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Results of my first round of Colomba testing.

I think that results were satisfactory, but I learned several things:

1. Recipe: Colomba is not the same as panettone. I used my current panettone recipe, and the results were almost too soft and airy; Colomba is a long, flat cake, and so it needs a bit of structural integrity to be physically stable. Make sure your recipe isn't extreme in any direction.

2. Baking: Don't put the pans on a baking sheet, as the bottoms will either be burned or not as done as the rest of the cake. Because of the shape, Colomba bakes in less time than panettone. There is a balance between baking slowly enough for optimal dextrin formation, and fast enough to achieve good oven spring. Baking on a preheated stone seems like the best option to achieve both.

3. Sugar: This is a sweet cake, with a lot of top crust area. Between the glaze, pearl sugar and powdered sugar, it can become too sweet. So, reduce the amount of pearl sugar to a dramatic sprinkle.

4. Skewers: Make sure you have long skewers ready that can be placed in pairs diagonally through the pans right after removing from the oven, and have a place to hang the cakes. 

Crumb:

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 This was a nice crumb result, for me it is more attractive than Massari's Colomba, which is made "con metodo pandoro". I can appreciate this, as a pandoro version would have a sturdier crumb. I have had the Fiasconaro Colomba Pandorata, and don't prefer it. And so, I am working with panettone dough here.

It is a light crumb and very moist; baked in 35 minutes to 93-4C. The shape of Colomba makes it important to check internal temperature in the center of the cake.  

My paper pans are small, designed for 500g of dough. I scaled these cakes at 550g, but will go higher next time. This is more of a fashion thing.

Dough development:

My Lievito Madre was out of storage for four days, and was fed twice/day, with alternating warm/cool refreshments and also alternating water and free storage. (water for warm refreshments, free for longer, cool refreshments). I use a thermoelectric cooler for both.  I find that around day three, I usually begin to see much more dramatic rising of the LM, particularly during warm refreshment (expected). I go another day before using the LM for baking. 

I did two baking-day refreshments, 4 hours each, each one rose very well. This helps to "sweeten" the LM just prior to using it to bake.

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My first impasto was made with Pasini panettone flour, fermented at 22C for 10.5 hours. The final pH was 5.01. 

My second impasto was made with King Arthur Galahad flour because of this nice high pH, no worries about gluten damage in the dough. This was done to get the softest crumb, and indeed the crumb was very soft. Dough at the end of second impasto was extremely extensible and handled well. 

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For the next test, I will use technical flour for the second impasto as well. (It remains to be seen whether baking on a hot stone will offset the tenderness of the crumb)

Final rise was 4.5 hours at 28C in the Brod & Taylor proofing box. Glazed, pearl sugar, whole almonds and powdered sugar applied just before baking.

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Overall, this was a good test and it's always nice to eat the results! 

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If you think about it, the spicing used in falafels (cumin & coriander, garlic, cardamom...) is like a recipe for a bread spice. The thing is though, how would you put a falafel into a bread. Home made falafel mixture, with freshly minced chickpeas, fava beans or lentils? Even better still why not use a box mix which has already been dehydrated and they've done part of the work for you already!

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Method was as follows:

    50m saltolyse, complete with salt and falafel mix

    Added levain using the dough hook for 2 minutes only.  Completed this with 35 slap and folds

    30 minutes later added bassinage of 50g of water that had been held back, bringing total water to 600g. Also added 4g of leftover falafel mix here.

    20 minutes later bench fold to close the dough up

    At 4 hours 45 min after adding levain pre-shaped into rounds

    20 minutes later final shape

    20 minutes later into fridge

    (next day, 16 hours later) baked the first bread - 230C with steam for 20 min, then 200C without steam. Second bread had an hour in the proofer extra time whilst the first one baked

It's been a while since I made a bread using eggs. I wanted to make something using fresh milled durum as well and included some freshly milled Stardust whole wheat from Barton Springs Mill.

I love cherries so I added some dried cherries that I soaked in water to rehydrate them and used the water in the main dough. I've recently read on a Facebook post that using freeze-dried fruit is actually the best way to go. I will definitely have to try that soon. In any case I should have doubled the amount of cherries as it wasn't nearly enough.

I laminated the cherries in the dough after the first round of stretch and folds after mixing. I need some more practice with this technique as usually I just add in the inclusions at the end of mixing. I didn't get even distribution with the lamination so I have some work to do.

The whole wheat and durum berries were both milled with my Mockmill 200 and sifted with a #30 drum sieve, and re-milled at the finest setting and then sifted with a #40.

Some KAF bread flour was used to build the levain and in the main dough.

I used egg yolks which are about 48% water and don't tend to dry out the crumb like egg whites do.

This was pretty high hydration dough and the egg flavor really came through. The durum and Stardust WW flours along with the cherries made this bread taste like a supped up Challah. The crumb came out nice and open. This is a keeper for sure.

Formula

Gracie was desperately trying to get into my bread photo!

Levain Directions 

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.

Let it sit at room temperature for around 6-7 hours or until the starter has almost doubled. I used my proofer set at 76 degrees so it took around 5 hours for me. Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Note: I use an Ankarsrum Mixer so my order of mixing is slightly different than if using a Kitchenaid or other mixer. Add all your liquid to your mixing bowl except 50-80 grams. Next, add all your flour to the bowl and mix on low for a minute until it forms a shaggy mass. Cover the mixing bowl and let it rest for an hour.   Next add the eggs, salt, maple syrup, and remaining water as needed and mix on medium low (about speed 3) for 12- 24 minutes.  If you are using a more traditional mixer you would only mix around 7-10 minutes.

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.  Laminate the dough and add the cherries. Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 1.45 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours. I use my proofer set at 79-80 degrees. If you are leaving it at room temperature 72 degrees I would let it sit out for 2 -2.5 hours before refrigerating. Depending on how developed the dough is after the initial mix you may not need to do as many S&F's.

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 or if using a proofer set at 80 degrees for 1 hour.  Remove the dough and do a pre-shape into a round(s). Let it sit covered for around 15-20 minutes. Next shape as desired and add to your proofing baskets/bannetons and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap Sprayed with cooking spray and let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  (I use my proofer set at 80 F and it takes about 1 hour.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 540 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.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 455 degrees.  Bake for around 35 minutes or until the breads are nice and brown and have an internal temperature around 200-210 F. 

Take the bread(s) out of the oven when done and let them cool on a bakers rack for as long as you can resist. 

To be honest, posting more in order to use the above tabloid-type title rather than to share some new bread breakthrough, but here goes anyway. Apologies for overdoing the biga theme in the process.

My latest bake was a 50% white spelt 50% strong white wheat flour loaf with 5% golden flaxseeds (pre-full hydration). All the spelt went into the 'shaggy' biga.

The loaf had amazing oven spring. I would say at least doubled in size in the dutch oven, lifting the lid in the process.

Lovely soft texture, crunch crust and open crumb and nice, slightly sweet, taste. Kept really fresh for a long time as well. Still almost like fresh after about 2.5 days from the bake.

I have plucked up the courage to try pushing the biga experiment to the limit as per the conversation in the previous posting with GaryBishop about whether 50% biga is the sweetspot by going for a 100% biga in the next loaf I a preparing. Trying for a 30% wholegrain rye loaf.

Will be reporting back with results.

Still working on my sandwich bread (bake in a Pullman pan) that isn’t enriched with fat.  I decided to add a touch of honey to balance the sour notes since I didn’t use a stiff sweet levain for this bake.  I may switch to a stiff sweet levain next time to reduce the sour notes, we’ll see how I feel when that next time comes up.

I’m loving the pecan and walnuts in this bread though.  Although it doesn’t have the softness of my Hokkaido milk bread, it also doesn’t have the animal fats from the milk or the butter.  Also, making this bread and developing the dough by hand down here without my Ankarsrum Assistent make a less enriched bread easier to do.  In this heat and humidity I’ve been feeling a bit more lazy so this fits the bill.

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For 1 loaf in a 9x4x4” Pullman pan.

Build stiff levain, ferment at 74°F for 10 hours overnight or about 72°F for 12 hours.

In the morning, add salt to the water and dissolve.  Then add the levain and break down the levain as well as you can.  Add both the flours and mix well until no dry bits are left. After 10 mins of rest start gluten development with slap and folds.  Add the pecans and walnuts through a series of folds, incorporate well.  Bench letterfold, remove aliquot, then at 30 mins intervals do coil folds until good structure is achieved.

Once the dough has risen 30-40% then shape the dough into a batard and place in prepared pan.

Final proof the dough until it has reached 1 cm of the rim of the pan.  pre-heat oven at 425°F .

Once oven reaches 425ºF score top of dough and then brush with water or egg wash.  Sprinkle seeds on top if you wish. Transfer to oven and bake (without steam) for 25 mins.  Rotate the pan and drop temperature to 350ºF.  Bake for another 25-30 mins rotating as needed until browned.  Remove from the pan and place directly on the rack baking for another 5-10 mins to firm up the crust if needed.

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My index of bakes.

I have to stop eating gluten for a while, so why not to learn how to bake stuff without it.

My no recipe approach does not work anymore. I produced a hideous monster of a loaf ans it is going to enrich my compost pile today. I thought: it cannot be any more complicated than a rye bread. Well, it can.

Anyway, I found this beautiful recipe on YouTube and this bread is just lovely.  The dough was very pleasant to work with and the result actually exceeded my expectations.  Slices great, makes a lovely toast. 

https://youtu.be/2qumv7WtK9A?si=jon_oXl9hyf5QyUn

Hands on laboratory practice.

Day #1 begin the three step leivin build

Day #2 complete leivin fortification, main dough build/fermentation, and cold retard

Day #3 The end game (Bake).

After putting Slo-Mo through his paces he performed admirable. He had more than enough power of provide the lift requirements. It was a bit challenging working with the sticky 80% hydration dough. Working with Maurizio's almost as highly hydrated doughs was a good primer. The stepping stone method I call it. The deep rustic wood fire coloration is just what I was going for! The depth of flavor is amazing. Enjoy the photo montage. 

After some discussion in recent threads, I decided that it's high time I tried out shorter bulk ferments. My guiding principle has been that the longer the flour is hydrated, and the longer it's fermented, the better the flavor. So I usually let bulk ferment go on to more than double, sometimes triple, the original size.  This usually gives me a fine, fairly uniform crumb, which may have large pores or smaller ones depending on hydration, grains, all these sorts of things.

This practice has served me well, and I like that kind of crumb, but I've been interested to see how a shorter bulk ferment could change things.  Some people only let the dough rise by 1/2 or 1/3, for example.  This bake is my first experiment.  As a bonus, I measured the pH with my new Hanna meter.

Here's the crumb shot, then the details:

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 You can see that there is a wide range of pore and cavity sizes, and in the larger ones you can see some nice gelatization. The crust is gorgeous, and the height and oven spring were excellent. The crumb is well open for a 72% hydration loaf.  I'm very happy overall.

This loaf uses mostly all-purpose flour along with some malted barley and Irish-style whole wheat flours.  This made for a soft crumb.  It might be a little too soft for the crust, which is thin, flakey, and a little crunchy.

Formula (flour and water are totals including starter's flour and water) *
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10% - malted stone ground barley flour
10% - KA Irish-style whole wheat flour
80% - Gold Medal All Purpose Unbleached
72% - water
20% - starter (100% hydration, made with bread flour)
2.2% - salt

* Total flour was 400g.

Process
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 8:30 AM - Rough mix of all ingredients
 9:00 - knead and stretch
 9:55 - 1st S&F, between wet hands
10:45 - 2nd S&F, between wet hands
12:05 - 3rd S&F, on bench with a little flour
1:30 PM - 4th S&F, on bench
3:30 - shape loaf, proof freestanding covered with plastic wrap**
4:55 - bake 

** Dough had risen by roughly 50%, compared with my usual 2.5X - 3X.

After the 3rd S&F the dough felt wonderfully silky, and was very extensible.  I decided to do a final S&F to reduce this extensibility.

Bake Profile
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- Preheat oven with baking steel to 450 °F
- Uncover loaf last 15 minutes
- Slash, insert into oven
- Throw 12 oz tap water on steam tray, block vent for 1 minute***
- Turn temp to 300 °F for 15 minutes
- Turn temp to 425 °F
- Total bake time: 40 minutes.

*** The oven leaks steam so fast that hardly any is visibly coming out of the vent after a minute.

Here is a graph of the pH vs time.  Don't pay any attention to the first point looking lower than the second.  I just didn't write down the second digit of the reading, which I did for all the others.  I'm sure the first point was the same as the second one.

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Oh, yes, the taste is rich, mellow, a bit buttery.  All in all, a successful experiment, I'd say. 

Following on from some posts on the Big(a) controversy thread, here are a couple more recent wholegrain wheat loaves I baked with a 50% 'shaggy' SD biga.

The first was a very simple control bake with nothing else apart from 100% UK wholemeal wheat bread flour.

50% (200g) of the flour was used in the biga which was made with 90g water and 10g 100% hydration SD starter. The biga was left to ferment at room temperature for 24h and then mixed in with the remaining 200g of flour and 4g salt, with extra water added to bring the final dough mix to 75% hydration.

The bulk ferment was, again, very accelerated compared to when I used to use a liquid SD levain, and for this reason, the BF again run away from me a little and I didn't have enough time to do the number of S&Fs and laminations I was intending to do.

For 100% wholegrain wheat, it was a very nice loaf, OK crumb and reasonably moist, but a little on the crumbly side after a day or so from the bake. 

Main points for improvement in my mind were to develop the gluten more with more laminations and to shape and bake earlier.

The second, I decided to increase hydration to around 80-85% and add some mashed potato for more softness and moisture.

I also had some carob flour (its more like cocoa powder actually) which I though might go well with the wholegrain wheat taste and make the bread nice and dark too, so added about 10g into the final dough flour. The biga was made in exactly the same way as the first loaf. The final dough had 170g wholegrain wheat bread flour, 10g carob flour, and 100g potato (assumed to provide 80g of water to the loaf), so water added to bring the final hydration to 80%. When mixing, the final dough was very dry so added some more water, taking it to around 85% hydration in the end.

The final loaf was soft and moist, with very nice taste, but again, due to external factors, was not able to do as many S&Fs and laminations as I would have like to.

Final reflections on the second loaf are that the texture is very nice and more smooth and less crumbly than the 1st loaf, the taste of the carob is actually very nice, and there is more sourness than in the 1st bake. I think the carob taste would be complemented well by some sunflower seeds, so will be trying to add some of those to the next such loaf I make. 

I’m enjoying making Fougasse for dinner parties.  I wanted to try different flavours in the Fougasse than I have already made to chose to try pecorino cheese, oregano and black pepper.  Overall I was really pleased with this bake, but I let the baking get away from me and it got even darker than I usually like.  Fortunately brushing EVOO on the crust right before serving really helped avoid the crust being too crispy.

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Levain Overnight

12 hours warm room temperature 74-76°F. 

In large bowl add the water and the levain then dissolve.  Then add salt and olive oil, then whole wheat flour and mix, finally add bread flour. After 10 mins of autolyse, slap and fold to develop the dough moderately.  Towards the end of mixing add the grated Pecorino cheese, oregano and black pepper through stretch and folds in the bowl.  Finally give the dough a bench letterfold and place into the bowl.

At 30 min intervals give the dough coil folds.  After the third set give the dough 1 hour 30 mins rest.

Allow the dough to rise to about 40-50% then shape.

To remove the dough from the bowl drizzle olive oil onto and around the edges of the dough.  Then gently spread the olive oil over the surface and around the sides.  In the bowl flip the dough to oil the bottom of the dough.

Transfer the dough to a parchment lined tray, smooth side up and gently stretch the dough out into a rough triangle.  Rest for 10 mins then cut the dough.  Make 2 or 3 short vertical cuts from the base of the triangle to the top, leaving space between the cuts. While cutting, use your other hand to gently spread the dough with your fingers to encourage it to open and prevent it from sticking back together. After cutting, spread the sides of the triangle outward to widen the cuts even further. Next, make diagonal cuts from the center cuts outward toward the sides of the triangle, while spreading the sides outward so the cuts open wide.  Place into a large plastic bag and close.  Allow to proof for 1 and a half to 2 hours.  30 mins prior to the end of proof pre-heat the oven to 450°F.  (Changes for the second time - cutting soon after stretching)

The dough should pass the finger poke test when ready to bake.  Prior to baking brush the dough with more olive oil and top with more grated pecorino cheese to your liking. 

Bake at 450°F for 25-30 mins on the lowest rack rotating partway through.

After baking brush with olive oil and you can add herbs to your olive oil to add more flavour if you wish.

Cool on a rack.

Best eaten the day of bake. Reheat a minute or two under the broiler.

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My index of bakes.