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Colors excite me.  Often I buy a book because the cover page takes my fancy.   Eric Kayser's "Rund Ums Brot" is one such book.  When I bought it, I knew it was not in English; but all I want was to look at the pictures.   There is an expression in Chinese, your eyes want to eat ice cream too, very crude (or, in English, feast for the eyes?).   It was when I saw this page (below) that I went to google translator for help:

Eric Kayser's "Rund Ums Brot"                               page 108 (Pink Caramelised Almond Bread)

Google didn't seem to make sense, then I thought to myself how would it be possible that this book was in German but not in French or English?  My point was there should be an English or French version.  Then, it dawned on me, YES, this book is in English under a different title - "Beyond The Bread Basket."  This was not the first time that I bought same book twice, or same CD twice, or same clothes twice (or thrice, in different colors).   On page 130 of this latter book, it says the bread is a Pink Caramelized Almond Bread, using pink caramelized almonds (Oh, not pink pralines again!).  I cannot get my hands on these pink pralines because G. Detou has been politely avoiding my small order (more trouble than what it's worth to them). 

Eric Kayser's recipe has butter, sugar, milk, cream - the full Monty.  While the quantities are not large enough to qualify this bread as a brioche, I am not going to go that route again -  sourdough breads really don't need them.  The question remains - where would I get the red color?  Ahh, beetroot, my vegetable dye!  I once made a beetroot walnut chocolate cake that my son absolutely loved.  Think of a carrot cake that is full of walnut and chocolate pieces, then substitute beetroot for carrot!  You get an absolutely moist cake which guarantees you full degustation by the kids.  Beetroot is so good for them (and us). 

I thought it would be interesting incorporating this ingredient into a sourdough bread.  Walnut would normally be a good pairing except, hey, why not test out new choices (well, fine, almond is not new).  The white color of almond slivers is infinitely more attractive against the red of beetroot. 

So, here we go, we've got all our constituents lined up. 

My formula

200 g sourdough starter @ 75% hydration refreshed late afternoon

286 g Australian Laucke's Wallaby's bakers unbleached flour

134 g water

60 g sliver almond*

100 g beetroot (diced 0.5 - 1cm cubes)**

8 g salt

1.5 g instant yeast (or 1/2 tsp)

* I could easily get fresh beetroot and slow-roast it in oven to cook it, but it would be more work than challenge at this stage.  I need to work out the moisture content of these red darlings in order to get my dough hydration right.  I am shooting for 67.5% dough hydration, not very aggressive.  My technique is as yet not very good for high hydration dough.   I am working on 50% weight in beetroot as extra hydration for dough.

*  I am working on a combined almond & beetroot ratio of 40% flour, which may seem high for some.  Other than these, I have resisted the temptation of using any flavor improvers.  (But salt? No, I'd like to think it is there for the integrity of gluten development.)  As for the instant yeast, well, call me a chicken.

It's like a mission impossible at first trying to knead all this in....

Then, all of a sudden, after 6 - 7 min of kneading, it all came together.

I just went and had a peep.  At this very moment, the dough is peacefully going through its first-fermentation.  I shall return after a short night's cap myself to report on its further development.

Shiao-Ping

Day Two  

It sang when it came out of the oven for over 3 min!  My son said, "Why is it crackling?"  

My daughter asked me what bread that is; I said, "Beetroot and Almond."  She goes, "Pee-Yew!"  So, there you go - one person's glorious bread is another person's pee-yew.   

The dough just before going into the oven (little did I know the color was to disappear in heat)                            

                                        Voila! Beetroot Almond Sourdough Bread

                                        The crumb

Verdict:  

1.  Shape and color: I am happy with the boule shape and scoring but am disappointed that the pink disappeared.  (It was hot pink throughout, inside and out, before it was baked.)  Nontheless, the color of the crust is what I look for in a well-cooked loaf, warm, like harvest in autumn. 

2.  Aromas: The aromas from the crust, as well as from the crumb, are pleasant but faint even though the crust sang loudly as the bread came out of the oven.  In truth, beetroot is not one of those vegetables that gives off strong odors. 

3.  Crumb:  To my surprise, the crumb is distinctly creamy (or even golden) in color, despite the red dots of beetroot scattered about.  Its texture is elastic, typical of sourdough breads, and at the same time, moist and tender. 

4. Flavors:  Beetroot has a very faint sourness, as well as sweetness, taste.  Its color not withstanding, it does not have a domineering taste.  So as slivered almonds.  As a result, the flavors of this sourdough bread are those of a classic white sourdough bread with a bit of interesting features thrown in; ie, red dots for visual, and crunchiness (of almonds) for extra texture and mouthfeel.   

Well, it's not a bad sourdough (but no where near what the subject title of this post has announced!) .  My son has already told me, "Oh, I am not eating that!"  I am sure if the red dots in the bread are replaced by brownish chocolate bits, he'd be racing to have a piece.  My kids know their mother is someone who likes to have her imagination run free.  Their constant complaint is their mother ceases making them something once perfection is reached; she moves on to something else.  

Memory does not condition my choices.  I like to try new frontier.   

Try next time:  

Beetroot Salad Sourdough (another "pee-yew" idea?).  Shred raw beetroot and marinate it in lemon juice, salt, and a little bit olive oil; use the resulting red juice as part of the hydration for the dough, and mix in the raw beetroot in the dough.  The long fermentation will moderately cook the raw beetroot and hopefully still give some crunchiness to the soft crumb.   

Shiao-Ping

My three-day, rotational, Country White dough...and first attempt at blogging.

I bake this bread every third day or so, and it pretty much always turns out the same.  The original recipe is the basic white dough from Richard Bertinet's "Dough", which I absolutely love.  I stumbled upon this process one day by accident.  

I woke up early one Saturday and decided it was a good day for some fresh bread.  After mixing up the dough, and putting it in the oven to rise (I usually use the oven with the light on trick), my wife reminded me that we had to get ready to leave for the day...oops.  I slid the dough into an oiled plastic bag, and popped it into the refrigerator.  

Well, as we all know, life happens fast.  I kept remembering that dough ball in the fridge, but didn't seem to have time to bake it.  Finally, a few days later I had the crazy idea to use it like a starter.  I have since read that this isn't a crazy idea, but a pretty common one.  Now it's become my bread of choice.  Every few days I take the bag of dough out of the fridge, chop it into thirds, and make three batches of the original recipe, adding a third of the old dough to each.  I've even gone as far as a week and a half between baking, which makes a deliciously sour loaf!

A few days early, mix up this dough and stash it in an oiled bag in the refrigerator:

18 oz white bread flour

12.5 oz water

2 tsp kosher salt

1.5 tsp instant yeast

When you're ready to bake, here's what I do.

First, take your dough out of the refrigerator, and divide it by weight into three equal portions.  Take one portion, and cut it up into little strips or balls about an 1x1 inches.  The smaller it is, the easier it is to mix into the dough.  Measure out your water.  If the dough is really cold, I use pretty warm water.  Plop your old dough into the water and let it hang out while you measure out your other ingredients.  You end up making the recipe three times, so I like to get all the old dough in separate water portions, with three bowls of dry ingredients ready, too.

I pour the first batch of water / old dough into the Kitchenaid bowl with the paddle attachment, and mix on low for a few minutes until it's pretty well homogeneous.

I mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl by swirling it with the dough hook by hand.

Next, I pour the dry mixture on top, replace attachments with the dough hook, and turn the machine on to level 2 for two minutes.  If it doesn't seem to be picking up the flour as well as I like, sometimes I stop the machine, and scrape the bowl with the hook a few times.

After two minutes, I turn the machine up to level four for seven minutes.  Notice it's a nice, wet dough.

I turn the dough straight out onto a floured surface, and tri-fold it into a ball.  I put this in a floured bowl, and place in the oven until risen double.

After the first rise, I gently pull it into a square, and tri fold it again.  I put it back in the bowl, and rise it in the oven for a second time.

After this rise, I square it, and form the final loaf.  I put it on a floured tea-towel.  I put a 12 inch dutch oven, with lid in the oven and preheat it to 525F

Pretty much by the time the oven is pre-heated, I take the dutch oven out and set it on a cutting board.  I flop the dough into it, put the lid on, and put it back in the oven for 20 minutes.  

After 20 minutes, I remove the lid and bake for 15 more minutes, or until it's nice and golden brown.

Now, just do it again.  The third batch I bag up and save in the refrigerator for next time.

This bread makes really yummy, crispy toast.  We ate it just this afternoon as chicken salad sandwiches.  It's our all-purpose bread.

I made David's famous Pain de Campagne AKA San Jaoquin Sourdough today. I followed his excellent instructions exactly making one large batard. I baked the loaf on a stone in the center of the oven which proofed to be the wrong rung for my on-the-small-side wall oven as the loaf got a little too brown.



The crumb is nice and open, and the flavor has a lot of sour and complexity to it. I'm not sure why I only have a hint of an "ear" but perhaps I didn't get enough surface tension when I was shaping.

Thanks, David, for this and all the other wonderful variations on the theme!

--Pamela