The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Longan Levain

Syd's picture
Syd

Longan Levain

 

Levain

30g starter @ 100% hydration

60g whole wheat flour

60g water

Allow to ripen 8 - 12 hours.

 

Final Dough

150g levain

275g water

450g bread flour

80g dried longan

8g salt

 

Mix together levain, water and flour.  Autolyse 50 mins.  Knead in salt.  Finally knead in chopped dried longan.  Bulk ferment for about two and a half hours with folds at 50 and 100 mins respectively.  This turned out to be a strong dough and probably didn't need the second fold.  Divide in two. Preshape.  Rest 20 mins.  Shape into batards.  Final proof, two and a half to three hours.  Slash.  Bake with steam for 20 mins at 230C and without steam at 200C (convection) for another 20 mins.


Dried longans are expensive and I stinted on them.  I should have chopped them up finer, too.  As it was, not every slice had fruit in it or, at least not enough.  I love the taste of dried longan and more is better.  As a result the slices with not enough fruit were bland and now I am already planning the next attempt.  Next time, apart from adding more fruit, I will add some longan syrup to see if that will enhance the flavor even more.

 

Boule

 

150g ripe starter @ 100% hydration

300g water

80g sifted whole wheat

20g rye

350g bread flour

3g diastatic malt

Mix together and autolyse for 50 mins.  Now add:

10g salt

Knead until moderate gluten development. Bulk ferment two and a half hours with folds at 50 and 100 mins respectively.  Pre-shape. Rest 20 mins.  Shape into tight boule.  Allow to proof until three quarters risen.  Retard overnight.  Remove from fridge and allow to complete proof: one to two hours.  Bake on stone @ 230C with steam for 20 mins and @ 200C (convection) without steam for a further 30. Switch off oven, crack oven door open and allow to dry out for a further 5 mins.

 

 

No crumb shot for the boule, yet but will update with one tomorrow.  This is just my standard everyday bread, so I know how this one is going to taste.

Syd

Feb 22:  Crumb shot.

 

Comments

MichaelH's picture
MichaelH

Made your Light Whole Wheat over the weekend (added some germ) and it was delicious. This bread looks good too, although outside of mail order I won't be finding any longan where I live.

Michael

Syd's picture
Syd

You will probably find them at an Asian supermarket if there is one near you.  They have a unique flavour that is quite difficult to describe.  I guess the closest substitute would be dates but they are not as sweet as dates.

Syd

LeeYong's picture
LeeYong

Excellent Breads! Never thought of using logans in sourdoughs before - you're so right, logans are expensive - I bet thsi would taste great with any dried fruit. Thanks for sharing your recipes.

Did you noticed a huge difference with the malt in the recipe?

happy baking!

leeYong

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks, LeeYong and you are welcome.  I considered bulking up the fruit with raisins (and now in my reply to Michael I have just thought of dates) so that would cut down on the expense a bit.  Might make for an interesting combination, too.

With regards to the malt, I usually add it to any loaf I am going to retard overnight.  It makes for a darker crust and (I think) a lighter crumb, although I would love to hear others opinions on this.  I use my own homemade malt as I couldn't find any here in Taiwan. 

Best,

Syd

LeeYong's picture
LeeYong

Dates would be a good substitute but nothing beats the sweetness of dried logans. Hmm... I just thought of maybe even subbing in some dried Lychees. Have you've tried ordering from King Author? Don't know if they would ship across the world.

I've actually just started to use malt. Wildyeast blog (Susan) has a wonderful recipe for baguettes... The color sure comes through and the crust I've noticed is alot more chewy compared to J. Hammerman's baguette using a preferment.

Thanks again for sharing your recipe.

LeeYong

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Beautiful , Syd! Crust , Crumb, and Oven Spring!!

Malt! I want some!!

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks, Khalid.  :)  If you can't buy malt, it is pretty easy to make.  You just need to get your hands on some whole barley, sprout it, dry it out and grind it up.  I bought some naked barley but didn't get good results with it.  Only about a tenth of the seeds sprouted.  Not sure why that was the case.  Perhaps I bought old stock.  So I settled with the variety that comes with husks on.  I had to pass it through 2 different grades of sieve to remove most of the husks.  It was a bit laborious but it worked and I have done it twice now.  I only make about 60g each time. That lasts for about 2 months so a little goes a long way.

Best,

Syd

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

Interesting use with dried longan, and beautiful loaves, Syd.

We, Thai, use dried longan mostly for juice. Dried longan are boiled with water, then sugar is added to get longan juice, usually served as iced drink with few soften longans in the drink. It has nice smokey, caramelise flavour.

I'm wondering what it would be like if you use the juice to make bread (replace half of water with longan juice).

Sue

http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com

 

Syd's picture
Syd

It has nice smokey, caramelise flavour.

You hit it spot on.  I was struggling with how to explain the flavour and that is exactly how I experience it, too.  Using the juice is a good idea.  Thanks for the suggestion, Sue.

Syd

wally's picture
wally

I especially like the shots you've taken of the pain au levain you retarded overnight.  Just a beautiful loaf of everday eating bread. Doesn't get much better than that, huh?

Larry

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks, Larry. :) I love the little bubbles/blisters you get from overnight retardation.  They always look so attractive.

Best,

Syd

jennyloh's picture
jennyloh

Those are beautful loaves Syd.  I get plenty of dried longans here in China,  not too expensive too,  I always find raisins a little too sweet for my taste,  and this will be a great subsitute.  Got to try it,  I've got plenty of dried longans in my cupboard.  Like what Sue said,  we usually use it to make drink/cold or hot dessert,  it has good medicinal value in the chinese medicine world.

one question though - Did you have to soak the longans to soften it?

 

 

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks for your compliment, Jenny.  I buy the dried longan fruit already shelled and in little tubs so, perhaps, they are a little more expensive than if you buy them unshelled.  They have the consistency of dried dates or raisins, so no need to soak. But if they were very dry then you would have to soak them.  I have used them in muffins before where I soaked them in a little brandy (delicious) but this was a first for bread.  Here's a pic of the dried longan fruit.  You can see it is quite moist.

Best,

Syd

 

Franko's picture
Franko

Hi Syd,

Well I must confess I had to look up what longan is, and am still trying to imagine the flavour they impart to the bread , but wow, that's a fine looking loaf of levain risen bread you've made! A very imaginative use of local ingredients, making it a truly unique bread, and well executed. Very nice!

Franko

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks, Franko. :)  A longan is very similar to a lychee in flavour.  They are smaller and rounder than lychees and have more stone in relation to fruit than lychees but are sweeter than lychees (or at least they will never be sour - lychees can sometimes have a hint of sourness).

Best,

Syd

oceanicthai's picture
oceanicthai

I have no books or access to books here in Thailand so these sourdough recipes are just the kind of thing I am looking for.  I feel ready to start incorporating other ingredients into my sourdough boules, so this will be a helpful guideline for me.  Lovely loaves!!

Syd's picture
Syd

It's my pleasure.  :)

regards,

syd