The Fresh Loaf

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Sweet Potato Rye Sourdough Shokupan

Benito's picture
Benito

Sweet Potato Rye Sourdough Shokupan

This bake used my offshoot of Alan’s starter, a 80% hydration and all whole rye.  The levain was whole wheat and was stiff and sweet.  What is a bit different about this bake was that I used rye for the first time in a tangzhong, this one again has a 1:2 ratio of rye:milk.  I had a bag of sweet potatoes so decided to add mashed sweet potato to this dough.  Being still in Fort Lauderdale I do not have my Ankarsrum Assistent so fully hand mixed this dough.  

For one 9x4x4” Pullman pan loaf.

 

Instructions

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76-78ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.  For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak.  The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and whole rye flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature.  You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

 

If you plan on using a stand mixer to mix this dough, set up a Bain Marie and use your stand mixer’s bowl to prepare the tangzhong.

 

Dough

For hand mixing instructions see the next paragraph.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces.  Next add the flours.  I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas.  Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes.  Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins.  You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing.  Next add room temperature butter one pat at a time.  The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before adding in more butter.  Once all the butter has been added and incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins.  Add the mashed sweet potato and mix until well incorporated.  You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat. 

 

Hand mixing 

Into a large bowl add the tangzhong, milk, melted butter, salt, sugar and egg.  Mix well then add the levain, cut the levain into small pieces with your silicone spatula.  Add flour and mix until no dry flour remains.  Rest for 10 mins then slap and fold until the dough has good gluten development.  Stretch the dough on a wet countertop.  Spread about ⅓ of the mashed sweet potato onto the dough, then fold in half.  Repeat until all of the mashed sweet potato has been added.  Slap and fold or stretch and fold until the sweet potato is well incorporated.

 

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2 - 3 hours at 82ºF.  There should be some rise visible at this stage.

 

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape.  Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer.  Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

 

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter or line with parchment paper.  

 

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top and shape it into a batard.  Transfer the dough into your pan and cover.

 

Cover and let proof for  4-6 hours at a warm temperature.  I proof at 82°F.  You will need longer than 4-6 hours if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

 

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

 

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.

My index of bakes.

Comments

CalBeachBaker's picture
CalBeachBaker

Hey Benny - Another beautiful bake, I like the sheen on the crust. Sounds like the sweet potato flavor is nice and mild.

Tony

Benito's picture
Benito

Thank you Tony, the rye is nice a mild adding a complexity to the flavour.  There is some sweet potato in there as well as wholesome wheat.  Lots of dairy flavours too of course.

Benny

Yippee's picture
Yippee

Well done, Benny! 👍👍👍

Yippee

Benito's picture
Benito

Thank you Yippee.

Benny

Another Girl's picture
Another Girl

There are so many creative flavor blends turning up in the blogs lately! I love the subtle colors streaking the crumb. Your whole grain formulas with stiff sweet starter and tangzhong always pique my interest for their flavor and texture and because you keep finding ways to push your learnings in this space. So how did the rye tangzhong handle? I'd guess that the 2:1 water to flour ratio would probably be a safer bet than 5:1, but I feel like potential still exists for the texture to get .... interesting. The crumb looks great so I'm guessing it was fine. I can't quite comprehend developing that dough by hand. Once again, hats off to you!

Benito's picture
Benito

I think you’re right the rye tangzhong at 1:5 might have been an issue, but at that ratio I’d have to drop the rye percentage down to about 7 from 15 so it might have been fine.  The texture of this loaf was quite nice and soft from the tangzhong and the sweet potato.  I’d certainly not hesitate to do this again, rye works great as a tangzhong.  It did take about 700 slap and folds to develop the dough including getting the sweet potato incorporated.  My Apple Watch actually offered to start a work out for me after 10 mins LOL.

Benny

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Nice combination of ingredients and your crumb looks perfect.

Happy baking

Ian

Benito's picture
Benito

Thank you Ian, I wasn’t sure that I’d like the rye in this loaf, but at 15% it is totally fine and doesn’t overpower the flavour of this bread.

Happy baking

Benny

Sugarowl's picture
Sugarowl

Looks tasty! Maybe I should move over to the west coast, or practice more. :-)

Benito's picture
Benito

Why would you need to move to the west coast?  Things seem to bake fine on the east coast.

Benny

Booda's picture
Booda

Beautiful bake and view, Benny. 

Richard

Benito's picture
Benito

Thanks so much Richard, I hope you’ve been well and keeping warm.

Benny

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I can imagine eating that beauty of a bread while taking in the view.  The crumb brighter than the butter on it.  :)

Benito's picture
Benito

Thank you Mini, we are enjoying the bread but not yet on our balcony.  We do love the view we have here, it is so green and you can see the many canals in the area as well.

Benny

Mike Avery's picture
Mike Avery

Benito - that's a great looking bread!  My wife is already after me to make it for her.

However, I have a question.  There is a column labeled "Soaker" with nothing in it.  I also don't see anything that looks like a soaker.  Am I missing something? 

Thanks,
Mike