GERMAN SUNFLOWER SEED SQUARES - HEARTY SOURDOUGH ROLLS WITH RYE & SEEDS

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Whenever I'm visiting my hometown Hamburg, I check out new bakeries. Two years ago I noticed people lining up in front of Bäckerei Jochen Gaues, in Eppendorf quarter, where my Mom lives around the corner.

Taking this as a good omen, I joined the waiting line. The shelves full of loaves and rolls looked promising, all with fairly dark crusts - boldly baked, as Ken Forkish ("Flour, Water, Salt and Yeast') would call it. A paradise for crust lovers!

Like Forkish, Jochen Gaues is a purist baker, his breads are made with flour, water, salt and yeast. No dough enhancers, no preservatives, no artificial flavoring. Only sourdough and passion for his craft. And he shared his recipes in a beautiful baking book, too.

His sunflower seed rolls are hearty, crusty and delicious. (I tweaked the recipe a bit, of course, as I always do). The crumb is rather light and more airy than chewy. You can enjoy them with cold cuts, German meat salad, honey or jam. 

The rolls have a thin, crisp crust and a somewhat airy crumb

SUNFLOWER SEED SQUARES  (adapted from Jochen Gaues' "Brot")
(8 square rolls)

Starter
  10 g/0.3 oz recently refreshed rye mother starter (100%)
  10 g/0.4 oz water, lukewarm
  10 g/0.4 oz rye flour

Soaker
  25 g/0.9 oz cracked rye
  25 g/0.9 oz flaxseed
  50 g/1.8 oz water 

Final dough
  30 g/1.1 oz starter (all)
367 g/12.9 oz water (95°F/35ºC)
    3 g/0.1 oz instant yeast
475 g/15.8 oz bread flour
  50 g/1.8 oz old sourdough bread, ground and toasted
  25 g/0.9 oz medium rye flour
  25 g/0.9 oz sunflower seeds, toasted
  14 g/0.5 oz sugar
  14 g/0.5 oz salt

egg white, mixed with a little bit of water, for brushing
sunflower seeds, for topping

Seed soaker and rye starter

DAY 1
In the morning, mix starter ingredients in small bowl. Leave, covered, at room temperature for 4 - 6 hours, or until it passes the float test (a teaspoonful should float in water).

In second small bowl, stir together soaker ingredients. (This extra step is not absolutely necessary, but hard ingredients like rye chops and flax seeds benefit from longer soaking.)

In the afternoon, mix final dough at low speed until all flour is hydrated, 1 - 2 minutes. Let dough rest 5 minutes, then knead at medium-low speed for 6 minutes. Dough will be soft and sticky, but pull back from sides of bowl. 

Dough will be sticky, but pull back from sides of bowl

Transfer dough to lightly oiled work surface. With oiled hands, pat and pull it into a rough square. Fold dough from top and bottom in thirds, like a business letter, then the same way from both sides.

Pat and pull dough into a square...

...then fold in thirds, top down, and bottom up...

...like a business letter.

Repeat folding from both sides...

... until you have a neat package

Cover dough package with the empty mixing bowl (if necessary, re-oil works bench). Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Repeat stretching and folding the dough 3 more times, at 10 minute intervals. It will gain strength and starting to resist. Place dough in oiled container, cover, and refrigerate overnight (a square container helps with shaping later).

Before...

...and after fermentation: it has doubled in volume

DAY 2
Remove dough from fridge 2 hours before using. It should have doubled in volume.

Preheat oven to 475ºF/240ºC (no steam).

Place dough on a lightly floured work surface, sprinkle with a little flour (it will still be a bit sticky), and gently pull and pat it into a rectangle, then cut into 8 square pieces. Place squares on parchment lined (or perforated) baking sheet.

The rolls are cut, not shaped

Brush rolls with egg white, then sprinkle each with sunflower seeds, gently pressing them down to stick. Cover, and proof for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until a finger-poked dimple remains visible. (Since the dough is cut, not shaped, it is puffy and doesn't need to rise much more - basically only until the oven is hot).

Ready for the oven

Bake rolls for about 20 minutes (rotating them halfway through), or until they are a dark golden brown, and register at least 200ºF/93ºC on an instant read thermometer.

Freshly baked Sunflower Seed Squares

BreadStorm users (also of the free version) can download the formula here.

SOLAR ECLIPSE BREAD - A CRUSTY SESAME LOAF FOR A RARE EVENT

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This month Mini Oven challenged fellow Fresh Loafers to create a special bread to commemorate the upcoming total eclipse of the sun. Spurred by astronomic ambitions I began to ponder how to go about this.

Just a new bread? Where was the connection to the total eclipse?

A two-toned dough? Once I baked a marbled rye bread and found its taste rather underwhelming.

Squid ink as a black dye? Not my cup of tea!

So it had to be a two-toned decoration. Black and white sesame seeds are in my pantry. Only a suitable recipe was missing. It couldn't be a loaf whose oven-spring would tear and destroy any decorative topping.

The answer was a flat bread that would spread more than rise.

I found a good starting point in Austrian baker Dietmar Kappl's Fladenbrot, tweaking it to suit my needs: with a long, cold bulk fermentation and the introduction of a little whole grain flour (I tried it with rye and emmer - both tasted great).

To emulate the eclipse I needed a ring-shaped utensil to press the outline of the moon into the dough. A large yogurt tub had just the right diameter (11.5 cm/4.5 inches).

We were so happy with my crusty, nutty flat bread that I baked it again, two days later, for my customers at A&B Naturals.

Baked again for my customers: Solar Eclipse Bread

SOLAR ECLIPSE BREAD  (adapted from Dietmar Kappl/homebaking.at)
(3 small breads, à 300 g)

Starter
25 g bread flour
25 g emmer flour (or other whole grain flour of your choice)
50 g water (lukewarm)
10 g recently refreshed and active starter (100% hydration)

Final Dough
110 g starter (all)
400 g bread flour
50 g emmer flour (or other whole grain flour)
325 g water, lukewarm
15 g olive oil
10 g salt
1.5 g instant yeast (or 3 g active dry yeast)

Decoration
black and white sesame seeds (or use poppy seeds instead of black sesame)

Specal tool: glass or plastic container with approx. 11-12-cm/4.5-inch diameter, like a large, empty yogurt tub (to imprint the outline of the moon).

DAY 1
In the morning: mix all starter ingredients. Cover, and leave for 4-6 hours at room temperature, or until a few tiny bubbles appear on the surface, and a teaspoon of dough floats in water (float test).

The Ankarsrum makes short work of kneading the dough

For the final dough, mix all ingredients about 1 minute at low speed until all flour is hydrated. Knead 1 minute at medium speed, let rest for 10 minutes (autolyse), then resume kneading for about 3-4 minutes, until dough pulls somewhat back from sides of bowl (or, for the Ankarsrum, from roller) (dough will be sticky).

Using wet bowl scraper, fold dough all around from sides to the center

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Using wet (or oiled) bowl scraper, fold dough all around from sides of bowl to the center (about 8x).

Let dough rest for 10 minutes, then repeat the folding process 2-3 times at 10-minute intervals, until dough has developed enough strength and shows resistance to folding. It will still be a little sticky.

Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight (no need to de-chill).

After 2 sets of folds the dough looks quite smooth already

DAY 2
Preheat oven to 475ºF/250ºC, (including steaming device). Adjust rack to middle position.

Place cold dough (it will still be sticky) on lightly floured work surface. Dust top with a little flour, and divide into 3 equal sized pieces (about 304 g). Shape into rounds.

Divide dough in 3 equal pieces and shape into rounds

Place breads, seam-side down, on parchment lined baking sheet. Mist with oil (or mist plastic foil cover with oil) and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 45 minutes, or until they are a bit puffed and a dimple, poked with your finger into the dough, remains visible. 

The moon outline must be deeply imprinted into the dough

Lightly oil the rim of the glass or plastic tub. Press down deep (almost to the bottom) into the dough (breads will spread and flatten.)

I tried to create different "stages of the solar eclipse"

Mist breads with water. Using a teaspoon, carefully sprinkle with black sesame (moon shadow) and white sesame (sun.)

Bake breads, with steam,  for 10 minutes. Remove steam pan, and reduce temperature to 450ºF/230ºC. Bake for another 10 - 13 minutes, or until breads are golden brown and register at least 200ºF/93ºC.

Let breads cool on a wire rack. (When cooled, they can be frozen, wrapped individually in foil, and placed in a freezer bag. Let come to room temperature, mist with water and re-crisp in the oven at 375ºF/190ºC).

Baked solar eclipse!

BreadStorm users (also of the free version) can download the formula here:

And this is the perfect music for a Total Eclipse:

BREWER'S BREAD WITH SPENT GRAINS

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When I heard about breads made with spent grains - leftovers from beer brewing - I was fascinated.

How interesting! But, where on earth, could you come by those mashed grains, unless you worked at a brewery? We have two micro-breweries in Bar Harbor, so I left a message, asking whether I could purchase a small amount of their spent grains.

The sobering answer: the mash goes to the dogs hogs. All sold to pig farms - sorry!

So I gave up on the idea. Then, two years ago, I found a Groupon in my emails with a real bargain on a small brewing kit. A beer drinker, and always curious, I ordered it  - but then the bulky package ended up in the basement, with other rarely used kitchen equipment, like the lobster pot.

It's alive! My beer is bubbling away

The best of all husbands needs some quality solitude now and then, playing his guitar and recording his music.

Left to my devices, I unearthed beer kit and lobster pot (just the right size for the mash!), and went around in the house with a thermometer.

Our guestroom closet proved to be the ideal environment for beer fermentation: cool, but not cold. And dark. 

Looking at the packages with malted barley, I realized: here was not only the base for my first (hopefully successful) stab at brewing, but, also, finally, the source for spent grain.

I visualized us drinking my very own Pale Ale, while enjoying a loaf made with the leftovers.

Whether the beer will be drinkable or not, I don't know, yet. Its precursor is foaming, happily bubbling away, next to our winter boots in the closet.

Many of my bread concoctions are based on porridge breads à la Tartine, tweaked to meet my needs (a bit tangier) and accommodating all kinds of grain/nut/seed combinations, like the squirrel-channeling Acorn Levain.

The bread I came up with contains a good measure of spent grains along with whole wheat. It turned out to be a very pleasing, hearty loaf - this newbie brewer was delighted! Definitely a keeper.

And I still have a bag of barley mash stored in the freezer, for my next recycling adventures.

Spent grains - malted barley from beer brewing

BREWER'S BREAD

Starter
10 g/1/2 tbsp very active starter (refreshed twice the day before)
50 g/1.5 oz bread flour
50 g/1.5 oz whole wheat
100 g/3.5 oz water (80-85ºF/26-29ºC)

Final Dough
100 g/ 3.5 oz bread flour
150 g/5.3 oz whole wheat flour
250 g/8.8 oz all-purpose flour
35 g/1.2 oz wheat germ
430 g/ 15.2 oz water
210 g/7.4 oz starter (all)
15 g/ 0.5 oz salt
250 g/8.8 oz spent grains (mash leftovers, from beer brewing)

Topping
grain flakes, cracked grains, or bran (I used barley flakes)

Float test - when a spoonful of starter rises to the surface,  it's ready to go

DAY 1
6:00 - 8:00 am: Mix starter. Leave for 4 - 8 hours, or until a spoonful of starter floats in water (if not, it needs to ferment longer!)

Whisk together flours and wheat germ

Dissolve starter in water

Whisk together flours and wheat germ in medium bowl. In large bowl, mix starter and 400 g/14.1 oz of the water, until starter has dissolved.

Mix the dough until all flour is hydrated

Add flour mixture to bowl with dissolved starter, and stir (Danish dough whisk or per hand) until all flour is hydrated. Let dough rest, covered, for 30 minutes at warm room temperature.

To incorporate the salt, pinch and fold the dough several times

Add salt and remaining slightly warm water, pinching and folding dough to incorporate (as described here for Einkorn Hazelnut Levain). Let it rest for 30 minutes.

Add the spent grains during the second fold

Add spent grains to the bowl. Again, with wet hands, fold and pinch dough several times (as described here for Einkorn Hazelnut Levain), until grains are mostly incorporated.

When the dough is visibly swollen, transfer it to the work bench

Continue to let dough rise for 2 1/2 hours more, stretching and folding it 5 times at 30 minute intervals. If it's not swollen (with a 20-30% increase in volume), leave it for another 30 - 60 minutes.

With an oiled bowl scraper pre-shape dough into a tight ball

Sprinkle half of the work surface with flour, leaving the other half free. Transfer dough to the floured part. Lightly flour top. Using an oiled spatula, work dough into a taut, smooth round by drawing the spatula in circles around and under the side to create surface tension.

Prepared basket (here with a grain mix)

Re-flour top, cover dough with the empty bowl, and let it rest for 20 - 30 minutes. Generously flour rising basket with a 50/50 mixture of wheat and rice flours. Sprinkle a layer of grain flakes, grain chops, or bran over bottom of basket (prevents sticking and makes a nice topping).

Shaping the dough by folding it from four sides

Using oiled bench knife, flip dough around, so that the floured side is down. With floured hands, fold bottom end of dough up to a third, then fold both sides over the center to elongate.

Next, fold top down to the center, then fold the bottom up again to cover top fold, so that package is closed. Flip dough package over to the un-floured part of the counter, so that the seam is underneath.

Shaped loaf

With both (floured) hands, rotate dough ball, while pulling it towards you, so that it tightens.

Place loaf, seam-side up, in rising basket. Sprinkle with flour, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator overnight. (No warming up necessary!).

Ready to go to sleep in the fridge

DAY 2
Preheat oven to 500ºF/260ºC, with a Dutch oven (with lid) on middle rack.

Place a large piece of parchment paper on the counter, and keep scissors, a sharp knife or lamé and a brush at hand. A paper sling makes the transport of the loaf into the very hot pot easy - and painless!

Preparing the loaf for the Dutch oven baking (here with Acorn Levain)

With an energetic smack of the rising basket on the counter, turn bread out onto parchment paper. Cut paper around loaf to make a sling, leaving two 2 wide handles (see photo - this prevents the paper from creating folds that would press into the loaf).

Score bread and brush off excess flour from parchment (so that you don't end up with a lot of burnt flour in the pot.)

A paper sling makes the transfer to the hot pot painless and easy

Remove hot pot from the oven, and take off lid (I recommend leaving an oven mitt on the lid to remind you it's hot). Transfer bread with the paper sling into Dutch oven. Replace lid, and put it in the oven.

Bake bread for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 450ºF/230ºC and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove lid, and continue baking for 20 - 25 minutes more, or until loaf is golden brown (internal temperature at least 200ºF/93ºC.)

Freshly baked Brewer's Bread

BreadStorm users (also of the free version) can download the formula here.

ACORN LEVAIN - CHANNELING MY INNER SQUIRREL

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Last September, William Rubel challenged Facebook group members of "Bread History & Practice" to gather acorns, and use them for bread baking. I was intrigued - the huge European oaks in our neighborhood had produced a bumper crop of acorns this year.

Shelling acorns - as easy as cracking nuts

Squirrels and pigs love the fat kernels, but acorns are too bitter for human consumption, unless the tannins are leached out of them.

This process, as described in "Acorns: The Inside Story", is easy.

Soaking ground acorns in cold water (instead of boiling them) works best for bread making, since the meal retains it binding qualities.

I gathered a bag full of acorns, and left them for several weeks on our porch to dry - the kernels shrink a bit, and are easier to remove from the shells.

With a nutcracker, the acorns could be cracked like hazelnuts, and I ended up with about half a pound of kernels.

The acorn are ground with some water in the food processor

First I ground the acorns with water in the food processor, then rinsed the meal in a fine-mesh strainer, before transferring it to a bowl and soaking it in a lot of cold water. Three times a day I rinsed and drained the acorn meal, and changed the soaking water.

After two days I started testing the meal for bitterness, and finally, after three days of leaching, the tannins had been washed out, and the meal tasted similar to walnuts, but a bit milder.

Acorn meal after drying

The wet acorn meal had to be dried. I used my dehydrator (lowest setting), or you can spread it out on a baking sheet and dry it in the oven, at very low heat.

Now I had my meal, ready to use. But what kind of bread should I bake with it?

The author of "Acorns: The Inside Story" offers a simple skillet bread, but I wanted a real loaf with a nice rise.

The percentage of the acorn meal should be high enough to be discernible, without compromising the structure.

My usual to-go bread is a Tartine-ish kind of loaf, with high hydration, long fermentation, and baked in a Dutch oven. I adapted one of Chad Robertson's formulas, using a mix of whole wheat, bread flour and 16% acorn meal.

My acorn levain turned out very nice - a hearty, slightly nutty loaf with a crisp crust, fairly open crumb, and a dark, reddish color from the acorns. Good for sandwiches and, also, for toasting.

Next year I will channel my inner squirrel again!

If you want to try it, but can't get acorns - you can purchase acorn flour online, but it costs a fortune: $28 - $32 per pound.

Baked Acorn Levain

ACORN LEVAIN

Starter
10 g/1/2 tbsp. very active starter (refreshed twice the day before)
50 g/1.5 oz bread flour
50 g/1.5 oz whole wheat
100 g/3.5 oz water (80-85ºF/26-29ºC)

Final Dough
250 g/8.8 oz bread flour
150 g/5.3 oz whole wheat flour
100 g3.5 oz acorn meal
35 g/1.2 oz wheat germ
455 g/16 oz water
210 g/7.4 oz starter (all)
13 g/0..45 oz salt

acorn meal, for coating

(For the BreadStorm formula please scroll down)

Float test - the starter swims on the surface

DAY 1
6:00 - 8:00 am: Mix starter. Leave for 4 - 8 hours, or until a spoonful of starter floats in water (if not, it needs to ferment longer!)

Whisk together flours, acorn meal and wheat germ in medium bowl. In large bowl, dissolve starter in 430 g/15 oz of the water.

Mixing flours and wheat germ

Add flour mixture to bowl with starter and stir (I use a Danish dough whisk) until all flour is hydrated. Let dough rest for 30 minutes at warm room temperature.

Mixing the dough

Add salt and remaining slightly warm water, pinching and folding dough in the bowl to incorporate (as described here for Einkorn Hazelnut Levain).

....then pinching it to incorporate the salt (photo: Einkorn Hazelnut Levain)

Let dough rise for 3 hours (DDT: 80-85ºF/26-29ºC), stretching and folding it in the bowl, 6 times at 30 minute intervals (I use a wet bowl scraper).

Dough after 3. folding

Risen dough - it will be sticky!

Sprinkle half of the work surface with flour, leaving the other half free. Transfer dough to the floured part. Lightly flour top. Using oiled spatula(s), work dough into a round by drawing the spatula(s) around the side in circles to create surface tension. (Dough round should be taut and smooth).

Working dough into a taut round

Re-flour top, cover dough (I use the empty bowl), and let it rest for 20 - 30 minutes. Generously flour rising basket with a 50/50 wheat and rice flour mixture. Sprinkle a layer of  acorn meal on the bottom (looks nice and prevents sticking).

Preparing the banneton like this prevents sticking

Using oiled bench knife, flip dough around, so that the floured side is down. With floured hands, fold bottom end of dough up to a third, then fold both sides over the center to elongate.

Fold top down to the center. Now fold the bottom again to cover top fold, so that package is closed. Flip dough package over to the un-floured part of the counter, so that seam is underneath.

Shaping the dough by folding sides over

Shaped loaf

With both (floured) hands, rotate dough ball, pulling it towards you, to tighten it.

Place shaped loaf, seam-side up, in rising basket. Sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator overnight. (No warming up necessary!).

Bread in banneton, seamside up

DAY 3
Preheat oven to 500ºF/260ºC, with a Dutch oven (with lid) in the middle. Place a large piece of parchment paper on the counter.

With an energetic smack of the rising basket on the counter, turn bread out onto the parchment paper. Cut paper around loaf into a sling with 2 wide handles (see photo), and score bread (brush off excess flour from the parchment).

Cutting the paper sling and scoring (I tried to do an acorn)

Remove hot Dutch oven from the oven, take off lid (I leave an oven mitt on the lid to remind me it's hot). Transfer bread with paper sling into Dutch oven. Replace lid, and put it in the oven.

Bread with paper sling in the Dutch oven

Bake bread for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 450ºF/230ºC and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove lid, and continue baking for another 20 - 25 minutes, until loaf is golden brown (internal temperature at least 200ºF/93ºC).

Turn bread out onto wire rack and let cool completely before cutting it.

Baked Acorn Levain

BreadStorm users (also of the free version) can download the formula here: