Resurrecting Sourdough Starter

My sourdough starer has been sitting the back of the fridge, totally neglected since spring. While I garden I don't bake much because I am too busy outside!... It had been a while since I thought about the starter in it's beautiful ceramic container. It's gotten much cooler and I'm back to baking. It was time to raise the starter from the dead!

From this...

No problems! I poured of a little of the liquid, stirred up the starter in a bowl, added some lukewarm water and flour and let the starter sit for 10 hours. By then it was quite bubbly and active and had a nice tangy smell. Not wanting to waste the 'discard' before I re fed the starter I pulled up this basic and easy recipe from King Arthur Flour. The bread had a light tang and wasn't too dense, as I stuck on the lighter side of the required flour.

... to this!

The purpose of resurrecting the starter was to make a true sourdough or something equally delicious, which is what is on deck for the weekend.  

Are you doing more baking now that it's fall??

King Arthur vs. Martha

As I mentioned yesterday Gail and I exchanged our Hanukkah presents a few days before thanksgiving & I received the great sourdough starter & enamel container set from King Arthur flour. With a few extra days off last week I was able to put the King Arthur starter(left in the above photo) to the test. I decided to see how it compares to my own homemade starter, Martha(right in the above photo).

I used the same recipe to feed both starters and make the bread. I kept both starters labeled:

After combining the fed starter and initial ingredients I let each bowl sit on the counter for 4 hours, followed by 12 hours in the fridge. King Arthur came out of the fridge stretch and firm while Martha was bubbly and almost soupy. Both had a strong tangy aroma, so I was pleased to be on the right path.

I added the remaining ingredients into the dough and let them sit covered in a bowl for 5 more hours , shaped the dough into loaves and placed them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. I let the loaves rise an additional 3 hours before placing them into the oven:

Here is what they looked like just before they went into the oven:

It's hard to tell from the angle I took the above photo, but the loaf made with the King Arthur starter had risen dramatically compared to Martha. The King Arthur loaf was puffy while Martha remained flat, having spread more then risen.

The final results speak for themselves:

The King Arthur loaf had a nice crispy crust and had a delicious tangy taste with it's first use! I was pleased with Martha's tanginess but the loaf was extremely doughy and dense. A few slices from the King Arthur loaf, however most slices were fluffy enough.

I think it's clear the King Arthur based loaf was far superior. I have not perfected my sourdough yet, but with this starter my results will dramatically improve!

The recipe I used is based on King Arthur's recipe for Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread with portions reduced to make 1 loaf per recipe instead of 2. My version is below, but I suggest following the link to King Arthur's recipe, it is full of pictures and much more detailed.

Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread

1 cup fed sourdough starter

3/4 cup lukewarm water

2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (obviously I use King Arthur)

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2-3/4 tablespoon sugar

1- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

-Combine the starter, water, 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. Beat very well until ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

-Cover, and let stand at room temperature for 4 hours. After 4 hours place covered bowl in refrigerator for 12 hours (overnight).

-Add the remaining all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt. Knead to form a smooth dough (it took me about 4 minutes)

- Let the do rise in a covered bowl until it has smoothed out and risen. This can take as long as 5 hours (which is how long I let it rise)

-Shape the dough into an oval loaf, and place it on a lightly greased or parchment line baking sheet. Cover the loaf and let it rise (again) until puffy (2-4 hours). As rising time nears an end preheat the over to 425F.

-Gently spray or mist the loaves with lukewarm water.

- Make two deep horizontal slashes in the loaf.

-Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes. The loaf should be a deep golden brown color when it is finished. Remove it form the oven and cool on a rack.

I highly suggest looking at the original recipe and note the changes I may have made. I substituted the whole wheat flour because many baking forums and posts regarding sourdough suggested this for a crispier crust.

I was very pleased with my first results of the starter Gail gave me and look forward to more baking adventures with it.

more Baking!

As previously mentioned I am working to expand my baking skills. With that in mind I had some serious practice last week. Friday I attempted Focaccia and a true Sourdough and Sunday I baked some Cheddar and Leek Muffins! The results were mixed but leaned toward satisfying and worth an encore performance.

First off the above focaccia was fluffy inside, had a nice crunchy crust and was packed with flavor. I sprinkled sage, oregano minced garlic and shredded parmigiano-reggiano. A little more practice and I'll be adding this to my regular food making rotation.

Next up is the below 2 loaves of sourdough I made using King Arthur's extra tangy sourdough recipe as my guide.

The final product was tangy, but ended up being a little too dense for me to consider it truly successful. The crust also left something to be desired. Nevertheless the results were edible. Certainly a bread which resembles sourdough, but not quite there yet.

Last up were the delicious Cheddar and Leek Muffins from Apartment Therapy sub-site The Kitchn.

In short, these muffins were full of savory fall flavor, and weren't all that difficult to make. I highly suggest heading to the above link and baking a dozen or 5 right now! Just look at the final product:

Up next is most probably another soda bread, another attempt at sourdough, and something random and fun.

Bread & Cake

I love to cook, but I am not much of a baker. My goal for the winter is to expand my baking skills.

With that in mind I've been reading and learning about bread making, specifically sourdough bread. Until recently I had never made a yeast based bread in the oven. Or baked a cake.

Both of these facts changed this past weekend, with surprisingly positive results!

Friday Night, after bringing my sourdough starter to life(more on this in a later post) during the week I was ready to take the plunge. For my first attempt I tried a not sour Rustic Sourdough Bread from the good folks at King Arthur Flour. You can see the original recipe 2 loaves, so I cut everything in half and made a slight alteration. I'm incredibly pleased with the results:

The bread was chewy and flavorful with a medium brown crust. The original recipe called just for all-purpose flour, but I wanted something a little heartier so I made a slight alteration. My version of the recipe is below:

Rustic (not so sour) Sourdough Bread:

based on/inspired by King Arthur Flour's recipe.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup 'fed' sourdough starter

3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 to 1 1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Preparation:

1) Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a ball of smooth dough.

2) Cover and allow the dough to rise in a bowl until doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

3) Gently shape the dough into an oval loaf, and place it on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

4) Spray the loaf with lukewarm water

5) Make two or three fairly deep horizontal slashes in each

6) Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

As you can see I was going for a heartier loaf then the original recipe called for. Adding the 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour did the trick. Later in the week I'll be attempting a true sourdough (using only my starter, and not any additional yeast).

The baking firsts continued on Saturday. Last week I mentioned the two great cookbooks Gail and I had recently acquired. In that post I mentioned I had been salivating over some of the recipes in the 'Fresh Flavors of Israel Cookbook' one of them being the Apple with Honey Upside Down Cake. In my quest to tweak my baking skills I dove in and tried baking the cake, which yielded fairly positive and quite delicious results.

I say the results of the cake were only fairly positive because of a slight miscalculation. The original recipe called for a 10-inch spring-form pan, we only had a 9-inch pan available. I did not adjust the baking temperature/time to account for a thicker cake, so the center was gooey, but the cake itself was moist, sweet and delectable. A real fall inspired treat!

Upside-down Apple and Honey Cake

from 'Fresh Flavors from Israel' cookbook

Ingredients (for a 10 in/26 cm spring-form pan):

Apple Topping:

2 tablespoons oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tart baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 in slices.

Cake:

3 eggs

3/4 cup cup brown sugar

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup apple juice, warm. (I used warm apple cider)

2 1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves.

Preparation:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F

2) Prepare the topping: Cover the bottom and walls of the pan with the oil. Sprinkle on a uniform coating of the brown sugar. Arrange apples in one dense layer.

3) Prepare the cake: Beat the eggs with the brown sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add oil and honey and beat until smooth. Add the warm apple juice and mix well.

4) In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Add to the eggs and honey batter and mix until just combined. Once mixed pour batter over pan.

5) Bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry with a few crumbs sticking. Cook in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the pan over a large flat serving plate, release the spring and gently lift off the ring. Serve at room temperature.

The cake is perfect for fall. I'll definitely make it again, and when I do I will remember to adjust for a smaller pan!

What are you baking this fall??