The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Two levain- SD and Banana YW , Fig Pecan Banana Rye Bread

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Two levain- SD and Banana YW , Fig Pecan Banana Rye Bread

A mouthful of a title...a la Dab !  This bread has evolved considerably from my initial bakes based on Shaio Ping's posts. The only liquid in the bake is the banana puree. I use two levains just because. I add figs and pecans..well just because. 

The dough is pretty sticky but after letting it set a couple hours  and doing a couple lamination folds it was like silk. I only did a short bulk ferment in a warm oven as it was getting late and I had started the whole process too late in the day. I divided and simply plopped them in  lightly floured bannetons. Covered and placed in the fridge. Baked cold from the fridge with very little discernible rise overnight.  

The bloom of the crust is typical of my loaves with the free-style non-shaping. The first loaf got a little darker than I would have liked but I modified the temp and loaf 2 is perfect. The Fragrance is almost more than a body can stand what with the YW, bananas and the caramel of the figs. I used a LOT of soaked/chopped figs. 

500g levain---250g rye levain from NMNF stash at 75% hydration and 250g white KA and Banana YW at 100% hydration

440g unbleached KA

90g fresh milled rye

110g Red Fife

500g very very ripe banana puree

70g date syrup ( you will find this in middle eastern stores)

70g yogurt

18g salt

lots of hydrated chopped figs ( I have used dates and raisins also) and pecans

Mix all but salt. Let set. Add salt by sprinkling on top of dough and spraying liberally with water. Cover.

Let this all set at least one hour. Flour your board and your hands and pat out the dough to a very flat rectangle. Gently lift and stretch and fold like apple strudel. Do this again and then place in PAM sprayed bucket. Leave for 30 min and repeat. If dough not holding shape do a third time. should be very silky and extensible. Distribute the dried fruit and nuts on the last lamination. 

Place in warm spot and leave an hour or so till beginning to puff up...about 25% rise . Remove and shape. Place in fridge. After 12-15hr. Preheat pan and bake. I use my Granite roaster and only do a short pre-heat at 500 just till oven is ready. Bake 10 min 500, 10min 475 ( modified for second bake and used 465) remove lid and bake 20-30 min more till 210 or so. 

Will post crumb tomorrow if I can wait that long !   

 

 

 

crumb:tastes lie the creamiest fig bread pudding ever! with a caramelized crust its almost too good!

 

 

Comments

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Amazing bake, Caroline! 

You didn't weigh the figs? I use up to 40% if they are the only solid ingredient. Half that, if nuts are also used.

David

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I dumped out WAY more figs than I thought I could possibly use. I cut them in pieces and then sprayed them over and over with water while tossing them in the bowl. I let them set several hours. This way they got hydrated but not mushy like pouring boiling water on them does. It's like eating bread pudding ! Love the pecan crunch ....a LOT of pecans too .  But it's definitely bread if that makes sense...not gummy at all just incredibly moist and very distinct flavor profile. The crust is caramelized to just before burnt. So delicious. Thank you David !  c

PalwithnoovenP's picture
PalwithnoovenP

I love how it cracked and how it's dark. My mouth waters just by imagining the flavor with lots of dates!

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

It is an incredible bread ! I made this version before but this one is the best yet. When you look at the ingredients and then see how sticky it is to deal with at first there is NO reason it should turn out as lovely as it did :)  Look forward to your next posts. c

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

YW and SD.  Sounds insane but it bet it tastes as grand as it looks!  Really nice serendipity and happy baking going on there for sure!

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

It is the most amazing mouth feel....it is definitely bread but boy those figs.....I get them from Nuts.com. They are amazing quality. The banana flavor really comes through. You know it is banana bread for sure. Thanks for looking and I'm glad I can at least aspire to some of your delicious combinations . :) c

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

That's a lot of banana and figs, no wonder it smelled so nice.

The dough structure I end up with having is usually pretty poor when much fruit/vegetable puree is subbed for water. Yours seemed to stay strong and tall so it's a very successful bake!

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

check out shaio pings banana bread to get started and you will be pleasantly surprised I think. Happy Baking! c

pmccool's picture
pmccool

That is an absolutely mouth watering loaf of bread, Caroline.  Lightly toasted, with a schmear of cream cheese, it would make a breakfast all by itself.  Beautimous!

Paul

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

i ate way to much of it after the first slice! The second boule weighed 1057 g after baking !!! Yikes. That is a LOT of figs and pecans. The first boule was smaller though I didn’t weight it. Next time?.

thank you Paul and looking forward to your next bake. c

pul's picture
pul

A nice fall baking, opening the season?

 

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

our horrible heat has given way to foggy chilly mornings! Even though the first day of Fall is a ways off it truly feels like Summer is over. The kids started school yesterday in our town so their Summer is complete. 

Look forward to your next bake. I am definitely going to try the one you just posted. thank you! peter

! c

Ru007's picture
Ru007

Looks amazing Cathy!! I love banana bread (can't stand raw bananas though!) And thus is banana bread in the truest sense of the word! Did the dough feel like regular dough made with water?

Really nice bake

Happy baking 

Ru

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I should sign my whole name it's Caroline :)  Yes the dough feels just the same as with plain water. It is pretty sticky to start with due to the rye but it smooths out really well on the floured board using the lamination technique instead of stretch and fold.  It tastes amazing !  Very rich and caramel and yet a decidedly moist  crumb bread texture as well .

Look forward to more of your bakes . caroline

Isand66's picture
Isand66

You have outdone yourself on this one!  I can smell that amazing aroma all the way over on Long Island!

I bet this would be good with dates in place of the figs as well.

So how did the banana flavor come through?

Crust and crumb look perfect.

Happy Baking!

Ian

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

if you look back the first time I made this I used dates and pecans. It was great . But this surpasses that one by miles! Not sure why other than more attention to timing of the dough. In reality this had so little fermentation time both bulk and shaped that I have no idea why it turned out so amazingly! I love figs! These were well hydrated by misting with cold water and tossing them in a bowl. My new fave way. The banana flavor is quite pronounced. I don’t think you can use banana YW except in a bread where you want to taste it. Apple disappears and so does raisin etc. 

look forward to your next posts! c

leahbehar's picture
leahbehar

hili guys!!! whats sd and yw! looks amazing can't wait to make it

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

you can make mutilevain breads anytime you want a certain flavor profile. Traditionally SD dries out quite quickly. If you want a tender crumb with long lasting freshness there are a couple ways to achieve that. Use Yeast Water in the dough in some fashion or use porridge or soaker to increase the hydration. I have done both. I don’t usually have time to make porridge etc. I always have yeast water ready to go. You can use it a number of ways. 1) sub it for all or part of the liquid called for in the formula. You have to know how your YW performs to know how much or experiment and watch the dough. 2) make a levain with your flour of choice and your YW and let it double and use it in place of all the called for levain in the formula. Again watch the dough as YW loves warmth and can really fly right along once it gets going. 3) use your regular SD levain and sub in some YW to cancel all / most of the sour of the SD and this adds that freshness component as well as a new flavor profile. 4) make a 1/2 SD levain build and also take your YW and build the other 1/2 of the levain that is called for with your flour of choice- let them ferment separately. Mix only when ready to make your dough. NEVER add YW to your SD stored starter. Always keep your pure starter separate so it doesn’t get contaminated. 

You can change the flavor profile of your YW by removing several ounces of your basic YW and feed it something new. YW is crazy about bananas! It makes a fabulous sweet bread. I keep my base YW fed with Granny Smith apples and orange peel. It’s about 7 yrs old now. 

If you have any questions please ask or PM me. c

leahbehar's picture
leahbehar

This is very kind of you to send me so much info

I didn't understand what YW or SD was... I'm guessing now its sourdough and yeast water? I never used yeast water i dont even know how to make it? Is it kind of like making a starter? but its only water and fruit?

 

thank you so much again!

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

there are a lot of tutorials on the web and on TFL as well as an entire facebook page devoted to just YW baking. All have their own twists and turns and ideas. Since I have had mine almost 7 years I don't pay any attention to the tutorials that drag on for pages and pages LOL !  

Sterilize a quart glass jar and lid. Cover a chopped Granny Smith apple with about 3c filtered water in the sterile jar. The apple will float. Put this jar with the lid LOOSE in a warm place....85-90 F. Keep it there for approx 4-5 days. Take it out several times a day and stir it very vigorously...it needs air !! Don't pay any attention to any teachings that show the yeast water foaming up and bottles exploding !  Those folks are nuts and are making alcohol not a yeast water for baking . Your YW will be ready to bake with when you can mix + amounts of YW and your choice of flour and it will double in a few hours when left in a warm place. 

Several key things...it must be warm....you don't want it to get contaminated so always keep it covered but loosely. Start with the sterile jar and preferably an organic apple. Always use a Granny Smith as they are more acid while be sweet as well and it keeps your YW fresher. After you can get a levain to rise in a approx 6 hrs. You are ready to bake , The YW can be stored in a couple ways. You can do as I do....about every 10 days I carefully strain the apples out DO IT OVER A CONTAINER LOL....and toss out the fruit put the YW back in your jar...no need to wash it ..and add 1/2 chopped GS apple and peel from 1/2 an orange. That's all you have to do. Top it off with water as needed to keep it about 3/4 full. 

You can use it without refreshing it . There doesn't have to be any fizzing etc. It's full of yeast. You can also take your YW and take out the fruit and store it with no fruit. When it gets low you can add new fruit put it somewhere warm and when it fizzes a little it is ready and you can remove the fruit and store and leave the fruit as above. Never ever seal the lid tight. It can and will explode as it is way more powerful than SD. 

As far as subbing YW for SD you have to let your experience tell you what works as everyones YW is different just like everyones SD is different. Start with a known formula and simply make a levain using the same amounts of liquid and flour as you would your SD...so if it says you need 100g levain for the formula put 50g YW and 50g flour of your choice in a clean container and let it double and continue on.

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask . The important thing to remember is that all the formulas folks share are their formulas with their resources. No one will ever be able to duplicate....look at the recent community bake !  it's simply not possible to make the same bread as anyone else. Use your instincts and trust yourself if you think it needs more water or flour or time then go ahead and do that. Let me know how you fare. c

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

there are a lot of tutorials on the web and on TFL as well as an entire facebook page devoted to just YW baking. All have their own twists and turns and ideas. Since I have had mine almost 7 years I don't pay any attention to the tutorials that drag on for pages and pages LOL !  

Sterilize a quart glass jar and lid. Cover a chopped Granny Smith apple with about 3c filtered water in the sterile jar. The apple will float. Put this jar with the lid LOOSE in a warm place....85-90 F. Keep it there for approx 4-5 days. Take it out several times a day and stir it very vigorously...it needs air !! Don't pay any attention to any teachings that show the yeast water foaming up and bottles exploding !  Those folks are nuts and are making alcohol not a yeast water for baking . Your YW will be ready to bake with when you can mix = amounts of YW and your choice of flour and it will double in a few hours when left in a warm place. 

Several key things...it must be warm....you don't want it to get contaminated so always keep it covered but loosely. Start with the sterile jar and preferably an organic apple. Always use a Granny Smith as they are more acid while being sweet as well and it keeps your YW fresher. After you can get a levain to rise in a approx 6 hrs. You are ready to bake , The YW can be stored in a couple ways. You can do as I do....about every 10 days I carefully strain the apples out DO IT OVER A CONTAINER LOL....and toss out the fruit put the YW back in your jar...no need to wash it ..and add 1/2 chopped GS apple and peel from 1/2 an orange,the peel helps keep it fresh as well. That's all you have to do. Top it off with water as needed to keep it about 3/4 full. 

You can use it without refreshing it . There doesn't have to be any fizzing etc. It's full of yeast. You can also take your YW and take out the fruit and store it with no fruit. When it gets low you can add new fruit put it somewhere warm and when it fizzes a little it is ready and you can remove the fruit and store and toss out of eat the fruit .The fruit when stored in the YW is awful so don't eat it but if you are simply refreshing your YW with new fruit for a few hours then you can cook the fruit in your bread recipe or whatever and it will taste fine.  Never ever seal the lid tight. It can and will explode as it is way more powerful than SD. 

As far as subbing YW for SD you have to let your experience tell you what works as everyones YW is different just like everyones SD is different. Start with a known formula and simply make a levain using the same amounts of liquid and flour as you would your SD...so if it says you need 100g levain for the formula put 50g YW and 50g flour of your choice in a clean container and let it double and continue on.

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask . The important thing to remember is that all the formulas folks share are their formulas with their resources. No one will ever be able to duplicate....look at the recent community bake !  it's simply not possible to make the same bread as anyone else. Use your instincts and trust yourself if you think it needs more water or flour or time then go ahead and do that. Let me know how you fare. c

leahbehar's picture
leahbehar

thank you for all the kind info!! perfect