{Adventures in Yeast} #9 - 100% Whole Wheat Raisin Loaf

One day I was meandering unsuspectingly around the foodienet and suddenly I was ambushed by this bread on Jude's gorgeous site Apple Pie, Patis & Pate. I just HAD to try some. And since Jude was not around to make it for me, that left me to bake it.

The recipe was a giant step in complexity above any yeast recipe I'd yet attempted. Up until this point, all of my yeast experiments had been with direct rise recipes, but this one used an indirect method, relying on both a biga and a soaker. These are types of pre-ferments, which contribute to better flavor and structure of the finished bread. As far as I can understand it, during the resting stage of these predoughs enzymes break down the sugars within the grains, thus releasing the flavor.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I made a little chart to figure out the times to make each component of the dough and when to make the final dough.

- Mixing the biga and the soaker went very smoothly. One went in the fridge, one on the counter.

- When it came time to make up the dough, the biga and the soaker are combined with additional ingredients, then kneaded, etc.

- Taking one ball of dough (cut into 12 pieces) and another ball of dough (also in 12 pieces) and adding only dry ingredients (I re-read the recipe umpteen times: no additional wet ingredients) did not produce a "shaggy dough." In fact I couldn't get it to come together at all. Not with a spoon, and pretty much not with my hands. I had to knead it in the bowl before I could even get it to the bench to knead it. Using a hindsight as I sit here a month after baking this bread, I'm pretty sure I should have added a bit of water as I was kneading the dough.

- As I kneaded the raisins would not stay in - they kept popping out.

- Back when I made this bread Jude's recipe had an error in the quantity of walnuts (he has since fixed it, thanks!) I finally ended up using 30 grams (1/4 cup). I didn't think I could incorporate any more nuts while also trying to corral the renegade raisins that jumped out at every turn. Literally.

- The bulk rise was really slow; it was supposed to be around 45 minutes, but at that point the dough had only risen from 3 to just under 4 cups. At 1 hr 45 min, it had risen a smidge more. My husband made a nice warm bath for the dough bowl:

- The dough did respond, and began to rise! Finally it was at 1.5 the original size.

- Then I turned it out onto the counter, formed a rectangle, added cinnamon sugar and shaped the loaf:

- For the proofing, we went back to more sloooow rising. The dough was supposed to reach 1.5 of the shaped size (and the recipe said around 45 minutes). After an agonizingly long amount of time (very late at night) the dough seemed to stall. It was risen a bit but not as much as it probably should have been. I gave up, called it "risen" and popped it in the oven.

- This bread smelled incredible - of yeast and cinnamon - as it baked. I checked the bread regularly. It was in the oven for longer than the recipe's time range, but it never did get above 190 on the thermometer I was using (the recipe specifies 195). At 1 hour and 18 minutes total I called it "done".

the verdict:

This was no refined wimpy raisin pastry! This is bread with some heft. It was very very dense, but it was quite nice toasted. And it really needed butter. The bread wasn't particularly sweet; the vein of intense cinnamon was a great counterpoint to the plain whole wheat/raisin crumb. You'd need to be a fan of the taste of hearty whole grain bread to have a positive view of this bread. I do so I did! Thanks, Jude, for introducing me to this recipe.

My very own copy of Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book arrived in yesterday's mail! I want to take my time reading it, because he has wonderful explanations, tips, and guidelines on every page. After a bit more practice I plan to bake this bread again. I already know that I will mix the dough earlier in the day so that I'm not waiting for a slow rise in the wee hours of the night!

[update: After reading the original recipe in the Whole Grain book, I realized a few things that would have helped my loaf: Adding a few tablespoons of honey when making the final dough, and kneading the dough with wet hands.]

I'm sending this to Susan at YeastSpotting, a wonderful roundup of all things bready. Head over there and check out all of the breads that folks have baked up this week.

{Adventures in Yeast} #7 - My First Kneaded Bread! Potato + 3 Wheat Flours

You can see a little piece of potato in the middle of the bread!

I couldn't be more excited about this bread if I made it myself. Wait - I did! This is my first honest-to-gosh bread that I made entirely by hand, stirring the dough with a wooden spoon and kneading it on the countertop! The first time I had to judge by the feel of the bread how much additional flour to knead in (about a cup).

And it turned out!!!

I've put a passel of sticky notes on the pages of my Fanny Farmer Baking Book. One recipe I marked was for "Potato-Broth Bread." It actually uses mashed potatoes in addition to the water that they are cooked in. According to the book,

"The starch in the mashed potatoes and potato water makes these loaves light, moist, and high."

This sounds like my kind of bread so I bookmarked the recipe.

As I was browsing through the yeasty-blogosphere this week I came across the announcement for this month's Bread Baking Day #17 - the theme is "Bread and Potatoes." I pushed the Fanny Farmer recipe to the top of my yeast list so I could participate. The theme's rules state that the bread must have potatoes; potato water alone isn't enough. I was glad that even though the cookbook calls this bread "Potato-Broth Bread" it does have actual potatoes.

Although the recipe is written for a white bread, I felt pretty sure that I could add some whole grain flour, so that's what I did. I also used instant yeast rather than active dry, and halved the recipe to bake one loaf rather than two. My adaptation of the recipe is below.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The potatoes in my cupboard were getting a little sprouty and a little soft. I'd read that they would firm up when cooked, and, sure enough, they did revive as I began to boil them, getting downright crunchy in the hot water. Of course they then softened as they were cooked through.

- I probably should have added some liquid when mashing the potatoes, because they were a bit lumpy. Some potato lumps came through to the finished bread, but they were very soft so didn't mar the taste of the loaf.

- In mixing the dough, I used about half KA all purpose flour and about a third KA White Whole Wheat. The remainder was Wheat Montana red whole wheat flour that I ground at a local market. It is a coarse grind, and gives a nice rough texture to the bread.

- I used about a cup of additional all purpose flour as I kneaded the dough.

- A large pyrex loaf pan was perfect for this bread.

- The bread rose very high - about 4 1/2 inches tall at the center.

the verdict:

The potato made for a tender and moist bread - yet at the same time it was somewhat hearty because of the whole wheat flours. It was fantastic toasted. My husband, the toast aficionado, said this is the best bread I've baked to date.

Needless to say, I'll be making this one again! Next time I think I'll increase the percentage of the red whole wheat flour.

requisite buttered toast picture!

This month's Bread Baking Day is hosted by Lien of Lien's Notes/ Notitie van Lien. The roundup should be posted around March 3, so hop over to Lien's site and check out all the cool and creative potato-y breads. I'm also sending this to Susan at YeastSpotting, a weekly compilation of wonderful yeast creations.

I'll be out of internet range when the roundup is posted, so forgive me for not coming round and commenting on the various potato breads. I'll try to catch up the following week when I get near a computer!

Also, if any of you happen to be counting, I'm posting my yeast adventures out of order. I baked 4 new yeast recipes in a week's time, and am posting this one now in order to submit it to February's BBD.

the recipe:

Potato Bread with Three Wheat Flours
adapted from The Fanny Farmer Baking Book

yield: one 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf

1 1/2 cup warm potato water
1/2 cup warm or room temperature mashed potato
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 T butter, softened (3/4 oz)
1 T sugar
scant 1 tsp instant yeast
3 3/4 - 4 1/4 c. flour (I used 1 1/2 cups all purpose, 1 cup white whole wheat, 1/2 cup coarsely ground red whole wheat for the initial dough and 1 cup of all purpose kneaded into the dough)

1. Mix potato water, mashed potatoes, salt, butter, and sugar and beat to blend well.

2. Stir yeast into 3 cups of flour. Add this mixture to the potato mixture and beat vigorously.

3. Add enough flour to make a manageable dough; turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for a minute or so.

4. Let rest for 10 minutes.

5. Resume kneading, adding just enough additional flour to keep the dough from being too sticky to handle, until smooth and elastic. (this took about a cup of additional flour for me)

6. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double in bulk.

7. Punch the dough down, then shape into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan, cover loosely, and let rise to the top of the pan.

8. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. (I baked about 45 minutes, until an instant read thermometer registered 190 degrees)

9. Remove from pan and let cool on rack.