The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Red Sweet Potato Bread

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Red Sweet Potato Bread

 

I love adding sweet potatoes to bread.  I have to admit I thought I had roasted some purple sweet potatoes which I love to use to add that beautiful purple color to the bread.  As it turns out I had roasted some red purple potatoes which are actually much tastier to eat by themselves.  They don't add a lot of color but are do add a nice amount of moisture and spring to the crumb.

I also added some freshly ground purple corn that I had sprouted several weeks ago and some freshly ground whole wheat.  I sifted both flours once with my #40 sieve which I find gives me a much better overall bread.

The crumb on this one was a bit closed which could have been due to some over proofing since my wife was baking cookies and kind of through my timing off.  Anyway, the taste was excellent and the rolls are perfect for burgers or sandwiches as well.

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.  I used my proofer set at 83 degrees and it took about 4 hours.   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 sweet potato with 90% of the water for about 1 minute.  Let the rough dough sit for about 20 minutes to an hour.  Next add the levain, olive oil, salt and the balance of the water and mix on low for 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.  (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 540 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.

Lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 25-35 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.

Frankie wants to know where his chair is! ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

Yippee's picture
Yippee

 

Epic scoring and cute little buns! I bet they are super delicious! Did Frankie find his seat? :-) I was thinking about your garden the other day. Have you heard of the Wildlife Habitat garden certification? Your garden is well-established and may already meet most conditions. Even if you don't want to be certified, it's still interesting to see how friendly your garden is to wildlife.

Looking forward to seeing your next bake and garden pics!

Best, 

Yippee

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Frankie always find some place to sit :).  Glad you like the bake.  Thanks for the info about the garden certification.  I will have to check it out.

Best Regards,

Ian

Benito's picture
Benito

Wait, if the dogs get the sun loungers where to the humans sit to relax Ian?

I love sweet potato breads, the crumb is always so soft and I love the sweetness of the sweet potato.  Now I’ve never seen RED sweet potatoes ever before, orange, white and purple cores but never red.  The colour of the crumb on your loaf has a wonderful pinkish hue that is very attractive and I bet it tastes great.

Benny

Isand66's picture
Isand66

The red ones are very tasty.  I find them at Whole Foods and they taste much better than the purple variety and similar to the yellow ones.

Glad you like the bake Benny.

Best Regards,
Ian

MontBaybaker's picture
MontBaybaker

Gorgeous bread as always!  How did you score the long center section on the loaf, or is an imprint from a mold?  Love the unique look.  Karen

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Scoring was done with scissors.  I find you can get a lot of interesting looks doing it that way.  I do one big score with a lame and then the others with scissors.

Regards,
Ian

Song Of The Baker's picture
Song Of The Baker

Great to see you still baking and posting Ian! Looks yum as always.  Your flavored breads always did get me hungry!

John

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So great to hear from you.  I hope you are staying safe.  I hope you’re still baking and cooking yourself.

Glad you like the bake.

look forward to seeing some bakes from you again!

Best regards,

Ian