score and bake until golden brown or an internal temperature of 90°C.

Chocolate Brioche

If you are looking to impress someone who loves everything chocolate, look no further! And I say impress someone, as this is made for sharing.  It is airy, rich and oh so yummy.  This one is worth the best cocoa and chocolate chips money can buy.  I use a chocolate spread or peanut butter over the stretched dough to make it extra special.

The night before preparing the brioche dough, feed 40g of your starter with 80g of water and 80g of flour.  Place it in a glass big enough for it to double.  Mark the jar with an elastic band or marker so you know how much it grew overnight.

350g of flour
50g cocoa

80g of sugar

7g of salt

200g sourdough

120g of milk, warmed up

150 g butter, salted (room temperature)

3 large eggs (+ 1 egg yolk for brushing)
100g chocolate chips
150g chocolate spread or peanut butter (optional)

Beat eggs with sugar and milk.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the remaining ingredients (except spread and chocolate chips) and stir in the egg mixture using a wooden spoon until well incorporated. Let stand for 30 minutes. Wet you finger tips with cold water and fold the dough three times at 20-minute intervals. After the last fold, let stand at room temperature for two hours. Refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator, and using a rolling pin, roll out dough on a lightly dusted surface to 23 cm x 23 cm square. If using spread, with a spatula, spread it on the surface of the dough and sprinkle with 2/3 of the chocolate chips. Roll it up and place in a 23 cm x 13 cm loaf pan (9 inch x 5 inch).  I like to line the pan with parchment paper for easy sliding out and clean up.  Final proof for 2 hour. Beat egg yolk, brush top of brioche and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips just before baking. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for about 45 minutes or internal temperature reaches 90C. 

Eat at own risk.  It is so good you will want a second slice.

Brioche

Sunday mornings are for curling up with a warm blanked, snuggles, a hot cup of java and the best brioche one could have outside of countryside France. Buttery dough with a slight sweet note will entice your palette and your mind will scream for more.  Basic brioche using sourdough to leaven is easy to make, and hardly any work at all.  The most you have to do is bring it up to your mouth to eat it, well, almost. 

The night before preparing the brioche dough, feed 40g of your starter with 80g of water and 80g of flour.  Place it in a glass big enough for it to double.  Mark the jar with an elastic band or marker so you know how much it grew overnight.

400g of flour

80g of sugar

7g of salt

200g sourdough

100g of milk, warmed up

150 g butter, salted (room temperature)

3 large eggs (+ 1 egg yolk for brushing)

1/2 teaspoon grated rind of 1 lemon or orange (optional)

Beat eggs with sugar and milk.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the remaining ingredients and stir in the egg mixture using a wooden spoon . Stir until it is well incorporated. Let stand for 30 minutes. Wet you finger tips with cold water and fold the dough three times at 20-minute intervals. After the last fold, let stand at room temperature for two hours. Refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator, shape and place in a 23 cm x 13 cm loaf pan (9 inch x 5 inch).  I like to line the pan with parchment paper for easy sliding out and clean up.  Final proof for 2 hour. Beat egg yolk and brush top of brioche just before baking. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for about 45 minutes or internal temperature reaches 90C. 

Enjoy every rich bite once cooled. 

Basic no-knead recipe

There are many resources on how to start a your own Sourdough starter online, so I won't go into details, but once you have one going, treat it like your baby.  Feed it, burp it and know how to put it to sleep.

For the most basic and easiest sourdough bread made at home, you won't needs an expensive machine to mix or have hands and arms like the ones of the incredible hulk.  All you need is a container with a lid, large enough to hold your dough when it doubles in volume.  A fridge, to keep it cold for at least 12 hours.  A digital scale that measures grams, flour, water and salt and of course an oven!  Always use bottled water.  Most municipalities treat their water with bleach, which inhibits the growth of yeast. The use of the word "flour" will be used quite often, seeing it is a bread blog, so know that "flour" is "all purpose" unless otherwise specified. 

The night before preparing your bread dough, feed 40g of your starter with 80g of water and 80g of flour. Place it in a glass jar big enough for it to double.  Mark the jar with an elastic band or marker so you know how much it grew overnight. 

In the morning, your starter should have at least doubled in volume without collapsing.  This means it is ready to get to work. 

No-knead Sourdough

Bread recipe using your starter

500g flour

12g salt

340g water

200g of starter

Mix ingredients just until incorporated.  Do not knead.  Place in large container with lid and cover.  Let stand for 1 hour.  Wet you hands with cold water and fold the dough over itself from all sides.  The dough should be much softer then when first mixed. Cover and let sit 30 minutes.  Wet your hands and fold the dough over itself again.  Repeat the folds 4 times in total.  After the fourth time, place the dough in the fridge for 24 hours. 

Pre-heat your oven to 450F.  remove dough from the fridge and on a floured surface, shape the dough into a round loaf.  Place the loaf upside down in a bowl covered with a tea towel and dusted with rice flour.  Cover and let rest.  Once the oven is hot, invert the dough onto the baking tray.  Slash the loaf with a blade or sharp knife.  Place in oven.  Use a spray bottle to spray the oven with water to create steam OR place some ice cubs in a container in the oven.

Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown, or 195F internal temperature.

Wait to cool before cutting.

Crumb 

What is Sourdough

Sourdough, a large collection of wild yeasts and lactobacilli  bacteria having an enormous party, when mixed into any type of bread dough, straight or enriched, they multiply and create lovely air bubbles we all so love in our baked goods.

Sourdough was used in the old world, but in the 19th century when yeast was commercialised in order to produce quick rise baked goods and mass produce, the natural way was soon forgotten by many.  With it came sensitivities often mistaken by wheat issues, when in fact a person could be sensitive to commercial yeast (not to be mistaken for celiac!).  To have a good natural quality loaf of bread, all it takes is flour, water and salt. Forget the additives such as colour, vinegar, conditioners, preservatives or others.  A natural, sourdough loaf, is better than any commercially enhanced one.  It has oven spring, the natural occurrence of natural gases in the first 15 minutes of baking and a phenomenon called Maillard reaction happens, which produces the most desirable quality and flavour of the crust by giving it a beautiful golden-brown colour, and crunch.

The benefit of eating sourdough, is not only to awaken your taste buds, but also to awaken your digestive system.  By fermenting bread at a cooler temperature for prolonged hours, it pre-digests starches in grains, making it easier for you to digest. It produces acetic acid which when under the baking heat, reduces the starch availability, lowering blood sugar glycemic responses, as well as inhibiting the growth of mold. Lactobacillales produce lactic acid, which in turn contributes to your well being, intestinal health and effects on immunity.

Love eating bread again.  One loaf at a time.

Semolina Sourdough