Multi-grain Sourdough Date Bread
This bread was inspired by my friend and fellow TFL member, Khalid. His beautiful bread was a 100% whole wheat version using yeast while for my version I chose to convert the recipe to sourdough and used three different whole grain flours instead of one.
I decided to use my trusty Krups coffee grinder to make fresh ground flour for the entire recipe and I was quite happy with the results.
I used a 2 step build for the starter mixing Einkorn Ancient Whole Wheat with a Hard White Whole Wheat.
For the main dough I used one of my favorite flours Kamut which is similar to Durum but more wholesome with a stronger wheat flavor. I also used more of the Hard White Whole Wheat.
The dates are simmered in part of the water used for the main dough and I then chopped them up in the food processor before adding them to the dough. In hindsight I should have hand chopped them instead since I ended up with more of a paste and you don't really see too many of the dates in the final bread.
All in all this is a nice tasty bread that would only be better if I left bigger pieces of the sweet dates.
I just had a couple of pieces for breakfast with some fresh mozzarella and it was quite tasty.
- Shade Garden in Full Bloom
Levain Directions
Step 1
Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled. I used my proofer set at 83 degrees and it took about 4 hours.
Step 2
Mix the flour and water with all of the levain from step 1 and let it sit at room temperature again until it is doubled. At this point you can either use it right away or put it in the refrigerator and use it the next 1 to 2 days.
Date Preparation
Make sure there are no pits in the dates and do not trust the package like I did which claimed they were pitted dates. Simmer the dates in 226 grams of water until they are soft. After you remove them from the heat, add 100 grams of cold water and let the dates sit until they come back down to room temperature.
Next, I suggest you hand chop them into pieces but don't make them too small like I did or you won't really taste them in the final bread.
Main Dough Procedure
Mix the flours with the remainder of the water for about 1 minute. Let the rough dough sit for about 20 minutes to an hour. Next add the dates, butter and salt and mix on low for 2 minutes and speed #2 for another 2 minutes or by hand for about 6 minutes. You should end up with a cohesive dough that is slightly tacky but very manageable. Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds. Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold. Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold. After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours. (Since I used my proofer I only let the dough sit out for 1.5 hours before refrigerating).
When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove the dough and shape as desired. I made 1 large Miche for this bake.
The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature and will only rise about 1/3 it's size at most. Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.
Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam. I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf. I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.
Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.
After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees. Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.
Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.
- Ligularia, one of my favorite shade plants
Comments
What a lovely crust Ian. My lady would love this as she absolutely loves dates. I'll have to try a variation of this. Bet its good with some cultured butter.
Josh
Appreciate the kind words. I hope you give it a try and let me know how it turns out.
regards,
Ian
Beautiful bread, looks like a lovely, rustic sand dollar :) Freshly ground flours must be delicious, too. What kind of flavor does Eikorn have?
Thank you so much FlourChild!
Love your description comparing it to a rustic sand dollar.
Einkorn is an ancient variety of wheat and I would say it has nice sweet wheat flavor. Below is the description from the website Breadtopia.com where I bought it:
Einkorn (German for “one-kernel” in reference to its single-grain-per-spikelet trait) is the earliest form of cultivated wheat, dating back about 10,000 years and also allegedly found in the tombs of ancient Egypt. It is unique in flavor, nutritional benefits and genetic makeup. Where modern wheat has 42 chromosomes, Einkorn has only 14.
Some Additional Einkorn Attributes:
Regards,
Ian
hi Ian, i wish i can get Einkorn wheat here :( baking with your favorite Einkorn wheat flour and Kamut, i love the natural creamy yellow crumb, must be from Kamut flour.
what a satisfying loaf!
thanks for sharing the pictures of your beautiful garden, it's relaxing to see green.
cheers
evon
Appreciate your kind words as always Evon. Yes, the nice yellow color comes from the Kamut. I hope one day you can get some to try along with the Einkorn wheat. The Einkorn wheat is also grown in Italy so maybe you may find a source that can ship to you.
Glad you enjoyed my garden photos.
Regards,
Ian
Thanks so much! :)
bake Ian. Great crust on this one. It has t be fine tasting. I agree with you, the dates , and or figs, are better if left in larger pieces so you can see and taste them better. I also don't want to clean anther gizmo like a food processor when making bread. It is bad enough having to clean the coffee grinder to go from coffee to aromatic seeds and nuts and then to grain and back to coffee:-)
It is amazing what the little coffee grinder will do for grinding grains isn't it. Not fine flour but still plenty good for my breads. I saw one at Goodwill this last week and they had a $4.99 price on it but the color of the tag was wrong so I'm waiting for it to be half price.
Glad to see you back to baking Ian.
Gracias DA. You would like this one for sure with its 100% whole grains and nice sour dough tang. I think next year I may have to break down and get a real mill but for now the Krups doesn't do too bad of a job as long as I use it in moderation. $5 for a coffee grinder is a steal..hope you can get a spare for yourself.
Look forward to your next post.
I just whipped up some hamburger buns and hot dog buns using my last formula. I have ton of bread to eat right now, but I'm sure I'll get in the mood in a couple of days to bake something or maybe a nice pizza using the Ken Forkish formula that Dave just posted.
Regards,
Ian
Hello Ian,
Loved FlourChild's description of your bread, a 'lovely, rustic sand dollar' :^)
Dates in bread are so delicious and the date sugar helped bring a beautifully-browned crust.
Interesting flours, great-looking bread, and an absolutely gorgeous shade garden!
:^) breadsong
Thank you so much breadsong! I really appreciate your high praise and I'm so glad you like my shade garden. This is the second year for this garden and it has really come in nicely. Now that most of the summer flowers are almost done it's nice to still enjoy the shade area.
I was very pleased with the way this bread turned out.
Look forward to your next creation.
Regards,
Ian
I'll bet that is one fragrant and tasty loaf. I could see it with an aged cheddar too. How did you do 900 + grams of grains in your Krups ? I have one and use it for coffee and spices like db. I am curious how you do that much grain in it . How many grams do you do each batch ? It doesn't over-heat ? Just trying to get a feel for how this would work since I haven't had an extra $400 for a mill . Thanks ....
Thanks Trailrunner. Some aged cheddar would go perfect with this bread as well. I'm looking forward to some grilled bread this week and some sandwiches as well.
This is the most I have done as far as grinding my own flour for a bread. I did it in batches, just filling up the cup about 3/4's of the way or less. As long as you do it in several batches and let it rest a few minutes you should be okay. One of these days I will get a real mill but for now it does work pretty good. I'm not sure how much of a difference the real mill will make besides the obvious time savings but I'm sure there are other benefits as well.
Thanks again for the comments.
Regards,
Ian
David
Thanks David.
That's some mighty fine pizza you posted as well. I didn't get a chance to comment today but you have convinced me to read his book. I bought it on my Kindle when I was traveling overseas and have not felt inspired to read through it yet, but after you claimed it was the best crust you have ever made or eaten I think you convinced me to start reading fast :). I do like your idea to use tomato strips on the pizza. I have never seen that before and thought you had used roasted red peppers. Where did you get that idea from?
Anyway, thanks again for your comment.
Regards,
Ian
I have seen recipes for pizza-like Italian flatbreads topped with sliced fresh tomatoes. But I really can't tell you where the idea of tomato strips came from. Have to chalk it up to "divine inspiration."
Anyway, there are two reasons I chose this approach rather than a tomato sauce: First, the fresh San Marzanos had such a lovely flavor I didn't want to spoil it. Second, I thought having pieces of tomato dispersed over the dough rather than spread as sauce would result in a crisper dough and no sogginess. I'd say it worked.
David
Sounds like a great idea. I will have to try it with some of my garden tomatoes with this technique now that they are starting to ripen.
Regards
Ian
That's dangerously close to being dessert, not just bread. That must be a happy-making flavor!
Paul
Thanks Paul. I think I would need to add some cheese in it and then a dessert it could be! This is a tasty bread for sure and dates really add an extra layer of flavor. Next time I need to make them into bigger pieces and I think it will be even better.
Cheers,
ian
Ian, Nice baking. I haven't wrapped my brain around baking with dates. I'm impressed with your results. Sure it has amazing flavor. -Varda
Thanks Varda. Appreciate your kind words. It does taste great. How did your market go this weekend?
Regards
Ian
Hey Ian, This Saturday's market went really well. I sold 23 loaves plus bagels. First the traffic was slow, and then suddenly it was fast and everything sold but two bagels. One woman asked for a flaxseed rye and then had me put it away because it cost too much. So I did and sold it to someone else a few minutes later. All very interesting. -Varda
That sounds great Varda. It's not surprising that your excellent bread sells so well. If you don't mind me asking, how much are you charging for your bread?
Nice bread Ian. I love the hearty texture in this one. The sweet bites will be a nice addition. I have yet to use dates in bread, but you reminded me how much I miss adding figs into my medium/darker ryes.
Amazing crust you got there too.
John
Thanks John. It's a nice hearty bread but chock full of flavor.
Hope you give it a try.
Regards
Ian
Beautiful Miche, Ian! I don't know if you did that intentionally, but the scoring is quite fitting for a date bread as it resembles the spiked shape of a palm tree. I'm sure your version is much tastier than mine, and more nutritious.
Do you make your own mozarella?
-Khalid
Thanks Khalid for your kind words.
I wish I could say I purposely scored the bread to look like a palm tree, but maybe it was a subconscious thing :).
I have not tried making my own mozzarella yet, but it's on my list to try. Fresh mozzarella has become very popular in the US over the last few years so everyone sells it now. I'm able to get some real good fresh cheese that melts in your mouth as well as the best Buffalo mozzarella at Costco.
Thank you for inspiring me to make this one. I hope you give a SD version a try yourself.
Regards,
Ian
Oh this is really nice Ian, a great combination of grains and fruit with a dark and flavourful looking, crust, just waiting to be toasted and served with some smoky ham or ...just about anything else for that matter.My kinda bread for sure!
Happy baking Ian,
Franko
Great to hear from you Franko and thank you so much Franko for your kind words.
I toasted this up yesterday and made a sandwich with some left-over steak and fresh mozzarella. I do have to say the bread was one of the tastiest I have made especially a couple of days after being baked. I hope you get a chance to try something similar.
Regards,
Ian
Not much I can add to previous comments. Still, I have to say, your loaf is visually stunning and the flavour must be on par. Beautiful garden, too.
Happy baking,
Zita
Thank you Zita. It is great to hear from you as well. I am glad you like this one and if you can ever get your hands on some of these flours you will not be disappointed.
Hope to see some posts from you again soon with your creative bakes. I hope you job is less stressful than before and you find yourself with more time to bake, especially those great looking bagels :).
Regards,
Ian
Thank you for the kind words, Ian. Much appreciated.
I haven't baked for nearly two months now. Work has kept me busy---busy enough that I do not have a full day off. Unfortunately, it will be a long while before I can focus on baking again, let alone post about my baked creations.
For now I'll stick with The Fresh Loaf and ogle at the wonderful breads. It keeps me happy and sane to a certain degree. :)
Zita
....that's gorgeous! You do great work, man.
I like the proofing baskets. Where did you find those?
FF
Thanks FF, appreciate your comments.
I am always on the lookout for interesting proofing baskets. I think I picked this one up at Home Goods. It was about $10 USD I think. I have found others at Good Will like DA who always seems to find some great bargains.
Regards,
Ian