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Sourdough starter outside of bread making (bika ambon)

ruri anggiani's picture
ruri anggiani

Sourdough starter outside of bread making (bika ambon)

hi! I am currently making Bika Ambon, a traditional Indonesian cake which usually uses commercial yeast to achieve the beautiful strands shown in the picture. I wanted to make a sourdough version and after searching, one source said that 100 gr of sourdough is enough to substitute 5-7 gr of yeast. Now, the recipe for the bika ambon itself is as follow:

Normal recipe:

  • 200 ml coconut milk

  •  

  • Raising agent:

  • 25 gr all purpose flour

  • 1 tbsp sugar

  • 60 ml water

  • 4 g instant yeast

  •  

  • Main ingredients

  • 1 whole egg

  • 4 egg yolk

  • 50 g tapioca flour

  • 100 g sugar

method:

1. Mix all of the raising agent and let sit until the yeast is frothy and bubbly

2. bring the coconut milk to a boil 

3. mix the egg, yolk and sugar until thick, add in the tapioca flour

4. add in the yeast, fold in the coconut milk

5. cover for 2 hours or until double in size

6. bake in a 180 C oven for 45 minutes

Now for the sourdough version, i have substituted the raising agent for 80 gr of sourdough starter, and let it sit for almost 5 hours now, but there is no sign of it rising whatsoever. the only difference that i can notice is a slight yeasty smell and frothiness forming on top of my mixture. Note that it is a liquidy mixture and not a dough in any form. I know that maybe none of the readers have ever made Bika Ambon before but maybe by judging the ingredients, are there any factors that could inhibit fermentation from sourdough starter? Note that my sourdough starter is 1 month old, with a (1:1:1 sourdough:hard flour:water). Am i using too little of souirdough? is the presence of egg too much so that it inhibits the fermentation? Will this ever work using a sourdough?? any insights will be very much appreciated 

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DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

The image of your bread is absolutely gorgeous!

Are you saying that the total flour in the formula is 75 grams including 50 grams of tapioca flour? That is not making sense to me, but as I said, I know nothing about this bread.

The slices look a lot like slices of pineapple...

ruri anggiani's picture
ruri anggiani

Thank you, but this is more of a cake rather than a bread. And yes, the total flour in the formula is correct, 75 grams. The amount of liquid that is used is much more than the flour so that it can form a spongy texture (one of the key factors in making a succesful bika ambon).do you think sourdough is able to survive in this kind of formula?

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Ruri, since I have no experience with this type of cake, I am not qualified to help.

If you took the photograph, your photographic skills are excellent!

Sorry,

Danny

Smita Mogan's picture
Smita Mogan

Hi Ruri, I was very much piqued by making SD fermented Bika Ambon. 

It tastes similar to the bika ambon with yeast fermentation, only difference here was, there was no honeycomb structure. I assume this can be achieved with some other leaving agent, ie maybe a pinch of yeast of baking soda.