Sourdough Fig-Walnut Bread, a new and improved version
I have made sourdough breads with tart dried fruit and toasted nuts for many years. Recently, I have been less happy with the ones I have been making. I don't think the breads are any worse. I think my standards are higher. So, this week I tried adding figs and walnuts to my current favorite sourdough just to see how it worked. Well, it is a winner. It's my new favorite fruit/nut sourdough. It is lighter with a better aerated, moister, more tender crumb than others I have made, and the flavor is as good if not better than my previous best. The crust is nice and crunchy. Here are the formula and methods I used:
Walnut-Fig Mixed Grain Sourdough Bread
(based on Ken Forkish's “Field Blend #2” from Flour Water Salt Yeast)
David M. Snyder
April, 2017
Total Dough |
|
|
Ingredient | Wt (g) | Bakers' % |
AP flour | 350 | 70 |
Whole wheat flour | 62 | 12.5 |
Whole rye flour | 88 | 17.5 |
Water | 390 | 78 |
Salt | 10 | 2.1 |
Walnut pieces (toasted) | 100 | 20 |
Dried figs (coarsely diced) | 100 | 20 |
Total | 1100 | 220.1 |
Levain |
|
|
Ingredient | Wt (g) | Bakers' % |
AP flour | 72 | 75 |
Whole wheat flour | 18 | 25 |
Water (85-90ºF) | 72 | 75 |
Active starter | 18 | 25 |
Total | 180 | 200 |
In a medium bowl, dissolve the active starter in the water.
Add the flours and mix thoroughly.
Transfer to a clean bowl and cover tightly.
Ferment at 70-76ºF for 8-12 hours. It should have doubled in volume, have many bubbles on the surface and have a wrinkled surface. It should not have collapsed.
If you are not ready to use the levain when it is ripe, it can be refrigerated for up to a couple days.
Final Dough |
|
Ingredient | Wt (g) |
AP flour | 270 |
Whole wheat flour | 42 |
Whole rye flour | 88 |
Water (85-90ºF) | 310 |
Salt | 10 |
Walnut pieces (toasted) | 100 |
Dried figs (coarsely diced) | 100 |
Levain | 180 |
Total | 1100 |
Procedure
Toast the walnut pieces at 300ºF for 9 minutes. Cool completely.
Cut the figs (Calmyrna, preferred) into pieces about marble-sized. Place in a sieve and rinse under running water. Place the sieve with the figs over a bowl to drain.
In a large bowl, mix the flours and the water to a shaggy mass. Cover the bowl and let it rest (autolyse) for 20-60 minutes.
Sprinkle the salt over the dough, then add the ripe levain in 4-6 portions.
Using a spatula or your hands, mix the dough to evenly distribute the salt and levain. Note: My preferred method is by hand. I wear a food-grade “rubber” glove, dip the fingers in water frequently and use the French technique of squeezing the dough between my fingers many times, alternating with stretching and folding the dough.
When you feel the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled clean container and cover it.
Bulk ferment for 50 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a floured board. Stretch is to a rectangle about 12 X 18”. Distribute the figs and walnuts evenly over the surface of the stretched out dough. Fold the dough. Repeat the stretching and folding a few times to distribute the figs and nuts evenly. Return the dough to the bowl and cover.
Bulk ferment for another 50 minutes. Do another stretch and fold and return the dough to the bowl.
Bulk ferment for another 50-90 minutes. The dough should be well aerated.
Transfer the dough to the board and pre-shape as a ball. Cover with a cloth and let the dough relax for 10-30 minutes.
Transfer the loaf to a well-floured banneton or brotform. Note: flouring the banneton/brotformen with a 50/50 mix of AP and Rice flour works best to prevent the dough from sticking to the proofing basket. Place the loaf in the basket in a food-grade plastic bag or cover well otherwise. Let the dough relax and start proofing at room temperature for a half hour or so.
Refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
Take the loaf out of the fridge but leave covered.
With a baking stone on the oven's middle rack and your steaming apparatus of choice in place, pre-heat the oven to 500ºF for 45-60 minutes.
Allow the loaf to proof for up to 90 minutes. It can be baked right out of the fridge I am told. (I never have done that.)
Uncover the loaf and sprinkle it with semolina or cornmeal.
Transfer the loaf to a peel and score as desired.
Turn down the oven temperature to 460ºF. Steam your oven and transfer the loaf to the baking stone. Note: My method of oven steaming uses a 9” cast iron skillet filled with the kind of lava rocks used with gas grills. This is pre-heated along with my baking stone. The skillet sits off to the side on an oven rack below the one that holds the baking stone. To generate steam, I fill a perforated pie tin with a single layer of ice cubes. This is rested on top of the lava rocks just before I load the loaves onto the pizza stone.
After 15 minutes, remove the steam apparatus.
If you have a convection oven, switch to convection-bake at 435ºF. Otherwise, leave the oven at 460ºF conventional bake. Bake for another 30-35 minutes. Check the loaf after 30 minutes. If it is not fully baked but is getting too dark, turn down the oven temperature by 10ºF or so and bake until fully baked.
The loaf is fully baked when the crust is darkly colored, tapping the bottom of the loaf gives a hollow sound and the internal loaf temperature is 205ºF or higher.
Remove the loaf to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.
Enjoy!
David