The Fresh Loaf

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Cherry Lapsang Souchong Sourdough

hungryscholar's picture
hungryscholar

Cherry Lapsang Souchong Sourdough

Cherry Lapsang Souchong Sourdough Closeup

Cherry Lapsang Sourdough tea Sourdough

 Lapsang Souchong iced tea with a splash of tart cherry juice is one of my favorite drinks. I think the smoky tea and the cherry play very nicely together. This bread is my first attempt at recreating that combination in bread form. I guess I'm on a bit of tea bread kick....

Cherry Lapsang Souchong Sourdough

225g Water

1 Tablespoon Lapsang Souchong

51g Stiff Levain

300g AP Flour

75 g Dried Tart Cherries

6 g Salt

 

I ground the tea in a mortar and pestle and then mixed it with warm water and the levain. I tried letting it "steep" for 5 minutes, but I don't think the water was hot enough. Next time I might use tea + cherry juice for the liquid, I'm not sure. Anyway, I added the rest of the ingredients and did stretch and folds every 30 minutes for the first two hours and let it bulk ferment for a total of 3 hours at 82 F. Then I shaped as a batard and let it rise for 2 hours at 82F in a towel lined paper basket that once held tomatoes. I've been meaning to get an oval banneton but haven't got a round toit yet.

I preheated the oven to 500 F and baked at 450 for 35 minutes with a stainless steel bowl covering the loaf for the first 20 minutes.

The cherries are just right and I get just a whisper of the smokiness which I think I'd want to boost with the next iteration, but overall I really like the flavor of this one.

Submitted to Susan's YeastSpotting

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

It sees difficult for me to get the taste of tea to come through in br ead.  You have to put a lot of tea in for that to happen it seems.

Very nice loaf inside and out regardless!

Happy Baking HS.   

hungryscholar's picture
hungryscholar

I got a lot stronger tea flavor from a tablespoon of matcha, because that stuff is intense, but I also really like the smoky Souchong. Liquid smoke in bread anyone?

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

he found somewhere.  I've wanted to try to smoke my own flour ever since I saw Ian's post but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

It's in my list to try very soon!

hungryscholar's picture
hungryscholar

I keep meaning to try smoking my own as well. I've been eyeing this recipe: http://akitchenblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/sourdough-boule-smoked-olive-oil-smoked-flour-w-jasmine-tea-leaves/

Isand66's picture
Isand66

It was from an English mill.  They don't ship to the US.  To do it yourself should not be hard.  I just have not gotten around to it.  Set your smoker to 200 degrees and let the flour smoke for a couple of hours.  That's hat I'm going to try soon.  Let me know if you try it first.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

you want to cold smoke flour at less than 130 F.  Any higher and you risk destroying the enzymes in the flour that beak down carbs and proteins into sugars that yeast and labs can eat.  Electric smokers are perfect for this kind of precise temperature control.  Great for cold smoked salmon too which is a lot better than smoked flour i'm guessing - if you like lox on your bagels.

Tea smoked flour would also be nice!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

You may be right.  I have to check the recipe I had found last year and see what it said.  I don't have an electric smoker so it is going to be hard to get to such a low temperature consistently.

evonlim's picture
evonlim

rustic looking loaf..  beautiful  inside and out

evon

hungryscholar's picture
hungryscholar

But it seems I'm always remembering to take a picture in the evening when the sun is gone and I'm left to let the bread bask in the glow of flourescents instead.

Tedmonkey's picture
Tedmonkey

As I make bread for a specialist tea shop, I think I should give it a go! I've got some good quality lapsang leaves, so perhaps will brew them up and use as liquid. All very interesting, thanks! Catherine

hungryscholar's picture
hungryscholar

Baking bread for a specialty tea shop- if that's not my ideal job, it's got to be close. I find it's hard to track down lapsang souchong at all- what I have I found in the bulk tea bins at a gigantic Wegmans grocery store. If you do try baking with your lapsang I'd love to hear how it turns out. So far my most successful tea experiments have been with matcha, but there are a lot of other interesting teas out there!

Tedmonkey's picture
Tedmonkey

They have so many teas. Plus they blend there own. It's a lovely little cafe.

varda's picture
varda

Must try it.  So you are upping the tea next time?  You have a lot of cherries in there.  I would think you'd need more tea to balance it out.   -Varda

hungryscholar's picture
hungryscholar

Seeing as you're local maybe I can just send some by catapult or carrier pigeon. But, yes, I need to try bread replacing the liquid with brewed tea. I found using brewed coffee instead of some kind of espresso powder or the like really makes a difference in getting coffee flavor to come through. I guess I figured that lapsang souchong is so darn strong that even a little might take over.

Tedmonkey's picture
Tedmonkey

They let me be as creative as I like. I make breakfast breads and then breads to serve with their soups and stews. Favourite so far have been parsnip and lemon thyme, pesto swirl and banana and walnut sourdough. They only need about four or five loaves a week, which is good as I work full time and have a pony, dog and am member of three orchestras!

hungryscholar's picture
hungryscholar

except that my wife would have to take care of the orchestras part- she's the classically trained musician in the house, I just bake the bread.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Wow!  How do you have time to breathe? 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I have tried making bread with cherry flavored tea and posted it earlier this year.  It came out good but I didn't taste the tea flavor.  I've used cherry juice before and that seemed to work better.