One of the things I want to do on this site is to share with you the (many) mistakes that I make as a home baker. Not all breads are beautiful, not all loaves are perfect. For one reason or another, I often mess up and want to use this space to share with you pitfalls you will likely face when baking in your own kitchen.
Ciabatta is one of those breads that go well with just about anything. It can stand up on its own or, as is most commonly done, be served as the vehicle for olive oil as a light hors d’oeuvre. As ubiquitous as Ciabatta is at restaurants, believe it or not it is a relatively new type of bread. Developed in 1976 by a baker in Verona as a response to French baguettes, the Ciabatta is an elongated flat loaf characterized by its many holes and light texture. It was only brought to the US in 1987![1]
[Read more…] about 24 Hour Ciabatta
When I was first introduced to semolina bread, I was in awe. I usually thought of semolina in terms of pasta but after trying it in bread form, I was hooked. The bread had a light golden color and a soft, fine crumb that craved to be toasted and buttered. Whenever I get my hands on semolina flour I always look forward to making a loaf that stands up to that vision.
This past week I went to a local grain store and purchased a few bags of different flours. Some bread flour, some wheat flour, and gladly some semolina flour. I was a little dismayed when the vendor wasn’t sure where the flours came from (I was hoping for some local flour milled in Pennsylvania) but nevertheless, home I went.
I fed my sourdough starter and adjusted a recipe from Jeffrey Hamelman’s “Bread” book for a semolina sourdough loaf. The recipe yields two loaves and is quite easy to make. If this is your first time using semolina, you’ll be surprised by how it transforms from granular flour to soft dough.
Sometime between the end of August and now, things got really busy and it seems like I entered a time warp. Since doing my last post I visited family in Boston, got bird poop on my camera, and made some really nice sourdough bread. The highlight of the baking were the sourdough challah loaves and the rounded ones were by far the prettiest. Since we eat with our eyes first, I guess they were the tastiest too!
Around this time of year I always end up baking quite a bit of challah. They’re delicious, for one, but also very versatile. French toast challah, ham and cheese challah, sour cream and challah, tea and challah, challah and honey, challah challah challah challah! It’s one of my favorites to make and everyone loves to eat it so I decided to try my hand at a 100% sourdough challah loaf.
For this recipe the key ingredient was time. From making sure the starter was good and ready to letting the loaves proof in the fridge before baking, the time spent in waiting was well worth the result. These turned out with a nice sour flavor, slightly sweet, fairly low on the richness scale, and perfect for any occasion from cheese plates to breakfast main item.
A note on the starter: As I mentioned, getting the starter good and ready was key. I started 3 days in advance feeding the starter and waking it back up as I keep mine in the fridge during the ‘down’ times I don’t bake. I fed my starter at first with 25g water and 25g flour, then 24 hours later with 50g flour and 50g water, then 12 hours later with 75g flour and 60g flour, and then one more final feeding 8 hours before using with 100g flour and 65g water. This is roughly a 75% hydration starter and it worked very well for this bake.
The final formula looked like this:
For the pre-bake wash, use one egg yolk and not quite all of the white + a little water to brush on your loaves.
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Method
Mix all of the ingredients minus the salt and autolyse for 30 minutes. Add the salt and mix until fully incorporated. Let the dough bulk ferment and stretch & fold the mass every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours. Let it ferment for another two hours in peace.
Divide the dough in to balls weighing roughly the same amount. The number of balls and the weight will depend on how many strands you want. For my 3 rounded loaves of 4 strands, I used 12 balls of about 125g each. Cover in plastic and allow them to relax for 20-30 minutes.
Roll our the strands and braid your bread. Place the bread in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with plastic.
Put in the fridge overnight (I had some scheduling conflicts so mine ended up in the ice box for about 14 hours…no adverse effects noticed).
Let them proof at room temp once again for an hour or two and pre-heat your oven accordingly to 375˚F. Brush the loaves with the egg wash and sprinkle seeds, sugar, salt, or other toppings as needed and bake for about 35 minutes, turning the loaves half way during the bake.
Let cool and enjoy!
When it comes to making bread, one of the things I really enjoy is trying to make it LOOK good as much as I enjoy making it taste good. This bread is packed with a little bit of rye flour, a little bit more whole wheat flour, and the rest is AP or bread flour. Paired with fairly low hydration, this combination of ingredients make a nice looking, easy to shape delicious loaf.
Jeffrey Hamelman is somewhat of a superstar these days. Not only is he the man behind the bakery at King Arthur’s home bakery his book is also well reviewed and award winning. The recipes in this book are available in three versions, one for commercial quantities in metric, another commercial size batch in imperial, and one for the home baker. As a home baker I just take the commercial quantity and divide by 100 to get my weights in grams.
This recipe starts with building a stiff levain with rye and whole wheat, which is then added to your final dough. This bread is a little less hydrated than most and I deviated a bit from the recipe by adding about 20g more water than what the book calls for. My loaves ended up being crusty with a nice soft interior and good crumb.
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This recipe is based on Jeffrey Hamelman’s “Bread – A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes”
Levain:
Final Build:
submitted to YeastSpotting
