White Sourdough Bread

My sourdough starters are alive and well and are maturing with every use and replenishment.
They sit happily in the refrigerator and each time I make a loaf I replenish them at a 100% hydration rate, i.e. equal parts water and flour, so if I take out 300 gms of starter, I replenish with 150 gms water : 150 gms flour, leave it for a few hours to reactivate and put it away in the refrigerator.

Since I made the starters, I have been baking various loaves, with varying degrees of success. All of the loaves have been good, but some better than others. The wholemeal loaves have been the most successful, and I recently baked a 7 grain & honey wholemeal loaf which was dubbed as excellent by those who tasted it.

White sourdough is the one giving the most grief, so after a little more research I tried the following:--

1) Thoroughly mix flour, oil, sugar and sourdough starter and water together.
2) Autolyse for 20 minutes
3) Add salt and knead for 10 to 15 minutes to form a smooth, well structured dough
4) Cover and leave to rise 4 --6 hours until the dough feels spongy and is well developed.
5) Every hour or so fold the dough over on itself by taking the edges and folding them over working around the bowl.
6) When the ferment is finished and the dough has risen and feels nice and spongy, shape into a loaf or 
loaves. Don't be too vigorous here as you do not to knock the dough down, but rather you want to maintain the structure.
7) Place the loaf into a bread tin or alternatively upside down in a lined banneton and retard by placing in the fridge overnight.
8) Next morning remove from fridge and allow to warm up and  finish it's proof. This will take approx1--3 hours depending on ambient temperatures.
9) When it appears that the final proof is well underway, preheat your oven and bake.
10) For a 1 kg dough, I baked for 45 mins at 230C.

I set up a makeshift bakers oven in my hooded barbecue using clay pavers and a tray of water for steam injection. I actually baked two loaves at differing times, the first loaf (pictured) came out beautifully, however, the underside of the second loaf was overcooked, so next time, I will cook both at the same time.

WHOOPIE PIES

Earlier this year, I made a batch of whoopies, having read a snippet about them. I made a chocolate whoopie and filled them with some ganache I had left over after making macarons.
They were OK, but didn't set the world on fire and I was left wondering what all the fuss was about, so
I didn't go any further with them.
That was until I recently made a batch for a cake stall at my daughter's school carnival. I made a fairly basic recipe of chocolate whoopies and this time I made a more traditional marshmallow filling. I had one spare cookie left, so I put a dollop of filling on it and down it went!!. It was then that I began to realise what the fuss is all about. These little soft cookies/cake type morsels are quite moorish.

And now to a recipe. This one is adapted from one used at a shop called "Baked" in New York.
It is relatively easy, with no creaming of butter and sugar involved, more stirring and folding, and what could be easier.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW WHOOPIES.

475 gms plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons Bi carb soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

Sift these ingredients into a bowl and gently stir to combine.

90 gms dark cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee
220 mls hot water

Pour hot water onto cocoa/coffee powders and whisk thoroughly to dissolve fully.

350 Gms brown sugar
170 mls canola or vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
110 mls milk soured with the juice of half a lemon

Stir all together until well combined and no lumps of sugar and then add to cocoa mixture and
whisk until smooth.
Fold sifted dry ingredients into the mix until fully combined.

This will give a batter which is pipeable, but will hold it's shape.

Line baking trays with non stick baking paper and pipe rounds about the size of a 50c coin
and a similar height leaving approx 4 cm space between them as the mix will flatten a bit in the oven.
Bake at 180 C for approx 13 minutes. If baking two trays at a time, rotate them half way through and add another 30 secs to baking time. Let cool completely on the trays before removing and filling them.

MARSHMALLOW FILLING.

3 egg whites
270 gms caster sugar
2 tablespoons glucose
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste.

Place all ingredients in a heatproof bowl and whisk over a pot of simmering water until it is white, glossy and leaves a distinct ribbon trail when you lift the whisk. (5--10 mins)
Transfer to to an electric mixer and whisk for a further 5 minutes until cool.
Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto whoopies.

SOURDOUGH (part 2)

Having stumbled upon a starter, more by fluke than purpose, I decided to make one from scratch following strict guidelines. I used organic flour and spring water only. You can use whatever quantities you please, but in this ratio:--

Day 1. 1:1 Mix to a paste, loosely cover and set aside.
Day 2. 1:1 Repeat.
Day 3. 2:2 Repeat
Day 4. 4:4 Repeat
Day 5.  Rest
At the end of day 5 the starter was starting to work, bubbles were appearing, it smelt right, but was nowhere near ready for use. There are numerous factors which can affect the rate of growth. Anyway----

Day 6. Fed it again at the ratio 4:4.

Day 7. Better, but still not very active, so I decided to try and flick it over to a wholemeal starter.

           I took off a quantity at the ratio 4: 4 and then refreshed it at the ratio 4:4, but this time I grated a potato, squeezed the liquid out and topped it up to the required amount with spring water and used wholemeal flour.

Day 8. What a difference a day makes!! Bubbly and definitely active. Fed it with water and wholemeal

           flour at the ratio 4:4

Day 9. Repeat @ 4:4

Day 10. We have lift off. A wholemeal starter ready to use.

My booty!!  All 100% Sourdough Bread. Not a grain of added

yeast to be found.

SOURDOUGH (The Bitch Lives!!)

A few days ago, at work, I made a potato rosti mix. When I make rosti, I grate raw potato into a colander resting over a stainless steel bowl to drain off any excess liquid and proceed from that point.
Anyway, after I had finished I had quite a bit of starchy potato liquid in the bowl, so I added some plain flour to make a paste and set it aside. By the end of the day it was a bubbling seething mass, so I fed it some more flour and left it overnight

Day 2.  The mass as still alive, so that evening I fed her again. At home I started to research sourdough starters and found out that stainless steel is their enemy and to get them started you should probably use spring or filtered water, as distinct from town water, and organic flour. Alarm bells!!!!! Mine was in a stainless steel bowl, mixed with some town water and fed with ordinary, everyday plain flour.

Day 3.  Off to the supermarket and back with natural spring water and certified organic flour, armed with my wife's plastic mixing bowl, I arrived at work. The bitch was still alive, so immediately transferred her to the plastic bowl and that evening fed her with spring water and organic flour.

Day 4. She lives!!! Smelling slightly yeasty with a hint of banana and bubbling away nicely, fed her again
spoke to her lovingly and left her overnight.

Day 5.  Today she rests. No feeding required.

Day 6.  She is, what appears to be , an active, fermenting liquid sourdough starter. So I now have a semi leaven, plus pure sourdough bread doughs on the go. Will post the results.

FLOURLESS LEMON CAKE

There are loads of recipes for flourless cakes available in books or via the Internet.
Had some juicy, slightly old lemons, laying around so made a flourless lemon cake
and the result was surprisingly good. Stays moist for days and if you pour a syrup onto it
while it is still warm, it adds another dimension.
Here is the cake recipe:--

2.25 Cups Almond Meal                 

6 Eggs

12 Tablespoons White Sugar

Zest of  5  medium size Lemons

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

Grate the Lemon Zest

Separate Eggs

Beat together egg yolks, 3 Tablespoons of sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest

until light and creamy and double in volume.

While this is happening, Mix together almond meal and 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Fold together creamed egg yolk mixture and almond meal until well combined.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks start to form and then sprinkle

in the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat until medium glossy

peaks form.

Add about a quarter of the whites to the almond/egg yolk mix and combine well

to loosen the mix a little and then gently fold in the remaining egg white mix.

Pour into a 20 Cm spring form tin which has been greased and the base lined with

baking paper

Bake at 190C for 50 minutes or until a skewer come out clean.

If you wish, you can make a lemon syrup with the juice of the

remaining lemons and after about 10 minutes, prick the top of the cake and

pour over the syrup. This should be done while the cake is still in the tin.

Allow to sit for a further 10 to 15 minutes and then release the cake from the tin.

Alternatively, dust with icing sugar prior to serving.

This cake is a great gluten free, dairy free option for those with allergies.

MACARONS, MACARONS & MORE MACARONS

I have been busy over the last few months perfecting the macaron.
In fact it became a bit of an obsession. It all started before Xmas when I attempted to make some as a garnish for one of my Xmas desserts, foolishly thinking that I had mastered the evil little cookie.
Well, the more I tried, the more I failed, so I ditched them until after Xmas and went back to the drawing board.
Now I beleive I have mastered the little brutes, having made a variety of colours and flavours, all turning out beautifully., to the point where I am thinking of making and selling them.
Flavours I have perfected are:

Licorice
Strawberry
Cherry
Banana
Peppermint
Chilli Chocolate
Peanut butter Ganache
Salted caramel ganache

The three flavours I am currently working on are popcorn, bubblegum or gumball and pear walnut and blue cheese.

In the meantime here are some photos to look at

 From the top, Strawberry, Peanut butter ganache, peppermint and banana, and licorice.