The Fresh Loaf

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What To Do With Old Bread? Nice-Twice Sunflower Seed Bread

hanseata's picture
hanseata

What To Do With Old Bread? Nice-Twice Sunflower Seed Bread

The looming deadline of a blog event, hosted by my blogging buddy Anna Antonia, gave me the much needed kick in the  energy to overcome my dog days' laziness and write a new post.

What to do with stale bread? For me a no-brainer: baguette or brioche leftovers usually end up as bread pudding. But for sourdough or other hearty breads there's only one option: grind, toast, and re-bake!

My favorite baker in Hamburg, Jochen Gaues, recycles old bread in many of his baked goods (like Sunflower Seed Rolls.)

Unfortunately, his (visually gorgeous) baking book "Brot” is so sloppily edited that only experienced bakers are able to figure out how to work with sparse instructions and missing ingredients.

One of his breads was the inspiration for my Nice-Twice Sunflower Seed Bread.

Old Bread

My crumb collection of many different kinds of old bread

What makes a dough with a larger amount of old bread (here more than 13%) so special? Not two loaves are the same, because leftovers of several different (and differently seasoned) breads go into my crumb collection.

Freshly ground coarse rye meal

With the Mockmill I just brought home from the Kneading Conference, I'm finally able to achieve finer and coarser grinds - something my old Nutrimill couldn't do. (No, I don't get any goodies from them!)

I was very curious how my improvised sunflower seed bread would turn out. We were absolutely delighted! It had an excellent taste - slightly sweetish and hearty, with a thin, crispy crust. One bite - and it was admitted to my "Bread Hall of Fame".

Nice-Twice Sunflower Seed Bread

My new favorite loaf: NIce-Twice Sunflower Seed Bread

The recipe you can find on my (recently relocated) blog "Brot & Bread".

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

this needs?  Amazing what toadies will do to a bread!  It sure sounds great and if it hits your Hall of Fame right off the bat then it has to be really good.  Nice to see your post Karin and happy baking.

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Yes, it really is quite remarkable.

As you know, I almost always use long fermentation. But here the old bread soaker and the starter are enough to do the trick, even though the starter contributes more to the flavor than serving as leavening agent.

Give Lucy a hug,

Karin