I have been busy baking..BREAD!! FH asked why bother to even try to bake my own bread since France has millions of boulanger in every corner and turn. I so agree with him as the bread here is world famous and world best :) It's not like Lou Shi Fun or Pau.. which I can't get and need to put my hands together to make it!! But this is just me.. love to try :) want to experience:) who knows?? I might be a boulanger one day?? Since the weather is getting warmer and I have always been making my own pizza from scratch. So bread is just another step :)
Here's what I did;
Day1
The sourdough starter/ Levain:
200g Flour (type 55/65)
200g Water
Mix the flour and water together to get a thick paste and leave it in a bottle with the cover ajar. Let it stay in room temperature for 24 hours. What I got was a bubbly paste with a nice sour smell. You can increase the amount of flour but always mix in the same amount of water. Use half when the starter is "hungry"/ before you "feed", meaning take out half of the content above (after 24hr) for this recipe then mix in another 100g of flour and 100g of water for your next bread..should you don't need to use it the next day then put it in the fridge after it's fed.
If you see it turn grey or mouldy, bin it and starts again. It should have a very light brown colour and smell sour/fermented.
Day 2
300g Flour (unbleached) or in France Type 55/65
100g Wheat flour (in France Type 110)
100g Buckwheat flour (Farine de Sarasin)
100g Sourdough starter
200g Warm water (finger test, it should feel hot but not burning)
3tsp Fine table salt
1pkt Dried yeast
- In a cup dissolve dried yeast, a tsp of sugar with some warm water. Set a side for 10min.
- In a big bowl, mix together 3 types of Flours, salt.
- Make a well in the middle, pour in your sourdough starter and the yeast mixture which should be foamy by now. Mix it with a wooden spoon.
- Mix in warm water bit by bit, don't stop mixing until you get a very sticky gluey paste.
- Keep kneading in the bowl for a good 15min. This is hard work if you don't have a dough mixer but you will be rewarded with beautiful bread.
- By the end of the 15min kneading, it should be soft and elastic.
- Cover it with a cling film and let rise for 2 hours or until it is double in volume.
- After the 1st rise, punch down to deflate the dough. On a table, dust with flour and take out the dough and knead for the second time for about 10 min.
- Take out your baking tin, oil and dust it with flour. Form your dough into a ball with the smooth side up, place it in the prepared tin.
- Let rise for the second time (another 2 hours).
- Preheat oven at 200C (gas 8). When you open the door, you should feel the hot air rush out. Then place the baking tin in the middle of the oven and bake for 15min then reduce the heat to 180C for another 20min.
- Don't forget to place also a little container of water at the bottom of the oven to create steam. This will give a very nice crunchy crust.
- Take it out of the tin once it's sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool in a grill.
We had it with a thick layer of butter, ham and salad for dinner.
p/s: FH asked me to make another one :) oh yesss
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