Chocolate Sourdough Bread...nuff' said.

Easter Weekend is fast approaching.  I will have a house full of guests… (though really.. are family still considered “guests” in your home?!)…ANYWAYS…  what I should have been doing is making the filling for perogies.  What I should have been doing is dusting.  What I should have been doing is…...... BUT then I came home and saw Uncle Fester’s work…and well… the rest…  is History.  You see, the day before, I was thinking about ways to use my Sourdough Starter aka "Uncle Fester".  Though I loooove me a good chunk of sourdough bread, sometimes you just gotta change it up a bit!  I’ve done pizza dough.  I’ve done Cinnamon Buns. I’m working on mixing up flavors and adding to the sourdough bread (mmmm garlic and asiago)… but then I came across CHOCOLATE.  WHOA… Chocolate and Sourdough…really?! I mean Chocolate (like bacon) goes with just about anything.. but sourdough…. Hmmm.  SOOOOO, after feeding Uncle Fester a few times…  I decided to play.  The reward…. Chocolate Sourdough Bread.

I used Lindt Dark Chocolate, and a good quality cocoa, mixed it up with regular all-purpose flour and tossed in some very active Uncle Fester, and what came out was a nice crumb, not sweet – more on the savory side loaf of bread that is delicious lightly toasted…. Mmmmm I can only imagine how decadent French toast could become when using this….maybe sprinkled with powder sugar.... *sigh*

SO, before you sit there reading this…turning up your nose at the thought of Sourdough & Chocolate…. Next time you are wondering what to do with the portion of starter you need to “discard” before the next feeding…  just try it!  What could go wrong?! Did I mention as this is baking, your house smells like chocolate cookies?? 

Chocolate Sourdough Bread

• 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup dark quality cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 cup chopped quality chocolate (I used Lindt Dark Chocolate)

- Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt in your mixer until well mixed

- Mix sourdough starter, water, oil and yeast into a measuring cup, stir well, add to dry ingredients

- Knead using the dough hook on your mixer at speed 2 to 3 until a supple dough ball forms.  (you may need to finish it for a minute or 2 by hand.)  Form into a ball and put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside to rise.

- I left it for about 18 hours on the counter.(made it at night, went to bed, went to work, and then came home to a ready to use dough)

- Gently knead the chopped chocolate into the dough

- Form into a loaf and place on a baking stone (if you have, or baking pan/cookie sheet, whatever works)  Cover, and let rise for an additional 3 hours, or until doubled in size.

- Lightly dust with flour, and using a sharp knife, score top of loaf. (about ¼ inch deep)

- Fill a pan half way with water, and place on bottom rack of oven.  Preheat oven (with water pan in it) to 400F

- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

- Remove from oven let cool completely on a cooling rack

Cut and enjoy lightly toasted…maybe with some strawberry preserves? Nutella? Butter?... how about just by itself… don’t mind if I do!  Absolutely submitting this to yeastspotting, as without sites like that, I would not of known of all the fun possibilities of the wonderful world of bread making!

Cheers!

  

Uncle Fester's Cinnamon Buns (aka Sourdough Starter Cinnamon Buns)

They say, "Don't judge a book by it's cover."  Well, for anyone who has seen, used, and/or nurtured a Sourdough Starter, knows.... it's not pretty.  I mean, Uncle Fester is a pretty suitable name for "the blob" that's growing in my fridge.  I've been quite devoted to Uncle Fester, making sure to feed it at least once a week, and before baking with it, I take it out the night before, feed "him", after all, I want to make sure the starter is in it's (oops... HIS) MOST active state..... Well, not too long ago, I did just that.  It started off as an typical "feeding".  We were headed up to the lake for the weekend, and I thought this would be a great chance to put Uncle Fester to work! The end result, YUMMY Sourdough Starter Cinnamon Buns, but... the start of the process... well... let's just say....  it looked more like a science experiment gone awry...

Sourdough Starter Cinnamon Buns

It all started normal... I took Uncle Fester (how to make your own sourdough starter here) out of the fridge the night before I intended to bake, fed the sourdough starter, and left on the counter, loosely covered (per everything I read)... checked "him" before I went to sleep, and all was well....  in the morning, as I groggily walked over to the counter to brew my first cup of coffee....  I found this:

Uncle Fester (Sourdough Starter)

OOPS!  Guess umm, well... looks like my Sourdough Starter is quite healthy!  (or had one heck of a party while I was sleeping) *giggle*  ANNNYWAYS..... I then had a choice...  thank goodness for Keurig, as I can only think so much prior to that first cup of coffee.....  I could clean up Uncle Fester, toss out a portion, feed, and then bake later on that afternoon as planned.. or... what the heck, why not use him while he's most active.  I pushed "brew now" on my Keurig, and started the dough for Sourdough Starter Cinnamon Buns.  What else would a normal, everyday, working gal first thing in the morning after finding out something oozed and bubbled all over her counter top do? Who ever thought Sourdough Starter for just for bread and pizza dough, were sadly mistaken!!

Uncle Fester's Sourdough Starter Cinnamon Buns

• 2 cups active sourdough starter
• 3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup butter (melted)
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon

- In a large bowl combine Sourdough Starter, flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and eggs until well blended
- Knead dough in bowl for 5 to 7 minutes, or until mixture is smooth

- Let rise in warm place until doubled. Punch down. On a lightly floured surface, press dough into rectangle.

- Combine melted margarine, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Spread mixture over dough

- Starting on long side, roll up dough, jellyroll fashion.

- Press ends together to make a seam. Score and Cut in 1-inch slices, place in an ungreased pan.

- Allow rolls to rise to double their size.  Preheat oven to 325F.
- Bake at 325F for 20-25 min until lightly browned.

I added a simple milk/confectioner's sugar glaze overtop while they were still warm!   (mix couple tablespoons of milk with enough confectioner's sugar to desired thickness) These are light and flaky....so good right out of the hot pan... or slightly warmed in the microwave.

SO, from "blob" to.....

Sourdough Starter Cinnamon Buns

Who'd of thought "Uncle Fester" / Enter YOUR OWN Sourdough Starter name here....to create something as sweet as some fresh-made from scratch - homemade cinnamon buns!  Have a great weekend everyone!!

My 1st Sourdough Bread and naming my sourdough starter...

Sourdough bread’s history is long and interesting, I’ve just begun to scratch the surface of the many ways to start, grow and use it in my daily baking and cooking.  So far, I’ve been more than impressed with the results.   I love seeing how I can make “something” out of practically nothing more than basic ingredients most people – even if their kitchen isn’t “stocked” have – as well as the fact that it’s….dare I say… EASY.   I’m LOVING the fact that I can produce fancy “bakery” style loaves to compliment a simple homemade soup, or produce an Artisan Looking loaf for when we have friends over for dinner.  OH – and let’s not forget to mention… it tastes awesome.

It started with the *NO-KNEAD BREAD*  Where after searching the web, I fell in love with sites like Breadtopia and Yeastspotting  I’ve also learned that there are some “secret” starters / recipes, that people are more than willing to share their starter… just not their actual recipe.  Now, playing with flour, and yeast (whether naturally leavened or store bought active quick rise) has become an addiction of mine!

This is the latest update from my new Sourdough ventures… as it’s the first loaf I made using a starter that was simple…as long as you remember to feed and water it.  It’s a growing, “living” (kinda weird eh?!) THING that resembles something like “THE BLOB”, I really do think I should name THE BLOB…  as I’ve grown kinda fond of it…. Hmmmmm.

Step One – Sourdough Starter (recipe adapted from Breadtopia)

I used one of Breadtopia’s recipes, and followed along with his basic method for managing the starter.

• 3 ½ tablespoon  whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup unsweetened pineapple juice (I used a “no-sugar added” one)

-  Whisk flour/juice in small plastic (clear) container until well combined

-  Cover and set aside for 48 hours at room temperature

-  Stir/whisk well  2 to 3 times a day

48 hours later….

• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons pineapple juice

- Whisk flour/juice into starter mixture

- Cover, and set aside at room temperature for another 48 hours – stirring 2 to 3 times a day

- At this point, you should see the start of some fermentation activity (BUBBLES).  If you don’t you may want to toss starter and try again

48 hours later….

• 5 ¼ tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons water

- whisk flour/water into starter, cover and set aside for 24hours. (Mixture should have bubbles/show signs of fermentation)

24 hours later....

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup water

- Add flour/water to starter mixture and stir well, at this point you should have a very healthy starter.  (if not, you may want to toss, and start again)

At this point do a little bit of research on how to maintain your starter.  Me, I’ve been “feeding” it on a weekly basis, and before I baked with it, I made sure I fed it twice prior to baking, to make sure it was as strong and as “healthy” as I could get it.  (still… haven’t figured out a name for my growing BLOB)

It was just over a week and a bit before I tried out my starter, decided to play a little with the fermentation / proofing a bit, the end result… a delicious loaf of Sourdough Bread, and one of the coolest parts – it’s STILL a NO-KNEAD bread!! Woot Woot!

Sour Dough Bread (No-Knead)

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups Bread flour
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup water (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup starter

*For this recipe, when it came time to actually bake the bread, I used a round heavy 3 QT Ceramic pot with lid, which is safe to use in a 500F oven. * (Winner’s had one for $15)

- Mix whole wheat flour, bread flour and salt into a large (non-metal) mixing bowl

- Mix water and the ¼ cup of starter into a separate bowl (I just used my 2 cup measuring cup)

- combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients  with a plastic (or wooden) spoon.  Dough should be sticky, however, pull away from sides of bowl when done.  *remember this is no-knead so you should be able to mix it well enough with just a spoon!*   If required, add a bit more water, or flour until dough looks like this:

Here’s the “tough” part….

- Cover with plastic wrap tightly (so dough doesn’t dry out) and put into fridge for 2 days (up to 4 days) Just leave it,  alone in the fridge to slowly rise/ferment further

2 days later…

- Remove dough from fridge, and let sit on counter for 1-2 hours until dough doubles in bulk

-Take dough out of bowl and turn onto a generously floured countertop

-carefully “push” out dough to form a rectangular shape.  (be careful not to play with the dough so much that it deflates)

-fold dough one side of dough into the middle, repeat with other side, then fold in half again

- Place in a proofing bowl (or I used a lightly oiled ceramic mixing bowl), cover and let rise again for an hour.

- After an hour, place the ceramic pot with lid (one that’s safe to withstand temp of 500F) into your oven, and preheat oven to 500F, let your dough continue to rest for another 30-40 minutes.

- Carefully and quickly remove hot pot from the heated oven, and using both hands, take resting dough and “flip” bowl upside down, so that the dough drops neatly into the hot pot.  Place lid back on pot, and put back in oven for 30 minutes at 500F

- Remove lid and reduce oven temperature to 450F, bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until crust is golden and bread sounds hollow when tapped.

- Remove finished bread from hot pot, and place on cooling rack.  You should be able to hear the crust crackling!

This bread was YUMMY with a little herbed butter (Italian seasoning, and 1 gloved garlic minced, and mixed into softened butter)   

Making this style of bread is teaching me patience; however, the reward is well worth it!  It also helps to know that TIME is really the “one” who’s doing all the work here….This makes it that much easier to wait!  From everything I’ve read, there are a billion variations.. I’m just getting started!

Then there’s this ongoing small issue I have… I STILL haven’t named my starter.  It’s alive..and healthy… in my fridge, happy to be taken out and feed once or twice a week…  hmmm…  Mr. Blob?? Bob the Blob?  I’ll need to work on that one….maybe over a piece of freshly toasted sourdough….