|
|
|
|
|
SearchUser loginFood Buzz
PSAs Recommended BooksFavorite Recipes
|
Submitted by foolishpoolish on March 7, 2009 - 1:08pm Pain Aux Deux Levains
Eager to put my 'new' starters to use, I recently baked some pain au levain with a twist. I used two levains of different hydrations - one stiff whole wheat levain and the other a 125% hydration liquid levain. The whole wheat levain contributed bran and germ and added a nice wheaty note to the flavour (I try to preferment whole grains when possible) while the liquid levain rounded off the acidity and, I think, a lightness to the bread. Using two levains like this, hopefully gives a good balance of both lactic and acetic flavours without having to go through a long-winded 'three stage' fermentation (a la 'Bread Builders'). The recipe can also be adapted to something more akin to pain de campagne by perhaps adding some rye starter instead of whole wheat (I think Hamelman covers this in his version of pain au levain in 'Bread'). Anyway, I'm sure I'll try many more versions of this in the future. For the time being, if you're curious to try, the recipe is at my blog: http://foolishpoolishbakes.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/pain_aux_deux_levains/ Cheers, FP
Filed under:
|
ALSO ON |
.
What an interesting approach!
Hi, FP.
I love this concept. Do you feel you have better control over the flavor balance using two levains, or is it just a time saver?
David
Makes it easier
Hi David,
So far (in my experience) I think the answer to the question of control is - yes, to a degree. Working with two levains certainly makes things easier. In the case of pain au levain, the desired acidity is fairly low anyway but I can see the same principle being applied to other breads.
I've previously used it in rye bread - where a high hydration (133-150%) rye starter is used together with a stiffer rye sour. This had two advantages - firstly adding instant yeast became unnecessary, and secondly, the flavour! :) I guess it's a bit like different stages of the detmolder process running concurrently.
With all that said, the hydration and fermentation of the final dough will still have a large effect on the overall texture and flavour. The ratio of preferment to final flour becomes an important limiting factor.
Cheers,
FP