The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Purple Haze Pecan-Walnut Multi-grain Sourdough

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Purple Haze Pecan-Walnut Multi-grain Sourdough

GroupShot I love nuts....some say I am nuts....well, I'll leave that up to you to decide but I think my wife has already made up her mind :).

My favorite nuts are pecan and walnuts with pistachios coming in a close third.  I have been wanting to make bread with nuts in it for a while, but since my wife detests nuts I have not baked one for a while.  In any case it was time to take the plunge and incorporate both of my favorites in one bread.

I didn't want the pecans to compete too much with the walnuts so I ground the walnuts into a paste with my coffee grinder and added the pecans after chopping them.

I used the 36 hour method which I have posted about a few other times which I found really helps to develop the flavors and open the crumb.  I also wanted to push the hydration limits on this one and see how high I could go with a multi-grain type bread and still get a nice open moist crumb, so this one is not for the faint at heart and comes in at 80% hydration.

I used a multitude of flours which I thought would provide a nice nutty flavor profile to compliment the pecans and walnuts and I have to say I was not disappointed.  The final bread while a little flat due to the high hydration is chock full of nutty flavor and as a bonus the walnuts gave the dough a nice purple haze.

The crumb is as moist and open as one could hope for and the crust is just thick enough without being too chewy.  All in all this one is a keeper.

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Formula

PecanWalnutMultigrainChart

Procedure

Refresh your starter the night before you are ready to bake and make sure you have at least 300 grams.  I used my standard AP starter which is at 66% hydration.

Mix the flours, and ice-cold water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Put the dough in a slightly covered oiled bowl and put in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

The next day chop the pecans and grind the walnuts into a paste.  (Note: do not grind the pecans, just the walnuts).  Add your starter, walnut paste, mashed potatoes and salt to the dough and mix by hand or in your mixer on low until it is thoroughly mixed and evenly distributed.  Mix for 3 minutes and then add the pecan pieces and mix for another minute until the nuts are evenly distributed.  Place the dough into a well oiled container or bowl and cover.

Bulk rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours until it grows around 1/3 in volume doing stretch and folds every half hour until it has developed the correct amount of strength.

Put the dough back into the refrigerator for around 20-30 hours.  I ended up letting it go around 40 hours since I got tied up in Skype meeting but it didn't have any adverse effects.

When you take the dough out of the refrigerator you want it to have almost doubled in volume.  Mine only rose about 1/3 in volume.  Let it rise at room temperature for around 2 hours or until the dough has doubled from the night before.CloseupRisenDough

Next, shape as desired  and place in your baskets.  Make sure you use enough rice flour with flour in your bowl/basket to prevent this moist dough from sticking.  This is a very wet dough so you will have to make sure you use wet or floured hands to shape the dough.  Don't add too much flour when shaping.  I actually didn't use any flour for shaping these, and pretty much did the shaping in the air before plopping them into the bannetons.risendough

Cover the dough with a moist towel and let sit at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.  (I used my proofer set at 80 degrees for 2 hours).

Score as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.Scored

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 45 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees.    When the loaf is nice and brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. you can remove it from the oven.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an 3 hours or so before eating as desired.

CrumbCrumbCloseupCloseup2

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

a little nutty Ian, but a lot of your nutty has rubbed off on my apprentice.  Between you and her, there might not be any nuts left for the rest of us!  Like the potatoes in this bread too.  They had to help make the crumb soft and moist.  The combination of flours is intriguing.  Very healthy bread too - with so much whole grains.   The purple haze really came though in this bread.  If you want even more purple.... crush some walnuts in a mortar and pestle with some walnut oil - a PiP's trick.  It doen't overpower the taste of the bread with too much walnut flavor if you aren't like my apprentice and do too much of the walnut / oil paste :-)  The walnut oil is a little pricey though.

Another keeper Ian - Happy Baking

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks DA...

I actually wasn't planning on making a purple bread, but at the last minute I decided to use my coffee mill to grind up the walnuts like a paste.  I will try the walnut oil trick next time as I still have some hanging around in my refrigerator assuming my wife didn't throw it out by mistake.  You would like this one as it is super moist and the nutty flavor really comes through with the whole grain flours.  I've already eaten half the loaf!

Regards,

Ian

Mebake's picture
Mebake

You are a gladiator Ian! Wow! It takes some nerve to bake off a bread with what?! mashed potato, Ancient grains, And nut paste; all at 80 hydration. 

A fine example of how gluten in wheat is a marvellous thing, to be able to hold a miriad of ingredients and and the extra water, and then lift them all up.

Lovely color btw. Very nice, Ian. I'd be hesitant to top it with butter, i'd love to taste the walnut paste. Too bad gluten overshadows most ingredient flavors, it is such an insipid thing.

-Khalid

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you Khalid for your kind words.  I really wanted to push the hydration using whole grains and nuts and see what happened.  Actually I am not positive if I added about 50 grams of one flour to the mix  and its possible I actually was at 90% hydration.  Either way this was a nice moist open crumb with a wonderful flavor you would appreciate.

Regards

Ian

Alpana's picture
Alpana

Purple colour with walnuts, pecans & your exotic flours makes a wonderful treat, even if it is just visual for us. I have gone for almost a month without putting nuts, seeds or fruits in my breads. Dabrownman's yellow beauty followed by your purple one is telling me it is a good time to sneak in some goodies without my other half crying murder. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Alpana,

I appreciate your kind words.  I hope you can try some nuts in your next bake soon.

Regards

Ian

varda's picture
varda

and purple as well.   Has a purple haze reached us from Kuala Lumpur?   Look out.   But where is the purple coming from?   This must be delicious with all those nuts.   -Varda

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Varda.  I do have to say this is one of my favorite breads I have made and I can't stop eating it which is not good for my expanding waist line.

The purple is coming from the crushed walnuts.  I don't know why but I'm pretty sure that is the case.

So I see you have been making a multitude of loaves.  Are you selling them to someone? 

Ian

varda's picture
varda

Here's today's batch: 3 cranberry sourdoughs, 2 schusters. 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Yum...those look too good to eat :)

evonlim's picture
evonlim

hello, hello n hello, 

purple and walnuts are my favorite things. lovely..

missed my bread and making them. been away to hanoi for a short 4 days holiday with parents. just reached home. luckily, i stock up bread in my freezer. brother came by to asked for some bread. mom caught in the rain last two days in hanoi and fell sick. took her to see a doctor. toasted a few slices of bread for dinner. everyone is tucked comfortably and snoring away. ah.. at last my time for myself to catch up with everyone here.

beautiful loaves as always ian. 

evon

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you for your comments.  I hope your Mom is feeling better.  Did you have some nice weather on your trip?

I love this bread and have been eating it for breakfast and snacks all week.

look forward to your next creation soon!

Ian