October 3, 2009 - 6:01am
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Hello from Spain!
Hello all, I've been a long time lurker here, and at last I decided to join this community.
I've been baking for 2 or 3 years with more or less success, but now I'm getting consistently good results.
I bake mostly sourdough, and my everyday loaf recipe is:
190 gr whole rye starter (100%)
450 gr high gluten flour
270 gr water (68%)
8 gr salt
1/2 tsp (3 gr, more or less) home made wheat diastatic malt
This is the result, a bread I really like:
I've tried other recipes, yeasted white breads, sweet breads, but this is the one I always come back to. Hope you like it.
Hello Barbiedoll, glad you liked my country :-)
A starter is a dough with bacteria and yeasts thriving in it.
A natural sourdough starter is made "breeding" the natural occurring bacteria and yeasts present in the flour. Goggle "sourdough starter" and you'll find lots of pages about how to start a starter.
Diastatic malt is sprouted grain (I use wheat) dried on a low heat and ground. It has the ability of converting part of the starch in the simple sugars that yeast like. It's not an essential ingredient in bread making, but I like the punch it gives to the yeasts.
It's hard to find here, so I make my own malt sprouting, drying and grinding wheat berries. It's really easy.
Welcome to TFL! I did the same, I lurked for a long, long time (after registering though) before I posted anything.
Your bread is beautiful and I am looking forward to seeing more of your creations!
I was in Barcelona this past summer - even though I had been there before, I totally fell in love with this city this time.
Hasta luego!
Thanks for your welcome chouette.
I like Bercelona too. Maybe you had the fortune to find a llonguet during your visit.
It's a traditional bread from Barcelona, not too common to find nowadays, formed in a very peculiar way. The dough is folded, rolled to form a tight cilynder, and cut in pieces.
The result is a surprising loaf, light and airy.
There are two entries about it on a blog I like to visit:
http://tequedasacenar.com/a-la-busqueda-del-llonguet-una-noche-en-el-forn-casanovas/
http://tequedasacenar.com/llonguet/
It's in Spanish, but there are lots of pics.