The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Sweet Potato Maple Pecan Sourdough

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Sweet Potato Maple Pecan Sourdough

  In hindsight I should have baked this bread as a Ciabatta since it ended up such a slack and wet dough.  While I was working on the final formulas and trying to figure out what hydration level to use for maple syrup and sweet potatoes I discovered that sweet potatoes are extremely high in water.  In fact they are around 85% water which I now know is the main reason why this dough ended up so wet.  Next time I bake this one I would definitely adjust the water content to get it down to around 70-75% hydration or cut down some of the sweet potatoes.

In any case since I wasn't using my head when baking this one I used my bannetons to place the extremely wet dough and ended up with 2 flattish breads but great tasting none the less.

I wanted to make a nice flavorful fall style bread so I figured the maple syrup would go great with the sweet potatoes and some oat flour and rolled oats with crushed pecans couldn't hurt either.

One thing I did a little different in this bake was to add part of the sweet potatoes to the second build of the starter.  It did not seem to have any detrimental effects on the starter other than as I now know to make it much wetter than usual.

If you decide to try this one yourself I would either bake it as a Ciabatta bread or lower the amount of potatoes or water.

The overall taste of this bread was excellent with a nice moist crumb and hints of maple syrup and crunchy pecans.  You don't really taste the sweet potatoes but they are there in the background adding subtle overtones of sweetness.

Closeup2

Formula

SweetPotatoMaplePecanSDRevi

Closeup1

Levain Directions

Build 1

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 F. and it took around 5 hours.

Build 2

Add the stage 2 ingredients to the first Build and mix thoroughly until incorporated.  Cover and let sit at room temperature or in your proofer if you have one.  In my proofer it took around 4 hours to double.  You can either use it immediately in the main dough or put it in the refrigerator overnight and use the next day.

Flower

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, and the water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter, balsamic and sweet potatoes and mix on low for 6 minutes.  Add the pecan pieces and mix for an additional minute to incorporate them evenly.  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.  Since this dough is so wet I did a total of 5 stretch and folds but if you adjust the hydration you won't need to do this.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

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.    Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray or use your favorite Ciabatta shaping method.

Risen

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  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 500 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.

Scored

After 1 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 for at least 2 hours before eating.

Crumb1

Crumb2

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

it was Mini Oven that told me that for white breads over 80% hydration,  your either put it in a tin or call it ciabatta:-)  With so much non gluten oats, potato and 90% hydration it is just as amazing how open the crumb is compared to how much it spread.   Very nice crumb and that color with the pecans  is pretty striking.  Put some brown sugar in there and you are pretty close to sweet potato pie bread so this had to taste very good no matter what.   Looks like it would make a nice Thanksgiving bread for the table,

Happy baking Ian and Lucy wants to tell Max to watch the hydration next time even though she never warns me about it when I get it too wet : -) 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks DA.  I was thinking about Thanksgiving when I made this so now I know how to perfect it for next month when we head to NC for our annual pilgrimage with Max in tow.  Max was asleep at the wheel when I made this so I will make sure to wake him up next time!

Regards

Ian

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

Wow, that's a nice crumb... Looks very tender and moist, and it really shows through your photos. Great job!

I'll have to do a potato bread sometime soon. How soon, I don't know, but I think I'd amaze people around here with such a loaf. They would never to think to add potatoes into their breads.

Happy baking,

Zita

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

roasted pumpkin or roasted sweet potato, prunes (your new ingredient addition) and pecans would be a fantastic combination and blow the socks off your friends feet Zita  ....if it ever got cold enough in Cambodia to wear socks :-) I'm going to make a pie out of them for Thanksgiving or maybe not since my wife makes the pie! 

bakingbadly's picture
bakingbadly

Dang, that would be nice! Roasted pumpkin, prunes, and pecans... Unfortunately, I haven't encountered any of these ingredients yet. Of course, that won't stop be from continuing my search.

Happy baking,

Zita

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thank you Zita for your kind words.  I hope you get a chance to try some potatoes in your bread.  Sweet Potatoes have a huge moisture content but regular white potatoes I don't find to have much water content.  I'm sure your friends will enjoy whatever you come up with.

Regards,
Ian

golgi70's picture
golgi70

The crumb looks great and I can't imagine those flavors didn't come together well.  Did you roast the sweet potatoes?  When use the root veggies I like to roast to increase flavor and remove moisture.  Nothing wrong with tasty mistake in hydration. 

Happy baking

Josh

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Josh.

I did roast the potatoes on my charcoal grill which really does bring out the extra sweetness.

Regards,

Ian

Casey_Powers's picture
Casey_Powers

the bread sounds delightful.  The flavor of maple, pecan, and pumpkin remind me of Fall.  I really like the colors of these loaves.  

Warm Regards, 

Casey

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Appreciate your kind words Casey.  Glad you enjoyed the post.

Happy Baking.

Regards,
Ian

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Wow, sounds wonderful, Ian.  Would you mind if I featured it for a bit?  It seems perfect for the season.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Floyd.  That would be awesome.

Darwin's picture
Darwin

Looks/sounds tasty to me, it's that time of year! 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Darwin

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Hi Ian,

I have been doing apple, oat and cranberry bakes these last few days but did do Karin's Pumpkin Whey with sweet potatoes too.  I like your idea of pecans so next time the recipe comes to the top of my stack - sometime at the end of their week or next I think - I will use pecans in place of the pumpkin seeds.  I added maple syrup to my loaves too but people said they couldn't taste it so maybe I have to use more….pricey loaf with the pecans and maple syrup but sounds like a fun one to do.  This time of year inspires so many different flavor/ingredient combinations.  Hard to fit them all in.

A question - why the vinegar and what did it add to the flavor of the loaf?

Take Care,

Janet

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Janet for your comments.

I used the vinegar to try and give the bread an extra kick of Maple flavor.  I'm not sure it really made much of a difference but I know it didn't hurt it.  I think it just melded together with the other ingredients and was part of a tasty final product. 

The maple syrup will usually masked out if you use too many whole grains but does give a nice sweetness to the bread to combat the sourdough tang.  I'm eating some of this bread toasted with cream cheese now and I do have to say it is more sour a few days later but in a good way.

Thanks again for checking in and I'm glad I could give you an idea for your next bake.

Regards,
Ian

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Maple syrup, Pecans, and sweet potato... what could be more north american?! this bread would be expensive to make here in Dubai :)

It should have excellent flavor i'm sure, Ian. Now, what would you have it with? i'd say plain butter and a cup of warm milk for breakfast.

-Khalid

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Khalid.  This one was a tasty one and you're right not exactly a cheap bread to bake but worth it.

I was eating it for breakfast with some butter or cream cheese and it was just perfect.

Regards,
Ian