Sourdough Bread (1)

 

This is the sourdough bread that I made using the sourdough starter I made in my previous post.

This bread is very different from the normal white bread that we used to eat.  Sourdough bread is supposed to be tangy and has a more dense texture.  However, mine isn't as tangy as my sourdough starter is still young.  From what I gather, the tangy flavour will intensify as the sourdough starter matures.  Having said that, this bread tasted very good especially toasted and eaten with a smear of butter.

I made this bread using my stand mixer as my first attempt using bread machine did not turn out well.  The bread was soggy and didn't raise as I have expected.  I think it could be due to the pre set timing of the bread machine that did not ogre well with the sourdough bread making process timing. 

By using my stand mixer to make this bread makes me realised that bread making really isn't that difficult after all.   In order to get a crusty bread I place a few pieces of ice in the dripping pan while baking the bread. 

Below is the recipe that I used to make this sourdough bread. 

1 1/2 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp. sugar
3 cup bread flour

1) Place sourdough starter, water, yeast, salt, sugar and 2 cups of flour in the mixing bowl attached with dough hook.  
2) Start the mixer at low speed and slowly add in enough flour until the dough comes together.  The dough will be very sticky.
3) Knead dough for 10 minutes then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl.  Leave the dough to rise covered with a cloth or cling wrap until double in size.  This can take between 60 to 90 minutes.

4) Once the dough has double in size, deflate the dough slightly and shape into round.

5) Place the dough on a baking pan dust with flour.  Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 200C.

6) Make slashes on dough with a sharp knife. 

7) Place a tray with some ice cube in the bottom shelve of the oven.

8) Place the dough in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until it is golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool on a rack.

 

Note : The amount of flour required depends very much on the thickness of the sourdough starter.

Sourdough Starter

I have heard many good reviews on San Francisco sourdough bread but have never tasted it.  The most amazing thing is I came to know that there is a certain bakery in San Francisco that has kept their sourdough starter going for more than 150 years.  That arouse my curiosity and desire to want to start a sourdough starter.  This may be a good option to pass down to my daughter, Sydney since I don't have much wealth to pass on to her (wink).

After browsing many sites on the Internet, I decided to start the cultivation of sourdough using this recipe.

2 cups plain flour
2 cups water (filtered water works best)
2 tsp dry yeast

Pour the water into a clean bottle with a wide opening.  Wide opening will make pouring in the flour a lot easier.  Then stir in the yeast and followed by the flour until well combined.  Make sure the size of the bottle is about double the volume of mixture as the mixture will expand during fermentation.  I made a mistake by putting my mixture in a small bottle and during fermentation, the mixture overflow and create a mass to be cleaned. 

After a couple of minutes, the mixture will begin to bubble and ferment.  Cover the bottle loosely with the cap and leave the mixture to ferment at room temperature.  The sourdough is ready for use when the bubbling has subsided and it expelled a yeasty and sour aroma.  The sourdough starter should have the consistency of pancake batter.

Due to our warm weather, my sourdough starter was fully developed after only 48 hours.

This is what my sourdough starter looks like.

At this point, you can either take some to make sourdough bread or if you are not using it, then you may store it in the fridge for later use.  As sourdough starter is a living being, remember to feed it at least once a week.  The feeding of sourdough starter is also known as refreshment of the sourdough. To refresh, discard 1 cup of sourdough starter (or use it to make bread, pancakes, etc) and replace with a cup of water and a cup of plain flour.  Stir well and return it to the fridge.

The sourdough may develop a layer of light brown liquid on top after sometime.  This is perfectly alright as it is the alcohol from the fermenting yeast. However, if the liquid on top is pinkish; or if the sourdough smells "off" or bad (not simply tangy, or like alcohol), then your starter has attracted the wrong bacteria, and should be discarded.

Remember to bring the sourdough starter to room temperature before using. Otherwise, the sourdough will still be in hibernation mode instead of activated.

Stay tune as I will be sharing some recipes using sourdough starter.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

I have been making dinner rolls for many years but somehow I can never get my dinner roll to taste like those served in the restaurant. The ones served in the restaurant are flavourful, soft and fluffy.

After many attempts, I finally came up with my own concoction that are close to those served in the restaurant. These dinner rolls keep well and are still fluffy the next day.

Here is my recipe:-

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups bread flour
2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp yeast


1. Place ingredients according to the instruction of your bread machine.
2. Select Dough Cycle.
3. Upon completion of the cycle, turn dough on lightly flour surface.
4. Divide dough into pieces weighing 40g each.
5. Roll each dough into a ball and leave to rise until double in size (approx 30 to 45 minutes depending on the weather)
6. Glace the dough with egg wash (I glace mine with milk)
7. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 180C for 10 to 15 minutes.


Note : These dinner rolls are best eaten warm. Any leftover can be frozen and reheated in the microwave oven.

My BREAD Story

If you asked me which of my kitchen appliance serves me best. Without hesitation, I would say is my breadmaker - The Sanyo Bread Factory. Why? It has over the past 10 years taken not only the hard work of kneading but also the time keeping from me in churning out fresh good loaves of bread. Today, I can no longer live without my home made bread as I am so dependant on it to start my day. Besides my usual morning coffee *grin*, of course.

With breadmaker, all you need to do is to pile the ingredients in the pan provided according to the manufacturer's instruction. And......viola 3 hours later you get freshly baked bread. Some breadmaker like mine also has a delayed function. Which means you can put all the ingredients in the pan provided and set the time that you want the bread to be ready. I usually set my bread to be ready by 7am the next morning so that I get to wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread. It would be perfect if this is coupled with the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

For the above loaf of bread, I used the following recipe from Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook.

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tbsp water

2 tbsp butter (room temperature)

3 cups bread flour

3 tbsp milk powder

2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in breadmaker pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Basic/White cycle. Remove bread from pan immediately after the baking has completed and cool on wire rack.

Cinnamon Rolls

Chinese New Year (CNY) and its unlimited supply of glorious food has spoilt us much. We have been having dinners after dinners. These dinners started even before the CNY celebration and mostly with friends or family members. We have been eating so much that my dad commented that my entire family has put on weight. This includes my dog, Jeannie who has been travelling around with us.

So, I decided that it is time to go back basic and baked some cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Making cinnamon rolls is quiet an easy task for me as my breadmaker does most of the work. All I need to do is to roll up the dough, slice it up and bake them.

Dough

3/4 cup of 1 large egg + water
1/2 cup milk

80g butter

1 tsp salt

3 2/3 cup bread flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 1/4 yeast

Filing

60g melted butter

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

Glaze

3 tbsp icing sugar (according to taste)

1/4 cup drinking water

Place dough ingredients in the bread machine according to the manufacturer's instruction.

Set bread machine to dough setting.

When cycle completed, remove dough from bread machine.

Punch down dough and roll into 12x16 inch rectangle.

Brush with melted butter but leaving 1 inch boarder without butter.

Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon powder and springkle it over buttered area of dough.

Then scattered the raisin on top of the surface covered by cinnamon mixture.

Roll dough up tightly like swiss roll and cut into slices of approximately 1 inch thick.

Place cinnamon rolls in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan, leaving enough space for them to rise.

Leave cinnamon rolls to rise for approx. 45 minutes or until double in size. (I usually speed up this process by placing dough in my oven preheated to 60C).

Bake at 190C for 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven.

For glaze, mix together icing sugar and drinking water. Brush the glaze mixture generously over the cinnamon roll while it is still very hot. (This will keep the cinnamon roll moist and since it is moist it will reheat better in the microwave oven).