The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Apple Cider Rye Potato Bread

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Apple Cider Rye Potato Bread

 

I've made bread with cider before and always like the sweet flavor it imparts.  I decided to add some roasted white sweet potato to this one and it really helped create a super moist crumb.  I was actually pleasantly surprised at how moist this crumb turned out.  The flavor was fantastic and this bread is the perfect sandwich bread for some pastrami or any deli meat.

Please note, white sweet potato is not as sweet as the orange type and the water content is less so if you use them instead, you need to adjust your hydration accordingly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Max and Lexi!

Here are the Zip files for the above BreadStorm files.

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.   You can use it immediately in the final dough or let it sit in your refrigerator overnight.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours  and the cider for about 1 minute.  Let the rough dough sit for about 20 minutes to an hour.  Next add the levain, sweet potatoes, olive oil and salt and mix on low for 5 minutes.  You should end up with a cohesive dough that is slightly tacky but very manageable.  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.  (Since I used my proofer I only let the dough sit out for 1.5 hours before refrigerating).

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.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature and will only rise about 1/3 it's size at most.  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 525 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.

After 5 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.

 

Comments

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I love cider in bread. 

And.... I just realized that what I call Cider probably isn’t what you put in this bread. What I call cider is the one with alcohol in it. It’s a cultural thing. ? I was raised by French parents and anything called cider has alcohol in it. I think North Americans call it hard cider. Which one did you use?

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I love hard cider as well and have used it several times in bakes.  I did however use non-alcoholic cider for this one, but I"m sure the hard cider would work just as well.

This one turned out exceptionally moist.  I may have under-baked it slightly too, but it was very yummy.  I hope you give a version of it a try and let me know what you think.

Regards,
Ian

Yippee's picture
Yippee

Beautiful rye bread, Ian!

Happy New Year! 

Yippee

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Glad you like it!  I hope to see some posts of your bakes in 2019!

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Ian

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

To be honest, I seldom pair apples with sweet potatoes in savory dishes as I find them too sugary together. However, they go very nicely with salty food like deli meat, cheeses and pickled condiments. I don't love the texture of rye bread but like its great depth of flavour. Your bread offers the solution: using sweet potatoes to achieve a moist and soft crumb :)

Looks like Max and Lexi are getting along very well! Nice bake and Happy New Year to you, your family and the doggies & kitties!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Glad you like the bake.  You don’t really taste the apples from the cider but combined with the white sweet potatoes which are not as sweet as the orange ones it really works.

Happy New Year to you and your family as well.

Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

company and Lucy would love to be there with them on their bed ...she would fit right in.  They look hungry and probably need some of that bread to tide them over .

The bread looks grand inside and out,  Rye works with sweet and why folks put all kids of brown sugar, molasses and BMS in with it but this one doesn't need it with the cider and potatoes!  It has to make the best Deli Rye around.  I have some pastrami that would be perfect between a couple of slices with some home made Dijon mustard and pickles!

Tell the black ones that Lucy is feeling better and will back to normal before you know it,

Happy New Year Ian

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So Happy to hear that she is doing better.

Glad you like the bread.  Wish we lived closer so we could have a pastrami party ?!

Let’s hope 2019 is a better year for all of us!

Lexi and Max send their love and healing power to Lucy.

PalwithnoovenP's picture
PalwithnoovenP

This has to taste good!n Do you taste the "appleness" (that's not even a word) of the cider? Does your sweet potato have a pink skin? I think that's the sweet potato that I'm most familiar with. Chestnuts sometimes remind me of sweet potato or sweet potato sometimes remind me of chestnuts. What do you think?

Very lovely bread! Happy New Year Ian!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Happy you like the post.  The cider does add some apple flavor but it’s subtle. It definitely helped with the soft crumb and dark crust.  I used white sweet potatoes in this one which are not as sweet as the more common orange ones.  They also have a lower water amount.  

Happy New Year and Baking!

squattercity's picture
squattercity

I just baked this and wanted to let you know how good it is. I subbed 50g of whole rye for the white rye plus bran, approximated first clear with a 50/50 mix of bread flour and whole wheat, and added a slightly smaller amount of yellow sweet potato. The bake took 45 minutes -- 15 with steam, 30 without. Like most ryes, it gets better with age. The sweetness evolves, the sour emerges. As you can see, I'm enjoying.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So glad you tried this.  Your version came out great.  Thanks for letting me know.  I haven’t made this one in a while so will have to bake again soon!

Happy baking.

Ian

squattercity's picture
squattercity

for my extended family the day after Thanksgiving & the universal verdict was that it's delicious. I used a bottle of Samuel Smith organic cider. Also I had white sweet potato on hand -- and that made a big difference in controlling the sweetness. Thanks, Ian, for sharing this fantastic formula.

Rob

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So glad it’s a hit!

Happy holidays to you and your family.

Ian

squattercity's picture
squattercity
Isand66's picture
Isand66

Looks perfect!

Glad it came out so good for you again.

Best,

Ian

squattercity's picture
squattercity

made in Switzerland with Suure Moscht -- Swiss cider -- & Swiss-grown sweet potato & more whole wheat flour than usual (bc I ran out of white.) Also, due to my schedule, I fermented the levain for almost 24 hours and shortened the cold ferment. Still excellent. My Swiss relatives like it too. -- Rob

Benito's picture
Benito

Looks and sounds delicious Rob.  How did you prepare the sweet potatoes?  They appear to be in chunks I think, roasted first?

Benny

squattercity's picture
squattercity

raw: peeled & grated. &, yeah, it's a damn fine bread, Benny.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

This looks better than my original :).

That's awesome that your Swiss relatives enjoyed the bread.  I would love to visit Switzerland one of these days.  I've been to Germany a couple of times for work which was great but Switzerland would be amazing.

So happy you have made this formula your own and are sharing it around the world!

 

squattercity's picture
squattercity

thanks so much, Ian, for sharing the recipe & for your encouragement.

tpassin's picture
tpassin

I just had to try this out, and I just baked a loaf. I pretty much followed Ian's recipe but scaled the flour down to 300g. My sweet potato was - I think - not white but orange, but I didn't feel that I had to change the cider amount.  The dough was pretty dry yet sticky, and if the potato had less water, I might have added a little cider.  I mixed by hand.

I live in "apple country" - lots of apple orchards very near by - and at this time of year (in the US) we can get locally-pressed cider made from local apples.  It's sweet and delicious. (This is not hard cider).  The sweetness may have led to the crust nearly burning after only 38 minutes of baking.  But the taste is delicious, and is growing on me quickly.

You can see from the pictures below that the crumb is decently open for such a dense bread. It even grew a bit of an ear. I wasn't sure if I'd get a sheen on the surface, given the dough properties, but there it was after all.

The crumb shot looks darker and more orange in this blog page than it does in my picture viewer or in person.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So glad you got to try this one.  There’s nothing like fresh cider.  The sugars in the cider will certainly help brown the crust.  Thanks for sharing your version.  
Best regards,

Ian