breads no. 3 & 4 :: variations on one recipe

After watching the video lecture by Andrew Whitley, and reading his blog post, and reading a couple more articles here and there, and what Deb, from Smitten Kitchen wrote ...something just clicked with me. I believed in the notion of a long rising time and the slow fermentation to develop a richly flavorful bread.  I also believed that I could accomplish this; that, in fact -- it is simple. 

With Mr. Whitley's metric recipe in hand, I promptly began converting the measurements and have been playing with it since.

In short, what I found in this recipe is pretty much what I was seeking at the outset:  with very few, natural ingredients and using healthy olive oil as the element of fat, I could create a hearty strong bread with flexible/forgiving timing.  You do not have to stand around for 3 hours to be near the oven at the correct time.  In fact, if you use a stand mixer with bread hook attachment, this is literally a one-bowl operation from sponge to kneading.  Super simple!

Something else that I appreciate about the process is that it requires a fraction of the yeast of nearly every other recipe I've read.  That is just plain good economics.  Those little yeast packets are expensive. Imagine yielding 4 recipes from one pack rather than one! 

Now the question I'm left with is this: what to do with those canisters of milk powder and shortening I have on hand?

Though this is a two step process, it is VERY simple.  You just mix it, then go about whatever your business might be. Time does the work developing the "fermentation" of the sponge.  The next step comes together easily with so few ingredients, and the reward of the full-bodied flavor is very gratifying.

Converted to US measurements and adapted from Andrew Whitley's recipe on Word of Mouth.

The basic recipe

step 1. overnight sponge

1 tsp fresh or 1/2 tsp. dry yeast

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup water

Set aside and let stand at room temperature 12-16 hours.  The bubbly mass should triple in size.

 

note: The second time I made the sponge I ran out of time in the day to bake.  I simply covered and refrigerated the sponge (cold slows/halts the yeast reaction).  Bring 'starter' back up to room temp. for an hour or so before proceeding to step two. This very long developing time caused no noticeable problems with the bread. 

step 2.  the final dough

to the overnight sponge add:

2  1/4  to  2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup warm water

3 Tbl. olive oil

1 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients into a soft, wet dough.  Knead without adding extra flour until it is silky and slightly stretchy.  (I did all kneading with my stand mixer and bread hook, but you need not - hands will work fine.)  Cover and let rise 1 hour. (I let it rise slightly more time in both trials with no adverse reactions.) Divide in two equal portions (for mini loaves) dredge in whole wheat flour to coat and hand shape into greased tins.  Allow to stand 15-30 min. until dough crowns a bit.  Bake at 400 degrees for first 10 minutes, then reduce temp. to 350 for remaining 15 minutes.  Tap top of loaves, listening for that "hollow" sound to check that it is done.

yield: two small loaves (mini tins). You could certainly try 1 large loaf and watch/adjust baking time.

---------------------------------------------------

Variation no. 1

I used 100% whole wheat flour just as the recipe called for, but I added to the recipe 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, and 1/2 cup of flax seeds.  I love the contrast of crunchy nutty seeds mixed with soft, stretchy bread.  Hand forming into a boule gave me the 'restaurant quality' that I wanted, but the dough spread more in width than height.  I was so happy with the end result it felt like a tiny party in my kitchen.

 

 

variation no. 2

This time I substituted unbleached bread flour for 1/2 of the total flour content.  In other words, in addition to the sponge, I added 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup bread flour.  (I used unbleached King Arthur Flour which apparently contains an amount of barley according to the package.)  Also added 1/2 cup oat bran.  Hand formed small loaves to fit my small bread tins. It rose wonderfully.  This may have been my kid's favorite bread to date.

 

 

It's a wonder I got any photos of this loaf at all.

Let me know if you give it a try.  For me ... this is a keeper.

----------------

Note:  Watch for our first group challenge/giveway on Friday this week.

Comments

[Jess]

This recipe looks great!
Thanks, I can't wait to try it.

[Sarah Jackson]

yum! I'm going to make a sponge right now. Now.

[Fuji Mama]

Oh I can't wait to try this out! Thanks!

[Leslie]

These all look wonderful! What size are the small bread tins you're using?

[molly]

Leslie: I'm away this weekend, but will measure them when I get back and post the sizes here in comments.

[Jennifer]

Did anyone have a problem with the starter? I made this up twice with the same results. Nothing bubbles or grows. What could I be doing wrong? I have followed exactly as described here and from the original recipe. Please advise.