The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Sprouted Whole Wheat with Dark Chocolate Balsamic Bread

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Sprouted Whole Wheat with Dark Chocolate Balsamic Bread

  One of these days I will sprout my own whole wheat berries and grind them into flour, but for the time being I will use the KAF flour version.  The combination of the Sprouted Wheat flour along with the KAF European flour, spelt and potatoes made this a moist bread with a nice open crumb and chewy crust.

The KAF European Artisan flour is one of my favorites and contains a small amount of white whole wheat flour and comes in at 11.7% protein level which is ideal for artisan loaves.

I decided to add my Apple Yeast Water as part of the liquid to make things interesting and give it a more tender and open crumb which it most certainly did achieve.

I wanted to get a slight nutty flavor without adding nuts so I used some walnut oil and to further enhance the flavor profile I added some Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar.

While the hydration level of this dough came in at only 70% I will tell you with this combination of flours it was a very wet dough.  I probably should have done a few more stretch and folds in the rising bucket but in the end while a little more flat than preferred it had good oven spring and tastes great.

Crumb

Closeup1

SpoutedWhtwithChocolateVine

Closeup2

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, and 350 grams of the liquids together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), balsamic and walnut oil and mix on low for a minute.  Add the rest of the liquid unless the dough is way too wet.   Mix on low-speed for another 5 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  I made 1 large miche using a lined wicker basket.  Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

Rising

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

Scored

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

CrumbCloseup

Max
Max enjoying the fall pumpkin crop. It was hot for October....he needs a beer!

 

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

who dress in black and pant when hot!  She is determined and knows what she wants. 

The vinegar brings this up to 73.5% hydration and the oil  will make feel like 75%.  So how long was this one in the fridge?  I haven't used any sprouted wheat, but I am growing my own rye and wheat over the winter.  Lucy suspects a log coldproof, the extra enzymes in the sprouted grain and the spelt all worked in combination with some sseriously high leaven amounts of 26% SD and the whopping large amount of YW really broke down the gluten a bit.   I would make 3-4  breads out of that much leavening.

We also helped to stop our spreading dough problem after long proofs by using Josh's method of proofing the dough to 85% in the fridge and baking it cold after warming up for only 30 minutes or less on the counter.  No spread with an easy slash extra benefit.  Now If i could just catch it at 85% proof rather than our normal 96-100% proof.

It is amazing how open the crumb still is when this happens and the taste has to be nice.  The bread has to taste great too with the chocolate vinegar potato and walnut oil.  Dipped in the chocolate oil with some chocolate friendly cheese and herbs sounds very tempting,

Happy baking Ian dna Lucy sends her best to Max.  I know It'sn ot much but she means well or possibly more.... 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks DA.  You might be right about the amount of YW I used but in the end it tastes great which is what matters.

Look forward to yours and Lucy's next concoction.

Ian

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

I've been telling myself that as well: one day I'll produce my own sprouted wheat flour. I've some wheat berries on hand, in fact, just haven't got around to it yet...

Another great bake, Ian. Always a pleasure reading your posts and seeing you apply your culinary skills to bread.

Zita

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you Zita for your kind words.  I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I hope your website and future bakery projects are doing well.  I have not had a chance to spend more time browsing your site yet, but I will get to it soon and let you know if I have any ideas to help you.

 

Regards,
Ian

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

Thank you, Ian. Progress has been slow and I'm still trying to raise funds to purchase a new oven. Other obstacles include finding high quality ingredients and achieving consistency with my sourdough. Once that's settled, I can be more active in baking for the community. 

Please feel free to check out my website whenever you have the time. I did what you suggested and joined Amazon's affiliate program. Not too sure how I'll generate income from it but it doesn't hurt to apply.

If you have any other ideas or suggestions for my website, I'd much appreciate it.

Thanks again and happy baking,

Zita

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Glad to hear you are making some progress although slow.  I will be glad to give you any suggestion I can.

Regards,

Ian

Casey_Powers's picture
Casey_Powers

The words alone have me wishing for piece. This is nice eye candy.  It is fascinating to see the intricacies of baking.

 

Warm Regards,

casey

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you so much Casey.  Appreciate your kind words.

Regards

Ian

gmabaking's picture
gmabaking

What a powerhouse combination that must be! Always find it interesting the flavors you weave into your creations but this one tops them all!

Beautiful bread inside and out. Can imagine how great the kitchen smelled while it was baking. Wow!

Barbra

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Appreciate your kind words Barbra.  You are right in the that the kitchen smelled pretty amazing.

Regards

Ian

Mebake's picture
Mebake

The loaf is very attractive, Ian. What do you think paired really well with this bread?

Very creative, as usual.

-Khalid

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks as always Khalid.

I've been eating it with just some cheese in the morning and grilled with a little olive oil as part of my dinner with some grilled steaks.  It would also be great with some sandwich meats as well.

 

Look forward to your next post.


Regards,

Ian

Foodzeit's picture
Foodzeit

I am about to make a bread using Wasabi, but Balsamico has not yet crossed my mind but is on my list of things to do since I read your blog entry. Awesome !!! Must do.

I won't get walnut oil here either but I simply love nut oils as well, I am using a lot of Sesame oil that is readily available over here. 

Greetings from Guangzhou

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you for your kind words.  The walnut oil is nice but not nearly as strong flavored as the sesame oil.

Regards

Ian

varda's picture
varda

Ian,  You come up with the most interesting ingredients.   Dark Chocolate balsamic vinegar?   Your bread looks great.  -Varda

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you Varda. Glad you liked it.  I recently discovered these stores that sell these oils and vinegars and let you taste them first.  Just another toy to play with while baking and cooking.  

hope your food market baking is going well.  With fall upon us I bet your hearty ryes are selling well.

Regards

Ian