Monday, 4 March 2013

White loaf with a twist

It's been a while and the last few weekends had been incredibly busy for me. I finally took the plunge and bought the rye sourdough starter that I had been eyeing for months from a dutch bakery. It has since grown very well and is now called Francis, and it lives in my fridge most of the time. :) The idea to name my sourdough starter was from my friend but the exact choice of name was my own decision.

This weekend I've made a pain rustique. Basically a rustic white bread but the recipe I used also includes rye sourdough starter and some whole wheat flour for extra flavour. I must say this has been my best attempt at bread making to date. The oven spring was also the most impressive compared to my previous attempts. The crust was a lot better this time having left it in the oven a bit longer after baking.





Overall, very pleased indeed. I will be making mille crêpes cake next weekend and I CANNOT wait. It's been sitting on my to-bake list for WAY too long and it's about time for it to be ticked off. :)
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13 comments:

  1. Anonymous4 March 2013 at 10:55

    Wow! That's really impressive. I've been watching your progress and you've really nailed the over spring now - well done!

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    1. Unknown6 March 2013 at 19:56

      Hi Anonymous! (or do I know you in real life?) Looking back I think I've really come a long way, from someone who was obssessed with macaroons to a much more versatile baker now. I can't wait to explore more about the gazillion types of things that I can bake in the future!

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  2. Stasher6 March 2013 at 10:49

    Wonderful! Oven Spring and nicely districuted holes...Whose technique did you follow? Or just share what you did.

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    1. Unknown6 March 2013 at 20:00

      Cheers Noelle! I used the recipe from the Weekend Bakey (http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/our-version-of-a-pain-rustique/). It's a beautiful website that is sure to get you hooked for hours reading through their posts. :) One thing that I've learned recently that has helped me produce better crumbs is to resist degassing the dough too much after bulk fermentation. In fact I hardly degas it because the process of turning it out onto the surface would have knocked some large air pockets out of the dough already. :)

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  3. Stasher8 March 2013 at 10:04

    Thanks Kong, this site is really well set out, and very informative...guess which bread I shall be baking this Sunday...

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    1. Unknown8 March 2013 at 17:32

      Pain Rustique? I think that's my favourite from their website so far, other than the baguettes.

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  4. Bingo8 March 2013 at 16:35

    Hi again, I'm 'anonymous'. But I've put on a profile now.

    I was found your blog from here: http://bakingastherapy.com/2012/10/21/bake-off-confidential-bittersweet-adventures-in-a-tv-show/#comments

    I think we got the same bad news very recently :)

    I might put up my own blog soon if I get some time.

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    1. Unknown8 March 2013 at 17:34

      Oh yes I do remember seeing your post on Danny's blog! Please do set up your own blog but don't forget to post a link on mine so I can be your reader too! :) I like how we all speak of the bad news as if it's some sort of secret code that only we understand. =D

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    2. Anonymous10 March 2013 at 21:49

      Ok done: http://lemonsandvanilla.wordpress.com/

      Bingo

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  5. Stasher13 March 2013 at 09:26

    Hi, I know how you all feel....commiserations.

    I made this loaf on Sunday, but not quite as holey as your Kong. However holey enough for David to have his jam run through! Great for sandwiches though. Maybe a little longer proving, maybe a little more steam....but just one more question on this loaf Kond: did you use tap water? If not what type?

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    1. Unknown13 March 2013 at 13:22

      Hi Noelle good to know that you've given it a go. To be honest I think the crumb structure is more for the eyes than it is for the palate. I only used tap water. I have used bottled natural mineral water before but I don't think it made any huge difference. I think the advise to avoid using tap water is only for countries where the water is so heavily chlorinated that it's unsafe even for normal drinking (which obviously isn't the case with the UK). Did you use a rye sourdough starter?

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  6. Stasher19 March 2013 at 09:01

    I had a wheat sourdough, but have refreshed it since with only stoneground organic rye, so I guess it is mainly rye. I've used it since for my ciabatta, and other breads. I think the flavour and handling is far superior, so many thanks for pointing out the right direction....but I must think up of a name for it....any suggestions?

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    1. Unknown19 March 2013 at 12:27

      Bad news..Francis has been critically ill since three days ago and its life has been hanging on a thread all this while. I've tried all sorts of methods to resuscitate it but it's just not showing much sign of life but I suddenly thought that perhaps it could be due to the imbalance of yeast and bacterial activity in that jar. I have noticed that Francis has been smelling more acidic lately. And so..as a last attempt to revive him I have thrown away 2/3rd of the mixture and gave it a good refreshing feed to hopefully dilute the acid and give the yeast a bit of a breathing space so it can *fingers crossed* spring back to life. I've also made a new starter just in case Francis dies on me..

      By the way, my mum suggested Sarah as the name for my new starter since she thinks anything that replicates is a female. She never agrees with me on Francis because of that.

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