Bekkywiththegoodcrust's blog

The past few weeks have been busy with work, the holidays, and travel.  As a result, I didn't have much time to bake.  Last week, I received a copy of Tartine No. 3, which I think was a not-so-subtle hint from my family to start baking again.  I decided to make something with rye flour after I found a few pounds of ancient rye flour sitting in the back of the pantry – Wheat Rye 10% it was!

I’m finally getting the hang of baking by feel, rather than strictly following any recipe.  Thus, the Tartine recipe became more of guideline.  I ended up using the following:

250g white whole wheat flour

275g bread flour

60g rye flour

425g water

75g leaven

10g salt

I let it bulk ferment in my chilly kitchen for about 7 hours, then shaped it and let it proof in the refrigerator overnight.  Once it warmed up after a few hours at room temperature in the morning, I baked it to 200F.  Baking it to 200 was recommended in the comments to my last post and I’m so glad I took the advice!  

Another thing I really enjoy about trying a new loaf is making the same loaf a day or two after making the first.  The second loaf is almost always better than the first, as I can apply what I’ve learned during the first go-around.

Yesterday, I started dough with the same proportions above.  An hour into the bulk ferment, I also added in:

50g flaxseeds (coarsely ground), soaked in 90g of hot water and cooled

75g toasted sesame seeds

70g toasted sunflower seeds

This time, I let the dough bulk ferment for 4 hours or so on the counter, then finish in the refrigerator overnight.  I waited until the morning to shape and proof it, which I’ve generally found to be successful.  This loaf turned out incredibly and will definitely be one that I make frequently.

Most weekends I bake two loaves of Tartine Country Bread.  I like the repetition of making the same recipe and enjoy seeing how my bread progresses from week to week.

I decided to live on the edge yesterday and make the Tartine Polenta bread.  I used some leftover pumpkin seeds from Thanksgiving, as well as thyme and chives instead of rosemary.  Next time, I’ll either add more herbs or skip them altogether.  I thought I used a generous amount but they’re barely detectable in the final loaves.

I’ve never worked with a dough this wet and there’s definitely a learning curve.  I’d like to see more rise out of the final loaves.  My apartment heat has been all over the place this weekend – super hot, super cold, everything in between.  That probably didn’t help.   And even though a thermometer read 200 degrees in the middle of the loaves, they ended up a bit wet in the center.

Regardless, the bread is delicious and I’m loving the polenta/pumpkin seed combination.