Three more loaves

[shewhomust]

The honeymoon continues: the sourdough behaves itself and the bread comes out well. There was one hiccup earlier this week, but - but I am getting ahead of myself.

I tried a recipe for a cheese-filled bread ring, which I copied into my little notebook long ago, and have never actualy used. It asked for white flour, and I used the mix which seems to have become my default equivalent: half white flour, a quarter wholemeal and a quarter spelt. (I had been thinking that when I used up the bag of spelt - as I did with this batch of dough - I would not replace it, but if I am thinking of it as part of a default mix, perhaps I should reconsider.) I'd been anticipating something bready, cheesy, gooey, but in fact the filling was quite solid (onions, cheese, eggs and ground almonds: it was obvious once I looked at the recipe that it would be) and the crust more like pastry than bread. Pleasant enough, but the two elements didn't match as well as I'd like.

The next loaf was straightforward, so much so that I don't remember the proportions of flour - but I grated into it the last slice of pumpkin which was lurking in the fridge. It seemed to like that. It was a little sticky to handle, but it rose magnificently, and the resultant loaf was moist as well as light. I couldn't have told, either by the appearance or the flavour, what the secret ingredient was.

Then came the hiccup. The starter that I made at the same time was thick and sluggish (perhaps it was sulking at not being given any pumpkin), and by the time I was ready to bake again, a layer of clear liquid had separated out. I took no chances, but used a couple of spoonsful to re-start it, and discarded the remainder - which was easier than I had feared, because from being too thick it had become thin and runny.

This strategy worked, and today I made chestnut bread (one third white flour, one third wholemeal, one third chestnut flour, which I found on the internet hooray!), a small round loaf and a small tin loaf. The fragment of crust which stuck to the tin had an agreeably gritty crunch (rather like cornbread). Chestnut bread for breakfast and further report to follow.

The only difference in my process which might explain this remarkable run of success is that when I add the flour I am holding back a small proportion, and if the dough is reluctant absorb it all, leaving out some flour rather than adding more liquid. Is this significant? Who knows?

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

(The liquid is generally just alcohol, tho' there is a word for it that I cannot now remember. It can just be stirred back into the whole, and contributes to the sourness while doing no harm.)

[anef.livejournal.com]

Mm, chestnut bread. Sounds lovely.