Overtime I have been aiming towards formulating a loaf that is as light as commercially improved bread. Continuing the theme of using my sourdough as an improver, I applied it to wholemeal flour this time.
Formula:
25% sourdough (45% hydration)
100% wholemeal flour
80% water
3% egg yolk
10% oil
5% honey
2.4% salt
I am very pleased with the results!
This recipe will make a loaf perfect for toasting and as light as the ones common in supermarkets without all the added rubbish.
To achieve the vast volume we need three things, very strong flour, lots of kneading and acidity.
We need to ferment some, well most of the flour to bring acidity to the dough. I’ve used a wet and warm ferment to lower the pH quickly and allow protease enzymes to do their thing contributing softness to the crumb.
pre-ferment:
375g very strong flour (Canadian spring red wheat)
375g water (30C)
15g fresh yeast
6g honey
Mix to combine and ferment at 30-32C for 3 hours until the pH drops to around 5.3 at which time the mix will have fallen.
final dough:
175g flour as above
22g oil of your choice, I used olive
11g salt
55g firm sourdough (optional)
Mix and knead to obtain a strong windowpane. Rest for ten minutes before shaping. Prove at 30C until increased in volume by two and a half times, around 45 minutes.
Bake with steam throughout.
Original recipe from Paul Hollywood. I took this recipe and re-formulated it to include an overnight cold maturation whilst also upping the levels of sugar, butter and fruit.
| 500 | strong 00 flour (Shipton Mill) |
| 250 | milk |
| 80 | boiled water |
| 100 | caster sugar |
| 100 | butter |
| 60 | whole egg (beaten) |
| 20 | fresh yeast |
| 100 | g sultanas |
| 50 | g mixed peel |
| zest of 1 orange | |
| 1 apple , peeled, cored and finely chopped | |
| 1 tsp. ground cinnamon | |
| 1 tsp. mixed spice | |
Mix flour, salt, yeast and spices in a bowl. Separately in jug dissolve sugar with the water, add the milk, cold from the fridge and finally the beaten egg. Gradually combine this liquid solution with dry ingredients to make a dough. Rest for 30 minutes – 1 hour. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
Next Morning remove the dough from the fridge and allow about 1hr to come up to room temperature. Then knead until full development. Mix in the fruits and zest until evenly distributed. Bulk ferment in a warm place for around one to two hours or until until nearly doubled in volume. Scale into 13 100g pieces. Round each tightly and prove until generously doubled, pipe crosses and bake. Once baked glaze with jam or syrup.
I confess; I am in no way skilled at lamination and hardly ever make croissants. It’s something I’ve done only a handful of times. These were my best yet and not only that, these are solely leavened by natural means, a first.
Original recipe found here – I scaled it down and used a lower ratio of butter for folding in.
| 25 | 50 | 11 | 1000 | flour 00 W 210/230 | ||||
| 50 | 100 | 22 | 2000 | flour 00 W 360/380 | ||||
| 25 | 50 | 22 | 1000 | sourdough | ||||
| 20 | 40 | 9 | 800 | caster sugar | ||||
| 25 | 50 | 22 | 1000 | egg yolks | ||||
| 25 | 50 | 22 | 1000 | water | ||||
| 19 | 38 | 8 | 750 | butter | ||||
| 50 | 100 | 22 | 2000 | flour 00 W 210/230 | ||||
| 100 | 200 | 44 | 4000 | flour 00 W 360/380 | ||||
| 28 | 55 | 12 | 1100 | caster sugar | ||||
| 75 | 150 | 33 | 3000 | egg yolks | ||||
| 3 | 6 | 1 | 120 | salt | ||||
| 8 | 15 | 3 | 300 | acacia honey | ||||
| 25 | 50 | 11 | 1000 | water | ||||
| 25 | 50 | 11 | 1000 | milk | ||||
| 13 | 25 | 6 | 500 | butter | ||||
| – | – | – | – | *butter for folding in | ||||
| 516g | 1029g | % | 20570g | |||||
*original recipe says to use 2.5Kg of butter per every 4.5Kg of dough. I used 1/3 butter to dough.
Fully proved and too warm!
After the bake
Crumb with errors
Incredibly delicate like clouds that just flaked and melted away in the mouth!
Gotta love chocolate!
Recipe source: http://www.panperfocaccia.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=16418
Final dough moulded and later fully risen.
Primo Impasto:
Secondo Impasto:
Up close before before being scored with a cross and cooling upside down after the bake.
After cooling completely, this panettone was wrapped and left to mature for 5 days before being cut into… The texture was the best I’ve had so far, very bready and very shreddy. For my taste this could have done with a little more salt even though I did raise it to 3 grams already.
Various photos of the crumb.
Close-ups
Confident in the process of making naturally leavened cakes like Panettone and Pandoro. However that distinct aroma, common in commercial versions of these cakes has eluded me. Well, now I have the secret flavours, it would seem…
more to come…
Here I made two loaves, each using the same method and a basic formula which includes my lievito naturale 2.0.
These are quite possibly the best loaves of bread I ever made. Aromatic, crusty and wonderful textures. Solely leavened by natural means but not characteristic of sourdough. If you didn’t know, you’d think these were made with bakers yeast.
Each loaf used a biga prepared the night before.
Biga acida – left at cool room temp (18C) until triple in volume (12-14hrs)
White loaf
Aromas of malt and mild acetic acid, this is very much like ciabatta thanks to the biga. No detectable acidity in taste.
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Formula:
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This makes a soft white dough with very good extensibility.
Rustic looking base crust.
Loaf of mixed flours
Wheaty and wholesome. A tender bite with a mild sharpness thanks to the bran which promotes production of acetic acid.
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Formula:
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These were fermented and proved at 30C with a couple of folds during fermentation and dusted with fine durum flour. Each loaf has a thick crust and a tender crumb.
Delicious!
