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This bread was inspired by a nmygarden comment (Thanks Cathy for your comment!!!!) to my Elderberry and Hokkaido squash bread.

I wanted to be a little bit more innovative with this bread. I knew I need to make a black dough which was kind of a mental reservation for me, but then I accepted this idea and got 20 g of black color made from charcoal.

This bread is really a little bit unusual. I used sourdough colored with charcoal to simulate obscuration and Hokkaido squash to simulate the sun's corona.

The dough during the bake expanded much more than anticipated due to intensive fermentation in the bottom part which was warming up slowly due to the squash collar. I created an opening in the bottom of squash to get more even heat transfer and also to get another "solar eclipse" from the bottom side of the loaf.

I think I don't need to explain more as pictures are self explanatory.

First two movies:

This month Mini Oven challenged us fellow Fresh Loafers to create a special bread to commemorate the upcoming total eclipse of the sun. Spurred by astronomic ambitions I began to ponder how to go about this.

Just a new bread? Where was the connection to the total eclipse?

A two-toned dough? Once I baked a marbled rye bread and found its taste rather underwhelming.

Squid ink as a black dye? Not my cup of tea!

I haven't made a rye bread in a while and I wanted to a nice moist one that would be good for sandwiches.  The addition of the ricotta cheese and mashed potatoes made for a super moist crumb and the corn flour added a very interesting flavor profile.

I was very happy with the flavor on this one and love the moist crumb.  The onions always go well with rye of course.

sigh.  Over proofed my bread again.

I keep getting into trouble with the long retard AFTER shaping.   It did not appear to have risen that much over night, so I let it sit out for 2 hours, then I reheated the oven for 45 minutes, and then I baked the bread.  Next time, I will cut the counter top bit down to 1 hour and will preheat the oven at the same time.  sigh

The good news is that the bread is lovely.  Nice open crumb. Lovely earthy flavor.

I did a 3 or 4 stage build:

Well, you know me - I can't resist a challenge! And thanks so much to @Mini Oven for issuing this one. I had more fun with this than I've had in a long time. :)

Here in Victoria (BC, Canada) we're not quite on the path of totality for the eclipse but will have the best view in Canada (about 90% totality). That's assuming clear skies, of course.

I did not use the quick recipe so highly recommended on this site.  I bake in the mornings - have to share an oven - and I needed a recipe/method that work work for me.

I found one that had nearly identical ingredients and proportions, but that involved an over night biga.  This was the first bread recipe that I wasn't convinced would demolish my mixer or kitchen.

I need to work on my dough handling to get a more open crumb, but taken as a whole, I count this as a successful experiment.

Below is the crumb shot.  I am working on my own flour blend.  Fortunately, my sister is with me at the cottage, and she has a sensitive palette.  And she loves bread.

This is a mixture of bread flour, whole wheat flour, sprouted buckwheat flour, and whole dark rye flour at 72% hydration. I made an error with the percentages of the different flours because I'm challenged with math, so I aways work with 1000 grams of my base flour (white bread flour), I can duplicate.

It tasted wonderful.