Little bakes with some sourdough discard this week

Usually my sourdough discard ends up in Dutch baby pancakes or flat breads but this week I used the discard (just over 200g) in a Garlic Herb & Cheese Pull-apart loaf and remade my orange cake with dark chocolate.

There is a little egg wash in this recipe but I prepared it with the egg meant for the recipe so that I won’t have to use an extra egg: Whisk the egg with 2 tbsp milk. Then, remove 2 tbsp of this mix into a container, cover and set aside (in the fridge). The rest of the egg mix is then used in the recipe.

The dough is prepared like most yeasted loaf, with a first proof of 60 to 90 minutes. The assembly of the loaf is tedious but the end result is definitely worth it: no need to slice or butter the bread!

There are several ways to assemble the loaf – roll the dough out, use a round cookie press, or cut into many smaller pieces. I divided the dough to 12 equal pieces, then flatten each to a small oval. The reserved egg wash was then brushed* on each flatten piece of dough followed by spreading half the dough with filling. Each piece is then folded in half and placed up right in the greased pan.

After a 30-45 minute 2nd proof, the loaf is baked for 30 minutes at 180°C.

Cool for about 10 minutes before turning the loaf out to cool a lil bit more.

*I've made a similar loaf without the egg wash and even though that loaf was fully cooked, certain parts were soggy from the butter.

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For the orange cake, I changed the recipe a lil bit due to the extra flour and liquid. It's also baked in a 6" round pan.



The preparation steps are the same as before (just a spatula no mixer required). The discard is mixed into the orange-milk, then mixed into the egg mix with the dry ingredients.

To make the chocolate batter: Melt dark chocolate with cocoa powder and espresso powder in the microwave – 30 seconds on medium or over a Bain-marie. Stir continuously to cool about 1 minute.

Add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the orange batter into the melted chocolate. Mix until smooth.

To make marbled version: simply spoon dollops of orange and chocolate batter into the pan. Then, swirl a knife or a skewer in any pattern - just 1-3 times. Any more swirls and the batters will combine into a chocolate version.

To make a zebra version: Spoon or pipe a dollop of orange batter to the center of the pan. Follow with a smaller amount of chocolate batter in the center of the orange batter. Continue doing this until all the batter is in the pan.

Tap the pan lightly on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles.

Bake at 180°C for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.



I like how this version is taller than the original one. The zebra effect isn’t symmetrical since I spooned uneven amounts each time. It’s still a tasty treat, despite looking like a cross between a zebra and a marbled cake. The dark chocolate and espresso blend really well with the orange flavors here.