January 11, 2017 - 7:39pm
Cranberry Apple Sourdough with Pecans and Flax
I am at a pottery workshop all weekend so I baked ahead. I have a friend who put my bread on her bucket list and when I asked her what kind of bread she wanted, she said cranberries. So I thought I would tweak my previous Apple Cranberry recipe. Unfortunately, I don't think that this was an improvement. The crumb looks very tight. Maybe I put in too many add-ins as the dough did not seem to incorporate the ingredients. It was more of a case of add-ins with some dough in between the ingredients. Even so, she said it was the best bread she had tasted in a long time so at least the flavour is there. The other 3 loaves will definitely be a stick to your ribs kind at the soup kitchen.
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You're so brave with adding fruit to your loaves. I remember you made a pear and something loaf too.
Must have been tasty!
Well done Danni :)
Happy baking
was right in thinking it was one of the best breads she has tasted. This is always the most important yardstick we need to use for our bread making. You can't eat the atmosphere in restaurants and you can't eat the holes in bread and get any flavor out of them at all:-)
This is the kind if bread that makes my day! Well done and happy baking Danni
Mmmm, that looks so moist and flavourful! I love cranberries in bread too, and make a Buckwheat Cranberry levain that is a crowd favorite. I'm wondering if the almost 200 grams of rye and buckwheat flour is what is making the crumb a bit closed? They're both a bit tricky to estimate for fermenting and proofing times, aren't they?
and that is why I had added some vital gluten in the mix. I did reduce it (30 to 20 g) from my last recipe and maybe that wasn't such a good idea.
Well, the taste is always what matters most.
Just curious about your formula. What is the total amount of water? Based on what I can see it is only 400 grams which would make your hydration only 41% not including your starter. Is that a typo or maybe I'm not reading something.
Based on the amount of whole grain flour you used I don't think you should have had an issue with the crumb unless it really was not hydrated enough. Personally I never use vital wheat gluten and I'm curious how this would turn out without it.
water. There was another 500 g, some of which was absorbed by the add-ins. I tend to go by feel so that is why I autolyse the flour with the add-ins, then when I add the salt and the levain, if the dough needs more water, I add it then. My notes from the last time I made something similar said to use less water as the add-ins released a lots of moisture to the flour as it fermented, so I tried to be more conservative this time round. The dough was still very wet and not easy to shape but it was better than the last time.
The holes in the dough make me wonder a bit about my fermentation and proofing. I let the dough double for bulk fermentation, but I feel that I might have rushed the cold retard a bit. Or maybe I just had too many add-ins once they were soaked and they just weighed the whole crumb down.
Sorry I missed that! I think was still half asleep when I read your post :). If anything, I would suggest you not let the dough double in your first proof. I actually never even bother to consider that aspect since I always retard the dough in the refrigerator overnight. My method is to either to let it bulk ferment at room temp about 70 - 72 degrees for 2 hours with 2-3 rounds of S & F depending on how the dough is feeling or if I use my proofer I set it at 79 degrees and do the same but only for 1 hour to 1.5 hours tops.
In any regards your bread tasted great so that's what matters in the end. The last bake I did which I will post this weekend also had a bit of a tight crumb but that's to be expected since I had around 70% whole grain flours and I tried a new proofing basket which caused me to man-handle the dough a bit (I will explain more in the post :)).
Happy Baking!
Ian
As long as it's tasty, it is a success. My mos recent bread did not come out right too but we devoured it immediately because of the taste. Maybe someday you can show us your pottery pieces too! :)
I had a few pieces come out of the kiln today that were bisqued (first firing) and I am super pleased with them. I just started doing pottery last July and I am having a blast.
Today I made a chip and dip platter that has cutouts that come from the outer bowl and wrap around the inner bowl. It was my first time working with 4-5 lbs of clay and I managed pretty well after the first oops where the rim got too thin at the base and it fell off. But since I had lots of clay, I just carried on and finished the platter.
The bisque pots. The first picture is a butter keeper, the second, what it looks like when opened. These still need to be glazed.
These are a few pots that I had for sale at our Christmas sale. A few sold, a few ended up being given as gifts.
I don't take any credit for the display. My daughter did it. She is much more creative than I am.
college I obed it but everything I made ended up being an ash tray! At leat you needed them back then:-) Very nice potting!
Wow! these are all amazing! What beautiful pieces. So are these all hand decorated and shaped or did you have some molds you used as well?
Thanks for sharing these beauties!
Uh no! These are all done by hand either on the wheel or rolled out by hand with a rolling pin. I never even considered that you could do pottery using molds.
The pottery studio where I go is awesome! They offer all the tools and equipment at a very low cost and there is a facilitator there at all times to help if you are having difficulties. Plus it is a great bunch of people, just like the folks on TFL!!
Thank you all for the encouraging comments. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.
So beautiful! You really have talent in pottery! When I was little, I also want to try pottery but I know it can't be done at home. Maybe you can earn a living someday making custom-made dinnerware especially those who like matching plates, cups and saucers (Which I want to have :D). The display made the pieces more attractive and beautiful.
Thank you for the compliments! A dinnerware set is a bit beyond my capabilities at the moment because I have yet to master consistency between pieces. I do have a hand made set from another potter and I love it!
As to earning a living, this is strictly a hobby just like bread baking otherwise, it becomes a job. Been there, done that, and now I am retired! :-D
No wonder your bread is so beautiful - you're an artist! Lovely pottery as well as bread. I love hand-made pieces (both!).
I hear you about hobby versus work. It's nice to bake whatever I want to bake, and not bake if I don't want to. Even if I do have customers they are accustomed to me taking time off for family and holidays now. It's nice to be retired, isn't it? :)
My strengths are organization and getting things done! I admire people who are creative but that's not me. I steal ideas from everyone and copy to the best of my ability. Being a A type personality, I keep at things until I succeed so it isn't creativity that drives me, it is stubbornness!
And yes, it is amazing to be retired! I loved it when I was working and I love it being retired! It is all good!
Yeah, I think I'm the same. It takes a while for me to be comfortable enough to break away from the recipes and try new things. That's why I loved quilting when I was working - the patterns are quite structured but you can choose the fabrics to express your creativity. :)
lovely pieces Danni!
thank you for sharing with us :)
Leslie