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Okay, so every time I go down to my basement I keep passing the bottle of Peppermint Mocha Kahlua staring at me from its perch on our bar.  It's red and white bottle was just yelling at me to try it in a bread or down some with ice, so I decided to do both.

I rediscovered some interesting nut flours that I had in my refrigerator and decided to mix  the toasted almond and hazelnut flours with some fresh milled rye flour.  I really like the effect a soaker/scald has on a multi-grain bread so I mixed up some cracked wheat, red quinoa and bulgur wheat with some hot water.  It is interesting how these ingredients sucked up every last bit of water as when I added them to the dough there was not a dry eye in the house or the bowl.  The official way of calculating the hydration of a dough is to not include the water sucked up by the soaker, but I warn you this bread is a wet one especially due to the soaker.

I also deviated from my normal starter and used a 100% AP starter instead of my normal 65% starter.  I also used a much smaller amount of starter mainly due to that I didn't have any more left to use.  I used 222 grams of this starter versus the usual 425 grams of my dryer starter.

I have to say the end result of this bake was very satisfying.  If you don't like moist bread, then this one is not for you as the final dough was probably the most  moist  I have made to date.  The crumb melts in your mouth and you can really taste the nut flours but not really the Kahula.  I thing the Kahlua definitely contributed to the moist crumb for sure.

And now for the directions if you are so inclined:

Soaker

100 grams Cracked Wheat

100 grams Red Quinoa

60 grams Bulgar Wheat

250 grams Hot Water

Mix water in a bowl with other ingredients and let sit covered at room temperature for 1 hours or overnight.

Main Dough

Ingredients

222 grams Starter at 100% Hydration

200 grams Bread Flour (KAF)

65 grams Toasted Almond Flour (KAF)

65 grams Roasted Hazelnut Flour (KAF)

269 grams Freshly Ground  Rye Flour

256 grams Peppermint Mocha Kahlua at room temperature

100 grams Water at room temperature

14 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

Procedure

I mixed  the flours and starter together with all the liquids  except for 50 grams of Kahlua and let them autolyes for 20 minutes.    I then added the soaker and the rest of the Kahlua with the salt and mixed on speed #1 for 3 minute and #2 for 2 minutes.  I then did a stretch and fold, rested the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  Since this dough is very wet I put it in an oiled bowl and did another stretch and fold, covered the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  I did one more stretch and fold and let it rest out for another 2 hours after which I put it in the refrigerator until the next day.

The next day I let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours I formed it into a miche boule and put it in a floured banneton which has a cloth insert and let it rise covered for 2 hours.  Make sure to either use a cloth insert or use a loaf pan as this dough is very, very moist.

After 2 hours or when the dough passes the poke test, score the loaf as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

I warm my oven to 500 F. and once I put the loaf in the oven I add 1 cup of boiling water in a heavy-duty pan on the bottom shelf of my oven and lower the temperature to 450 degrees F.

Bake the loaf for around 40-50  minutes until the crust is nice and  golden brown and reaches an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

Hi

Here goes my first attempt at posting a recipe.  Alas I forgot to take any photos of this bread which is not altogether very helpful.  The recipe is also pretty rough and ready but this is a hard bread to get wrong.

For those that aren't familiar with Stottie bread it is a flat bread that originates from the north east of England.  It takes it's name (I assume) from being 'stotted'  (bounced) off the floor of the oven.

Ingredients:

250g ripe starter (@ approx 80%)

200g potato flakes

650g bread flour

16 grams salt

Water ?  I'm sorry I can't be specific I never weigh it.

Method:

Mix potato flakes with paddle attachment and enough cold water to re-hydrate into creamy consistency.

Switch to dough hook and add starter and another cup of water.  Mix to incorporate.  Add flour and salt and mix for a further 2-3 mins at 1st speed.  Then mix for 4-5 mins on 2nd speed until a soft but silky dough is achieved.  Add extra water as required.

Tip dough into an oiled container and retard overnight.

The mix you have the following day will have 'pudged' significantly into an unholy box of gloop.  Allow to return to ambient temperature before spooning ladle fulls of approx 450 g onto a well floured board.  Quickly, using a dough scraper, work the dough into a rough circle before flipping over onto a floured peel.  Speed is of the essence!  Place the dough directly onto the oven floor, pre-heated stone or up turned tray.  Spray the oven and wait approx 8 mins before flipping over.  Cook for a further 8 mins or so until both sides have a gentle brown colour.

I tend to cook these at the end of a bake with the oven temp at around 400 degrees fahrenheit.

Real mashed potatoes can obviously be used but for convenience I use flakes which contain only potato, salt and cream powder.

People tell me they taste great when split, toasted and topped with soft poached eggs.  I personally have never eaten them as I am allergic to milk!  Once things settle down at the bakery and I stop flying by the seat of my pants I will make some with real potatoes, omit the cream, and give them a go.

Sorry for the lack of specifics.

Below are a couple of pics I took this weekend.

Andy- thanks for the pointer re- wood sourcing.  It has been decided though to make a concerted effort at cutting and using the willow that grows on the site.  This may be easier said than done as it has not been touched since being planted 15 years ago!

Thanks to all for the kind comments.

Robert

The oven was fired for 10 hours which turned out to be too much.  Most of the bread over proved while I was trying to cool the oven down fromm 800 degrees ft.

Inside the cavern!  I had to give up cooking directly on the oven floor as it is too hard to get all the loaves out from the back- it is 11 feet to the back wall.

1st attempt at croissants and apple/raisin pastries.

PS:

Today was a particularly satisfying day as I handed my notice in at work.  No more wages so this bakery had better work!

After reading about how much better freshly ground flour is compared to store-bought I finally decided to wiggle a couple of toes in the water and try grinding some of my own.  I used my Krupps coffee grinder to make some Farro flour and also some Hard Red Wheat from grains I had purchased at Whole Foods previously.

To make it interesting I used a portion of my standard AP starter along with a much larger portion of a Farro starter I prepared.

I didn't have enough whole grains to grind all my own flour so I used King Arthur flour for the rest of the ingredients.

I also made a soaker using some cracked wheat.

I have to say I made a mistake by thinking the extra liquid from the soaker would increase the hydration of the dough which only comes in at 57%.  Since the freshly milled flour also sucks up more water than store-bought the final dough ended up much drier than I would have liked and the crumb was denser than my usual multi-grain bakes.  Next time I will increase the liquid amount probably another 15-20%.

I think I shall have to invest in an attachment for my wife's Kitchen Aid to mill my own flour which should be much easier to do larger batches than the Krupps.

In any case the final bread while not being one of my favorites still tasted very earthy with a nice sour flavor and nutty undertones from the Farro and Wheat Germ.

Farro Starter

184 grams Farro Flour ground from fresh kernels

71 grams AP Starter

117 grams Water at Room Temperature (80-90 degrees F.)

Mix ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 10 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed.  You can either mix in final dough or put in refrigerator for at most 1 day before using.  If your kitchen is warmer than mine which is usually about 70-72 degrees with my air-conditioning you can proceed sooner.

Soaker

90 grams Cracked Wheat

280 grams Boiling Water

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and cover.  Let rest for 30 minutes or longer until ready to use.

Drain the liquid before mixing in the final dough.

Main Dough Ingredients

75 grams Refreshed AP Starter (65% hydration)

351 grams Farro Starter from above (should be all of it)

90 grams Cracked Wheat Soaker from above

75 grams Quinoa Flour

70 grams Wheat Germ

40 grams Potato Flour

200 grams French Style Flour (You can substitute AP flour)

195 grams Freshly Ground Hard Red Wheat Flour

100 grams Pumpernickel Flour (Dark Rye or Course Rye Flour)

50 grams Molasses

16 grams Sea Salt or Table Salt

430 grams Hard Cider

Procedure

Mix the flours with the Hard Cider and molasses in your mixer or by hand for 1 minute.  Next cut the starters into small pieces and put in bowl and mix for 1 minute to incorporate all the ingredients.  Let the dough autolyse for 20 minutes to an hour in your bowl and make sure to cover it.  Next add in the salt, and the soaker and mix on speed #1 for 3 minutes or by hand and on speed #2 for 2 minutes.  The dough should have come together in a ball and be tacky but not too sticky.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface.  Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  After the rest do another stretch and fold and cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours.  After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking.  Feel free to do some additional S & F's if you feel it is necessary.  I baked the bread about 24 hours later.

The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 1.5 - 2  hours.  Next, form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours or until they pass the poke test.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 30 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees.  Since these loaves were a little lower in hydration and were not cooking as quickly as normal, I lowered the temperature to 430 degrees.  The total baking time was around 45 minutes.  When both loaves are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. you can remove them from the oven.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an 6 hours or so before eating as desired.

The crust the next day was very hard and the crumb like I said before was much denser than I would have hoped but this bread still makes some nice pastrami or corned beef sandwiches for sure along with a nice sour pickle.  Now I have to go get some to eat for lunch!

I gave up on this bread completely not so long ago. The dough always started out OK, but by the end of the bulk ferment it would be extremely slack and sticky, and by the time it went into the oven it was essentially a puddle. 

After several attempts it became clear that it was simply not going to work so I trashed the paper copy and deleted the spreadsheet and that was that.  Two days later I happen across this Farine blog post and learn that teff flour will do awful things to bread dough (of this fact I have become keenly aware) unless it is cooked a bit first.  So simple!  I would not have thought to try that in a million years.  (I had forgotten about theTFL thread on this subject I had read.  During this whole process my computer was having some kind of disagreement with the TFL site and wouldn't let me look for help here.  It's better now:) ) 

So I gave it another go and, hey, it's a loaf of bread this time!  Still not the strongest dough, it is manageable at least. 

Now that I have a starting point it's time to start tinkering and asking questions.  First off, I wonder if adding the flax meal to the scald is helping, hurting or having no effect?  I will likely leave it out next time.  I think I forgot to add the salt to the scald, so that's another change to try next time.

 The hydration felt pretty good, I don't think I  would go any higher.

The mixing... the dough was pretty slack by the time I shaped, so I can't decide if I want to try being gentler next time or try to develop more strength.

Fermentation time was, I think, at about it's maximum.  I imagine the overnight scald helped speed things up - another reason I'm thinking about leaving the flax out of the scald next time.

So many questions, can you tell I think this bread could be better?  Still, it's pretty good.  There's an extra sweetness and nuttiness in this bread that works for me.  Definitely one worth tinkering with.

Marcus