I was walking on the street on the 21st of December (and yes, I do write way after the fact), reflecting on the fact that the idea of winter solstice was fabulous: after that night, the days would be getting longer, the nights shorter, and eventually the weather would get warmer… and then my eyes noticed a branch on the floor.
I was standing outside a garden/flower shop, so I figured it must have been trimmed off a Christmas tree. And then I remembered what my grandfather used to say:
Lo que a mi casa viene, es porque me conviene.
(“Whatever comes to my house does so because it’s convenient for me”)
This is such a nice bread! (specially after the lasttwo “failures”). It’s like the ideal granary loaf, only without the “industrial nasties” (have you looked at the list of ingredients in a supermarket loaf?)… and also without any decoration, because I forgot to flour it ?
We’re enjoying it toasted and buttered (and with a cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee… yum!)
When I cut into this bread and saw what had happened I couldn’t stop laughing. Where did those holes come from? No, wait—they’re not holes… they are caverns!
(I think these are called “fool’s crumbs” in the specialised jargon!)
Anyway, disappointing as it looked, at least it was edible, and kept being edible for a week. Sourdough is so amazing, it doesn’t cease to impress me.
I think there are two reasons for this failure:
the starter wasn’t quite active yet (I took it out of the fridge the night before—I should have taken it two nights before)
the dough needed more water; this flour seems to absorb a lot of it!
and maybe it was proving for too long? maybe I should have kneaded better? I don’t know!
Apart from that, the other learning outcome from this experience is that I tried with placing a tray with ice cubes under the bread tray, to create steam, and this time the crust didn’t break in a ridiculous way, and was quite elastic. So, that part worked! đ
Ingredients
200g sourdough rye starter
280g water 20â
500g strong white flour (I used Gilchesters Organics unbleached white)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Preparation
Mix the starter with the water on a bowl
Place the flour and the salt on a bigger bowl
Add the liquid starter to the bigger bowl
Mix and knead well (using the hands)
Slap and fold for 7 minutes
Cover and rest for 30 minutes
Stretch and fold, cover and rest for 1 hour (repeat 3 times)
Flour the banneton and place the dough on it
Leave to prove for 4 hours
Set the oven to 200ÂșC, place the bread three quarters down from the top, and bake for about 45 minutes.
Then take it out and place on a rack to cool down.
Stats
Bread number: 2 (in 2019)
Looks: 3, the holes are really embarrassing! It didn’t raise at all, and the crumb was too compact. But—the crust was quite flexible and nicely coloured. So there you go.
Smells: 6, somehow sour, but a bit too subtle.
Tastes: 5, sour, but not too much. A bit too dry. And it’s so compact it will barely absorb butter or oil or anything.
Frustration level: 6. Annoyed that after all the slap and fold effort it will not only barely raise, but develop this stupid hole. At least the result is edible, and I learned the ice cubes trick seems to work better than just spraying water before placing the dough on the oven.
Would I try baking this again? Maybe not, I’m done with this flour! (Unless I buy another package or they send me one for free, in which case I would add more water! and a more refreshed starter).
We used to kid ourselves, but we recently came to terms with the truth that we visit this restaurant because of the dessert. Or more exactly, The Dessert, as there’s only one, the Kinako French Toast: