So I was super-patient with the yeast water -- letting four organic apricots sit in water for six days till the liquid was bubbling. But I was super-impatient with the dough: a somewhat more wholegrain version of Hamelman's Swiss Farmhouse formula. (I changed the recipe to 70% bread flour/10% rye/10% spelt/10% malted khorosan because I figured that no self-respecting Swiss farmhouse baker would make a 90% white flour loaf. A white bread is a city bread.)
Ambient temperatures are cool here in NYC and my timings were all off. I refrigerated the second levain because I was gone all day, but I should have simply left it out to possibly overferment before mixing the final dough.
But the eating is great: who can complain about a tasty loaf full of lightly toasted walnuts, raisins and (my addition) pepitas? For the future, I could either ferment it longer using yeast water or potentially spike it with rye sourdough (perhaps instead of adding rye to the loaf) to turbocharge the fermentation and add a bit more oppositionality to the raisin & apricot sweetness.
Rob
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With that formula , ever. My starters and YW were perfect every time but it’s never turned out well. I threw away the copy I made of the formula sometime back. ☹️
I actually donated every single one of my Bread Baking books except Bernard Clayton’s to the local library sale. I never liked the formats or descriptions in any of them. I much prefer this site and its continued success rate as far as the outcomes I get from the tried and true posters.
Just me I guess. I’d spike the formula with 1tsp ADY and be done with it. 🙂
good to know of your struggles, Caroline.
Honestly, anything I've learned about making (and breaking) bread has been from the generous people on this this site.
Rob
After all these years I still pick up new ideas and try new things. I’d have never made a starter or Yeast Water if it hadn’t been for TFL. And I’ve met some very nice folks over the years Tom in person and the rest are great cyber pals.
Other ingredients are fine - measurement would be iffy. Enjoy!
With apricot yeast water must have made for very good eating, Rob. Would love to see future iterations with your mentioned modifications. Sometimes a loaf just takes a few more attempts before it gets to what you want it to be.
You have a great attitude to your baking Rob and should be commended. Some of us, myself included at times, get very upset when things go south like my recent panettone fail. I’m sure you’ll get this to work to your liking if you tried again. It is challenging to be patient with dough sometimes.
Happy Baking.
Benny