Photo credit: Quentin Bacon
One of my favorite recipes from BAKE, this bread combines the nutty flavor of Gruyere and the richness of toasted walnut pieces. In BAKE it's stated as a variation of the sandwich bread recipe. Here I've rewritten it as a stand-alone recipe and in the style I used for the scores of bread recipes I did for my upcoming bread book. Enjoy!
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Rosemary sourdough focaccia fresh from the oven
It has been exactly 9 days since I first mixed up the new starter. Last night I made the levain or sponge from it for the focaccia recipe here. Here's the risen levain early this morning:
Continue reading "The Sourdough Chronicles VI: Concluding for now with a rosemary focaccia" »
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After the last step, I fed the starter again: 100 grams starter, 100 grams tap water (the starter was fermenting easily enough, so I switched), 100 grams unbleached bread flour. Here's what the starter looked like before feeding: Starter after the fifth feeding
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I've always loved "before and after" photos and though I don't think any professional photographers will be green with envy about the following ones, they sure do the trick for me. But before the photos, more instructions:
Put 100 grams of your starter from the previous step into a 1-quart plastic container; stir in 100 grams distilled or spring water and 100 grams unbleached bread flour:
Before (note the red line)
I fed the starter in these containers late last night. This is what I found early this morning:
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Once your initial mix for the starter has begun to ferment, you'll need to feed it. Feeding gives the yeast more carbohydrates to digest allowing it to continue fermenting.
Uncover the starter and add:
100 grams distilled water or spring water
100 grams unbleached bread flour
Stir the water into the starter to dilute it, then smoothly stir in the flour. Scrape the starter into a clean bowl. Note the date and time of the feeding on the label, then cover the bowl. Here's my starter atop the refrigerator next to what's left of a 50-pound sack of bread flour and a gallon of distilled water:
Now, the waiting game again... If it's warm in the room, the starter should begin fermenting after 6 to 12 hours.
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Here’s another sneak preview of BREAD due out in September. After a few tries this raisin bread turned out to be all I wanted – it has a slightly dense texture with just a hint of sweetness and some richness from a small amount of butter in the dough. The golden raisins and currants stand out well with no distractions from cinnamon or any other flavors. Let me know if you like it as much as I do.
Nothing fancy here but a slightly sweetened and enriched white bread loaded with dark and golden raisins. The recipe makes two loaves and they’ll be gone before you know it.
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No, I haven't runaway from home; in fact, I've been right here at the computer for a couple of months now working on a book of breads that's going to be published in Fall 2012. I've lifted a new favorite from the as yet unpublished manuscript to share today. Let me know how you like it.
FIG AND ALMOND BREAD
Royal Crown Bakery in Brooklyn, New York bakes a fig and walnut batard-shaped loaf that I’ve enjoyed many times. My friend Ann Nurse has been a loyal customer for years and whenever I see her she has a couple of loaves of Royal Crown bread tucked under her arm for me. When I was planning which breads to make for this book, I thought of the bread but the owner was busy opening another shop and didn’t have time to talk about it. I embarked on an attempt to recreate the flavor I remembered, but with almonds instead of walnuts. Ann and I both agreed that there might be a little sugar in the dough, and that it looked and tasted as though there might also be a little whole wheat flour. It took a few tries but I’m happy with the result.
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