Month: January 2019

It’s still January (just barely). I’m back to the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking quest after a busy and tumultuous holiday season. Also, I started my non-exec and ‘consulting’ job. But that’s in my parallel universe. Here, it’s all about that bread.

I was trying to be methodical and start at the beginning of the cookbook but I fell at the first fence. The first chapter is ‘breakfast’. It’s essentially pancakes, waffles, crepes and granola. The problem here is that the Davinator prefers savoury breakfast – unless it’s a croissant and then he’s all over it with the butter and jam. So, I parked the first chapter until I have keener ‘consumers’. Maybe pancake day…..

I’ve jumped to the quick bread chapter which has twelve muffin recipes. And decided I must go in strict order. So, it’s ‘Sour Cream Muffins’ to start. Here we go.

I have, however, a couple of minor criticisms of the KA Whole Grain Baking cookbook.

The first is that in their quest to make whole grain taste good, the recipes call for an array of specialised ingredients. A few of these are practically impossible to find in the UK – so if I can’t get it, I’m assuming readers will be unable to source. I’ve decided to ‘substitute’ those difficult ingredients. If substitution doesn’t work, I’ll punt on those recipes until I can get my hands on the real thing. One thing I couldn’t find -‘white whole wheat flour’. I tried a mix of white and whole wheat flour and that came out fine in this recipe.

The second is that the recipes are tailored to American taste buds. After I’ve made them the first time, I start reducing the sugar. In some recipes, I’ve cut the sugar by 1/3. I’m careful with this because sugar also affects the basic chemistry of baked goods, beyond making it sweet.

I made these muffins with frozen blueberries and I suspect they would be fine with any frozen or fresh fruit. My frozen blueberries (from Sainsburys I confess) were on the large size, so I would probably try smaller berries or smaller pieces of fruit the next time.

Recipe

Ingredients – makes 12 muffins

150 grams (5 ounces) whole wheat flour

140 grams (4 1/3 ounces) plain white flour (not self raising)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

55 grams (2 ounces, 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

180 grams (6 1/3 ounces) of sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

225 mls (8 fluid ounces) of sour cream or full fat greek yoghurt

220 grams (8 ounces) frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Combine the first five ingredients; flour to salt, in a bowl. Stir together.
2. Put the melted butter in the bowl for your mixer. Add the sugar. Beat to combine (don’t you love the melted butter trick).
3. Scrape down the bowl, beat in the eggs one a time and combine well.
4. Add the vanilla and the sour cream. Beat until incorporated.
5. Add the dry ingredients from step 1. Mix on low speed until just combined. (Do not overbeat quick bread, it will punish you).
6. Stir in the frozen fruit. Make sure that the bottom of the batter has mixed in properly.
7. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour. You could leave it longer but I think the frozen fruit will deteriorate if you leave it for too long.
8. Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan) (375F).
9. Prep a muffin pan with paper liners lightly coated with non-stick spray or grease the tin.
10. Fill the muffin pan – I use my ice cream scoop. Put a generous scoop full in each muffin cup.
11. Bake for 22 to 26 minutes. They will look lovely and brown on the top when complete.
12. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then tip out to cool on a rack or on the counter top. Don’t let them cool in the tin; that’s how they get hard crust on the sides and bottom.

Enjoy. One recipe down, eleven to go.

Rye bread is not difficult to make. Nor is sourdough. You need time and patience and the correct ingredients. You also need bread consumers that like both rye bread and sourdough. A sourdough rye loaf might go over like a lead balloon with anyone who’s been brought up on sliced white loaf. However, if you have fans of rye and sourdough or adventurous eaters, bake away, I say.

This blog post does not have instructions on making or maintaining a sourdough starter. There are specialist blogs on that topic. I will confess to keeping 3 different starters in the fridge; white, whole wheat and rye. Mine are mature and I feed them once a week. I try to use at least one starter every week which means we eat a variety of sourdough breads and prefer the taste. Here is a link to the King Arthur Flour sourdough instructions.

The Davinator also loves rye bread – thus the sourdough rye recipes that follow. Plenty of recipes do not specify or require rye starter for rye bread. I’ve experimented a bit and I think it gives a better depth of flavour, particularly for breads that use a combination of white and rye flours. The first of two recipes is below. Its very reliable but patience is a key ingredient. Sourdough rises at its own pace. Leave it overnight for the first prove. You won’t be tempted.

Raisin & rye sourdough recipe

Ingredients

(For starter sponge)

100 grams of rye sourdough starter

150 grams of rye flour

200 mls cold water

(Remaining ingredients)

200 grams rye flour

6 grams of salt

200 grams of raisins

150 mls hot water

Instructions

1. Combine sourdough starter, 150 grams of rye flour and 200 mls of cold water in a larger bowl than you think you need. Mix thoroughly, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Cover with a shower cap. Leave to rise overnight. An overnight rise means you don’t need to find a warm draft free spot to accelerate the rise.
2. Wait.
3. Prep a large loaf pan (2 pounds or 900 grams). Either line with parchment or vegetable oil. I’m a fan of parchment but both work.
4. Boil your kettle. Put 150 mls of hot water in a measuring cup. Now make a cup of tea while your hot water cools slightly. When you can drink the tea (even with milk) it’s time to go to step 5.
5. Combine the remaining rye flour, salt and raisins and stir well. Dump the dry ingredients on top of the sponge. Pour the hot water over the top and stir quickly to combine the ingredients.
6. Spoon the dough into your loaf pan. Smooth the top with a scraper. Cover loosely with a shower cap.
7. Allow the dough to rise for two hours.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 240c degrees and put a shallow roasting pan on the bottom.
9. When oven comes up to heat, place the dough in the oven, lower the heat to 220c and pour 200 mls of water into the roasting pan.
10. Bake for 30 minutes. If you test with a thermometer, it should be over 90c. Or the loaf will feel hollow when tapped.

A few thoughts on this recipe: use the darkest rye flour you can find. It makes for great flavour. And like all ‘true rye’ recipes, there’s no kneading. The hot water step is important. It seems fiddly but if you don’t do it, your bread goes mad and overflows the pan during the second rise.

It’s worthwhile having a good book or two on bread. It helps with various forms of bread anxiety. One of my favourites in Emmanuel Hadjiandreou ‘How to Make Sourdough’.

What is your favourite?