The Fresh Loaf

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Tartine Basic Country with added whole wheat and Sesame Seeds

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Tartine Basic Country with added whole wheat and Sesame Seeds

I decided to make the "Sesame" bread from Tartine Bread, which is basically the basic country loaf formula with a cup of toasted sesame seeds added after the first turn.

For this formulation, I used 300 grams of home ground white whole wheat instead of the 200 grams of whole wheat flour.

I took the old starter out of the fridge on Thursday night, fed it, then fed it again in the morning and it was nice and lively Friday evening when I created the levain using 200 grams white whole wheat and 200 grams all purpose flour.  By the next morning the levain was much expanded and looking very much alive.  (I made two whole wheat loaves and two sesame loaves with my levain).

The dough for the sesame loaves were mixed Saturday morning and baked Saturday evening. The bread is absolutely delicious. The crumb is very soft despite being loaded with sesame seeds.  I assume this is because the seeds are soaking in the dough for over four hours before baking.

Here is a close-up on the crumb:

Closeup crumb

And the boule's which had great oven spring:

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Beautifully and boldky baked - has to taste great.  Well done and happy baking 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

It tastes great.  And, I love the smell of toasted sesame seeds, so every time I turned the dough, I took a deep whiff of the toasted sesame seeds and anticipated a tasty loaf.

Just finished a peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch and it was very satisfying. I froze the whole wheat loaf I baked (gave away the second) so it will be a while before I get to experience that one. Though, I have to say, I am not a big fan of freezing my bread. Still, better to have a loaf in the freezer than to be forced into buying a loaf at the store. :)

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Those seeds are dark enough that I at first thought they were flaxseed.  There must be lots of toasty goodness in the flavor.

Paul

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

But surprisingly not as strong a sesame flavor as when the sesame seeds are added to the outside of the loaf prior to baking.  I suppose they bake a lot more on the outside than they do on the inside (even after 20 minutes of baking on a cookie sheet before being added to the dough), bringing out more flavor in the seeds.

I cut into the second loaf today and found a "dark spot" where a dense population of seeds was residing.  Fortunately, it still sliced up nicely and made a great sandwich.  Mixing in the seeds by hand was bound to cause some uneven distribution.

Mebake's picture
Mebake

It looks great, David. Beautiful crust, and oven spring.

Khalid

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Thanks for the kind words, Khalid. I have to say that going back to basics and having the leaven be ready before baking, really makes  a big difference.  Too often, I bake when the leaven is leaden and that is no way to get to bread heaven.

taurus430's picture
taurus430

I just finished forming my first Tartine Country White. It's in the fridge for the final proof. I will bake it in the morning. I don't have the book, it's on order. Are all the loaves done using the same method, the 4hr bulk ferment and all the stretch and folds? It's very time consuming. I saw a video where they skipped the step of creating a levain and just use the starter direct after a feeding, making 1/2 the recipe.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

I haven't baked through the book but the variants on the country loaf (as opposed to the baguettes) use the same methodology.

Ken Forkish's Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast  has what I think to be a somewhat better work flow,  I'd be curious to see how the loaf turns out when you use the levain right after feeding.