My wife bought a bottle of Chocolate Stout about a month ago with the intentions of making some kind of chocolate cake. This would have been a very good use for this stout, but since she never had a chance to put it to good use I decided it was time to give it a try in a bread. I recently purchased another new flour which I have since found out is a very old flour called Amaranth. I decided to combine this with some sprouted wheat flour, KAF European style flour along with a Yeast Water starter and my stock AP starter. I used some Italian style 00 flour in the Yeast Water build which I built up in 2 stages. If I made this again I would probably increase the hydration since it is only around 68% and I think the crumb would have been more open with a higher hydration.
Yeast Water Starter Build 1
100 grams Italian Style 00 Flour (KAF)
100 grams Yeast Water Starter
Mix the flour and Yeast Water in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 4 hours. The starter should almost double when ready to proceed to build 2.
Build 2
Add ingredients below to starter from above and mix until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours.
100 grams Italian Style 00 Flour
35 grams Yeast Water
Main Dough Ingredients
107 grams Refreshed AP Starter (65% hydration)
318 grams Italian Yeast Water Starter (all of starter from above)
200 grams Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour or Whole Wheat Flour
150 grams Amaranth Flour
405 grams European Style Flour (KAF) or Bread Flour
161 grams Mashed Potatoes (I like to mash them with the skins on and used red potatoes)
503 grams Chocolate Stout at room temperature
16 grams Raspberry Champagne Vinegar
16 grams Salt (Sea Salt or Table Salt)
Procedure
Mix the starters with the stout but save 50 grams for later (no... don't drink it!) and stir to break it up. Next mix in the flours into the starter mixture and mix for 2 minutes with your mixer or by hand. Let the dough autolyse for 20-30 minutes to an hour in your bowl covered with a cloth or plastic wrap. Next add in the salt, balance of Stout and vinegar and mix on speed #2 for 4 minutes or by hand. The dough should have come together in a ball and be tacky but not too sticky.
Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface. Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes. After the rest do another stretch and fold and cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours. After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking. Feel free to do some additional S & F's if you feel it is necessary.
The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 1.5 - 2 hours. Next, form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours or until they pass the poke test. Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.
Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 30 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. It should take around 20 - 30 minutes to bake until both loaves are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.
Let the loaves cool down for at least an hour or so before eating as desired.
- Balloon Flower
