Apple-Walnut WW Levain
Just for a change of pace I thought that I'd try a riff on the Raisin-Pecan WW Levain that I've been baking, which are based on Ken's Artisan Bakery's gems. A voyage not too far offshore to visit an Apple-Walnut WW Levain version.
Pretty much a straight exchange of fruit and nut for other fruit and nut. Taking a suggestion that I'm sure I've seen on TFL, I started out with dried apple rings, and soaked them in apple cider for a day. The idea being to attempt to introduce a stronger apple flavor than what I might otherwise get from just using fresh apple.
These seemed to have a particularly robust oven spring, although the shaping and scoring adhered to my standard method. The left of the two batards had a double score down its spine, but the oven spring would have none of that, and burst the division between scores right open. The grigne on the right batard, in the last picture, is so wide that it completely burst apart where the end of the score usually has the two sides of the bloom meet. Okay, I'll accept its apology!
Gave away the baguette to an (un)suspecting compatriot with the caveat that neither man nor beast had yet ever tasted these, and reminded him to ensure that his health care policy for the family was paid up ;-) . I'll get a report back tomorrow. If he still looks healthy and with no sallow complexion, I'll try the batard myself!
Okay, so my friend didn't come down with the whooping cough or the heebie jeebies or any other illness from the bread. But I snuck in a few bites last night before it was determined that he was still ambulatory! And then I had some toast this morning too.
Anyway, I was surprised at the distinct lack of apple taste in the bread. Much more lost in the flavor panel than the golden raisins, which the apple replaced. The raisins gave a distinctively sharp burst of flavor completely unmatched by the apple. As far as the walnuts, they have a dry mouth feel in general, and carried over to the bread as well. I didn't glean much value to replacing the pecans with them either. I may give this another go, but if/when I do, I think that I'll sub out some of the water in the hydration for apple cider. If that doesn't give the batard a kick start, I'll chalk it up to just another adventure here on the Isle of TFL.
The crumb shot below. Considering the amount of oven spring, the batard exhibits a surprisingly denser crumb than I would have anticipated. Not a complaint, just an observation.
alan
Comments
They look great and has that signature look of your breads. Love that bold bake and that serious oven spring!
With some good fortune (and a lot of practice) I get a pretty fair oven spring most of the time.
alan
or there are no bread gods:-) Can't wait to see the crumb. Well done as usual
As my text above indicates, these were surprisingly flat tasting. Still okay, but did pale in comparison the the raisin pecan version. Go figure!
alan
Beautiful bold bake. Beautiful blistering on the crust. Beautiful crumb. Beauty all around.
Man, they look delicious!
Cheers!
Dave
I only found out very recently that the blistering is closely tied to the long cold fermentations, less so for countertop rise and proofing. Learn something new just about every day...
alan
is one of my tricks to get some flavor in the apples that will carry over. The problem with apples is that they are still so mild even when doing this.... can't match raisins or snockerd dried fruits in bread. I do like the purple color walnuts give to bread especially if ground into a paste with walnut oil. Matches cranberries perfectly.
Now I've got to get my left over cider on the stove to make syrup!
Nice looking loaves. Too bad about the flavor. If cider doesn't do the trick you might try THIS. I use it in my breads that call for cider and have been very pleased with the results. It also goes great in oatmeal too - or so my children tell me.
Good Luck.
Janet
Thank you, Janet. I have a 1/2 gallon of apple cider on the stovetop right now. The instructions say that it should boil down to about 1/3 in 5 or so hours.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/10/boiled-cider-syrup.html
alan
And you house will smell wonderful while it is simmering away. Think I will have to give that a try too. Save a lot of money and postage. This is the time of year to get good local apple cider and I do have plenty of empty juice jars and the time to watch a pot boil.
Thanks for the link.
Janet