The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Natural help (photos in links)

notre panem's picture
notre panem

Natural help (photos in links)

These beautifully aromatic loaves were baked with the intention of incorporating flax seeds into my daily diet. This, in hopes of regulating my menses with "seed support cycling"; incorporating flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds into my diet eating the corresponding seed to my cycle progression, should iron out some issues that I've been having. Seeds were once a natural constant part of the female diet and in pursuit of correcting dietary errors that I have adopted with my Americanization (first-generation American here) I will be making these special loves and posting them here. Memories of my foreign born Nana are full of her eating bag after bag of different seeds and she never had the menses problems that I have. I have cut back tremendously on my processed food intake and hope to get back on a more natural path. Bread making has been a way for me to make sure that I get whole grains and cut back on artificial sugars as I feed my yeast with raw honey. Living in NY gives me great access to fresh bread but alas any bread baked with old world decency is deem artisan and more than double the price to make it at home once you know what you're doing. 

About the loaves: These loaves are a multigrain consisting of 

Italian Einkorn (jovial)

Caputo "Tipo 1 soft wheat flour"

Ipek- Turkish flour

Flax meal- 20%

In my research I heard interesting ideas about einkorn and decided to start with a lengthy autolyse incorporating all of the einkorn and the soft whole wheat I planned on using with lots of water and added all other ingredients later on with the levain. I made sure to add heaps of malt powder to ensure that my young starter would be brought to its full potential which I think helped keep the crust and even dark brown and bring the proofing to its full height. This is a very high-hydration dough which I sought considering the fact that it would be dense. This factor keeps the crumb moist and even, which I'm sure was supported by the oil in the flax meal. The bitterness of the einkorn pairs well with the sweetness of the southern Italian soft whole wheat and the nutty character of the flax meal. I added 8g of salt which isn't as overwhelming as it would be had this been a white flour loaf. Overall I adore this batch and hope that I can consistently craft these as my daily breads.