Tartine's whole wheat loaf

I've been very scared of baking breads with a high content of whole wheat flour, for a very long time now. It might be that all I could think of when thinking whole wheat were those horrible brown loaves my grandmother used to buy from the corner shop. They had an awful look, you could break the counter with them if you banged one against it hard enough and the taste wasn't great either. Yes, the might have been healthy, but that was about it.

However, I had to try at least once and let me tell you I've baked this whole wheat bread, using a Tartine recipe, a couple of times now and I think it's amazing!

Tartine whole wheat loaf (makes 1 loaf)
I've used my 100% whole wheat starter to make this bread, as opposed to Chad's young starter. Yes still too lazy to try the proper version of Chad's recipes!!

Day of the levain - I usually start in the morning the day before the bake.
Start by building your levain using the ingredients in the next table.

Ingredients for levain

Levain ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	25 grams	50%
Whole wheat flour	25 grams	50%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	50 grams	100%
Whole wheat starter (100% hydration)	1 tablespoon	na

To create the levain dissolve the starter in the water, then add the flours. Leave the levain to mature in a covered bowl for 8-10 hours. Tip: I always cover my bowl with a shower cap, I find it works just fine.

Same evening - build the bread dough

Ingredients for the bread

Bread ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	150 grams	30%
Whole wheat flour	350 grams	70%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	400 grams	80%
Levain	125 grams aprox	25%
Salt	10 grams	2%

Overall bread formula - the water and flour in the starter are not accounted for the baker's percentage

Bread ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	175 grams	31.81%
Whole wheat flour	375 grams	68.18%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	450 grams	81.81%
Starter	1 tablespoon	na
Salt	10 grams	1.82%

The autolysis - 30 minutes

Once the 8-10hrs are up and your levain floats in water (just transfer a bit of it in a bowl of water - if it floats it's ready, if not give it a bit more time), you are ready to mix the bread. Dissolve the levain in the water, add the flours and mix until all the flour is hydrated. It will be a shaggy mess but that's ok. DO NOT add the salt at this stage. Cover your bowl and leave the mix to rest for 30 minutes. This stage will help build the gluten, which will end up helping us achieve a nice crumb structure.

The mix - around 10 minutes

Once the autolysis is done, you can add the salt. Because I only bake one bread at a time, I just sprinkle the salt as is on the top, before mixing, but if you prefer you could reserve some water from the dough mixing stage, to just dissolve the salt in. In any case, add the salt and start pinching the dough so that you get all that salt incorporated. I use table salt, as sea salt tends to have bigger crystals that are not so easily absorbed.

After the salt is incorporated, just give your dough about 10-12 stretch and folds until it becomes more pliable about 2-3 minutes. If you are not familiar with the stretch and fold method, have a look at this clip, I find it's very good. 

Transfer your dough to a clean bowl, cover it and leave it to rest.

The bulk fermentation stage - around 150 minutes (2 hours and a half)

Leave your dough to rest for 30 minutes after the mix. When the 30 minutes are up give it a series of stretch and fold and leave it covered for another 30 minutes. Just so you know, I usually perform the stretch and fold directly in the bowl, without removing the dough. Perform 3 series of stretch and folds and then leave the dough to proof for the last hour.

The pre-shaping and rest stage - around 25 minutes

After the bulk fermentation is over, you are now ready to pre-shape. I always tend to pre-shape my dough as a boule (round), in this case not a tight one and then leave it to rest, smooth side up, covered with a clean towl. Leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

The shaping stage - around 5 minutes

Flour your banneton, or basket. I have started, recently, to use rice flour instead of wheat, just because my bread used to get stuck to the banneton during the long retarding in the fridge. It works quite well now :). Uncover and shape your bread. I usually shape the Pain au Levain as a batard (oblong shape). Place the loaf seam side up in your proofing basket, cover it, or slide the basket in a plastic bag and close it tighlty.

If you need help with shaping, I have found this clip to be amazing!

I usually dust the banneton with rice flour for this bread as the hydration is quite high and for the first couple of times my bread got stuck on the basket :(. Since I took the advice of fellow bakers about using rice flour, I had less sticking incidents!

The overnight proof (retarding in the fridge) stage - 10 hours

Slide yous basket in the fridge and leave it there for the next 10 hours. This should allow your bread to rise very slowly building up the flavour. In my case also helps time wise, as it allows me to start the whole process the morning of day 1, before going to work on a Friday and baking the bread on a Saturday morning.

I usually bake this bread straight from the fridge as I find it doesn't really need more proofing after the overnight stay in the fridge.

Heat your oven - 90 minutes

It takes around 90 minutes for my oven to heat up, together with my baking stone and a tray that I use to create the steam at the baking stage. I heat it up to 250C, which is the maximum for my domestic oven :).

The baking - 50 minutes

Dust your peel (in my case an old plastic chopping board) with semolina, transfer the loaf to the peel and score it. I am by no means an expect on scoring, but here is the loaf we are talking about and the lousy job I did on scoring, it still came out with a nice ear ;).

Transfer the scored loaf to the heated stone and immediately add hot water to the pre-heated tray in the oven. Shut the door and bake the bread at 250C for the first 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 230C.

20 minutes into the baking remove the tray from the oven to complete the baking without the steam.

Leave to bake for another 25 minutes, so a total of 45 minutes.

When the 45 minutes are up, turn the oven off and leave the loaf inside for another 5 minutes with the oven door ajar.

This is such an amazing bread, even Fi loves eating it, straight from the oven smothered in butter and she is really partial to food = basically hates it!

xoxo bread addicts!

In my kitchen: Tetu cast iron kettle and ABCT casserole

There are so many things I wish I had in my kitchen, you just can't imagine!  Seriously, you can't! I want copper pans, decorated rolling pins, all sorts of moulds and ceramic mugs, you get the gist! Too many things for my crammed London kitchen.

But, it will come a day when I'll have a kitchen of my own and then I will definitely have to have these things as well:

 

The Tetu Japanase cast iron kettle. It is designed to make tea for generations to come, not to mention it is a marvellous piece of design!

Here it is the second item on my list today: the eco-friendly, non-stick ABCT Casserole! Love the great ceramic work, the mahogany lids and clip!

I am off now to dream about my prefect kitchen!

xoxo bread addicts!

Norfolk post cards

This year we have spent our Easter break with friends in Norfolk. We've never been, but we will surely go back, because its a charming place!
Loved the large beaches, the walks in the forrest and the crab!

I am off now as this is my Birthday weekend and need to get ready for the celebrations! ;)

xoxo bread addicts!

I've baked a version of Tartine basic country bread

I don't think there is any bread head out there that hasn't heard of Tartine Bakery or his co-founder Chad Robertson.

If you love bread and you have no idea what I am talking about, leave, now! And never come back!  Seriously? Just search for it, go, go, go! Read all about it! Worship the work, the craftsmanship, worship the surf haired baker. I do! ;)

Back to bread, I have baked Chad's tartine basic country bread for a few times now, but I have to be honest: I've never done it properly. Yes, I know! I should be ashamed of myself! Really ashamed! And I am really, but for some reason I never got to build his young levain. Truth is I was lazy! I've just used some of his method with my old trusted starter.

Tartine style country bread (makes 1 loaf)

Similarly to my version of the Pain au Levain, I have used my 100% whole wheat starter to make this bread, as opposed to Chad's young starter. I will definitely have to try the proper method as well!

Day of the levain - I usually start in the morning the day before the bake.
Start by building your levain using the ingredients in the next table.

Ingredients for levain

Levain ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	25 grams	50%
Whole wheat flour	25 grams	50%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	50 grams	100%
Whole wheat starter (100% hydration)	1 tablespoon	na

To create the levain dissolve the starter in the water, then add the flours. Leave the levain to mature in a covered bowl for 8-10 hours. Tip: I always cover my bowl with a shower cap, I find it works just fine.

Same evening - build the bread dough

Ingredients for the bread

Bread ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	450 grams	90%
Whole wheat flour	50 grams	10%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	375 grams	75%
Levain	125 grams aprox	25%
Salt	10 grams	2%

Overall bread formula - the water and flour in the starter are not accounted for the baker's percentage

Bread ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	475 grams	86.36%
Whole wheat flour	75 grams	13.64%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	425 grams	77.27%
Starter	1 tablespoon	na
Salt	10 grams	1.82%

The autolysis - 30 minutes

Once the 8-10hrs are up and your levain floats in water (just transfer a bit of it in a bowl of water - if it floats it's ready, if not give it a bit more time), you are ready to mix the bread. Dissolve the levain in the water, add the flours and mix until all the flour is hydrated. It will be a shaggy mess but that's ok. DO NOT add the salt at this stage. Cover your bowl and leave the mix to rest for 30 minutes. This stage will help build the gluten, which will end up helping us achieve a nice crumb structure.

The mix - around 10 minutes

Once the autolysis is done, you can add the salt. Because I only bake one bread at a time, I just sprinkle the salt as is on the top, before mixing, but if you prefer you could reserve some water from the dough mixing stage, to just dissolve the salt in. In any case, add the salt and start pinching the dough so that you get all that salt incorporated. I use table salt, as sea salt tends to have bigger crystals that are not so easily absorbed.

After the salt is incorporated, just give your dough about 10-12 stretch and folds until it becomes more pliable about 2-3 minutes. If you are not familiar with the stretch and fold method, have a look at this clip, I find it's very good.

Transfer your dough to a clean bowl, cover it and leave it to rest.

The bulk fermentation stage - around 150 minutes (2 hours and a half)

Leave your dough to rest for 30 minutes after the mix. When the 30 minutes are up give it a series of stretch and fold and leave it covered for another 30 minutes. Just so you know, I usually perform the stretch and fold directly in the bowl, without removing the dough. Perform 3 series of stretch and folds and then leave the dough to proof for the last hour.

The pre-shaping and rest stage - around 25 minutes

After the bulk fermentation is over, you are now ready to pre-shape. I always tend to pre-shape my dough as a boule (round), in this case not a tight one and then leave it to rest, smooth side up, covered with a clean towl. Leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

The shaping stage - around 5 minutes

Flour your banneton, or basket. I have started, recently, to use rice flour instead of wheat, just because my bread used to get stuck to the banneton during the long retarding in the fridge. It works quite well now :). Uncover and shape your bread. I usually shape the Pain au Levain as a batard (oblong shape). Place the loaf seam side up in your proofing basket, cover it, or slide the basket in a plastic bag and close it tighlty.

If you need help with shaping, I have found this clip to be amazing!

I usually dust the banneton with rice flour for this bread as the hydration is quite high and for the first couple of times my bread got stuck on the basket :(. Since I took the advice of fellow bakers about using rice flour, I had less sticking incidents!

The overnight proof (retarding in the fridge) stage - 10 hours

Slide yous basket in the fridge and leave it there for the next 10 hours. This should allow your bread to rise very slowly building up the flavour. In my case also helps time wise, as it allows me to start the whole process the morning of day 1, before going to work on a Friday and baking the bread on a Saturday morning.

I usually bake this bread straight from the fridge as I find it doesn't really need more proofing after the overnight stay in the fridge.

Heat your oven - 90 minutes

It takes around 90 minutes for my oven to heat up, together with my baking stone and a tray that I use to create the steam at the baking stage. I heat it up to 250C, which is the maximum for my domestic oven :).

The baking - 50 minutes

 Dust your peel (in my case an old plastic chopping board) with semolina, transfer the loaf to the peel and score it. I am by no means an expect on scoring, but here is the loaf we are talking about and the lousy job I did on scoring, it still came out with a nice ear ;).

Transfer the scored loaf to the heated stone and immediately add hot water to the pre-heated tray in the oven. Shut the door and bake the bread at 250C for the first 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 230C.

20 minutes into the baking remove the tray from the oven to complete the baking without the steam.

Leave to bake for another 25 minutes, so a total of 45 minutes.

When the 45 minutes are up, turn the oven off and leave the loaf inside for another 5 minutes with the oven door ajar.

You have now baked a Tartine style bread! I love the dark crust I always get on this loaf and the amazing custard like crumb!

Both sets of images are of a Tartine country loaf, baked at different times. As you can see I am not there yet in terms of consistency. This might also be because the white flour I've used for each of them was different. I will start documenting the types of flour used as well, but forgot to do it for these two.

xoxo bread addicts!

Late summer post cards from Arcachon, France

This year we've spent our summer, late summer, holidays on the beach in Arcachon, France.

I love the sea, it just appeals to me in weird ways. Sometimes I think it's because my mum used to love the sea. I think it's in my genes. I seriously think I need to move to the sea side. Let's all move to the sea side, yeah like that song used to say...

Needless to say we loved it! Sandy beaches, great food, amazing rosé wine and of course the Canelé. 

There's few things I like more than sitting on the beach, playing with sand and water with lil' Fi and finishing the day in the garden chatting with Mr. M over a glass of wine. Can't wait to be doing that again soon!

I am off to play the lottery now as I really want to buy a house here and just binge on canelé, rose wine and cycle and cycle on those magical paths with the most amazing sea views.

xoxo bread addicts!

Kitchen love: deVOL kitchens

Do you dream of your perfect house? The white picket fence? The mountain cabin? The beach lodge? Dream all you want! I dream about kitchens! About how my kitchen will look like when I grow up. I sure hope it will be one of these kitchens! 

I am IN LOVE with deVOL kitchens! Just look at them? What's not to love? You feel me now?

I want to bake my bread in one of these kitchens and someday I will!
xoxo bread addicts!

My version of a Pain au Levain

Everytime I need to bake a bread that needs to be just perfect looks and taste wise, I bake this Pain au Levain. It just works! All the time!

I've baked it to take at BBQs with friends, to the office to be enjoyed with butter in the morning and even wrote a big article for Bread Magazine - on the use of different flours in bread baking, using this exact recipe, so I thought it will be a great idea to share this one with you first.

Pain au Levain (recipe for 1 loaf)

This bread has as a starting point the Pain au Levain from Hamelman's: Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes.

First things first: I used for this bread a 100% hydration, 100% whole wheat starter. I will tell you all about building your own starter one of these days, just need to move my lazy bum and actually do it and document it.

Day of the levain - I usually start in the morning the day before the bake.
Start by building your levain using the ingredients in the next table.

Ingredients for levain

Levain ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	107 grams	93.04%
Wholemeal spelt flour	8 grams	6.95%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	70 grams	60.86%
Whole wheat starter (100% hydration)	25 grams	21.73%

To create the levain dissolve the starter in the water, then add the flours. You will notice that this levain is quite stiff, but that's how it's supposed to be (at least that's how it is in my case every time I bake this bread). Leave the levain to mature in a covered bowl for 8-10 hours. Tip: I always cover my bowl with a shower cap, I find it works just fine.

Same evening - build the bread dough

Ingredients for the bread

Bread ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	323 grams	95%
Wholemeal spelt flour	17 grams	5%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	235 grams	69.11%
Levain	210 grams	61.76%
Salt	8 grams	2.35%

Overall bread formula - the water and flour in the starter are not accounted for the baker's percentage

Bread ingredients	Quantity (grams)	Baker’s percentage
White flour	430 grams	94.50%
Wholemeal flour	25 grams	5.50%
Water 25.5°C (78F)	305 grams	67.03%
Starter	25 grams	5.50%
Salt	8 grams	1.75%

The autolysis - 30 minutes

Once the 8-10hrs are up and your levain floats in water (just transfer a bit of it in a bowl of water - if it floats it's ready, if not give it a bit more time), you are ready to mix the bread. Dissolve the levain in the water, add the flours and mix until all the flour is hydrated. It will be a shaggy mess but that's ok. DO NOT add the salt at this stage. Cover your bowl and leave the mix to rest for 30 minutes. This stage will help build the gluten, which will end up helping us achieve a nice crumb structure.

The mix - around 10 minutes

Once the autolysis is done, you can add the salt. Because I only bake one bread at a time, I just sprinkle the salt as is on the top, before mixing, but if you prefer you could reserve some water from the dough mixing stage, to just dissolve the salt in. In any case, add the salt and start pinching the dough so that you get all that salt incorporated. I use table salt, as sea salt tends to have bigger crystals that are not so easily absorbed.

After the salt is incorporated, just give your dough about 10-12 stretch and folds until it becomes more pliable about 2-3 minutes. If you are not familiar with the stretch and fold method, have a look at this clip, I find it's very good.

Transfer your dough to a clean bowl, cover it and leave it to rest.

The bulk fermentation stage - around 150 minutes (2 hours and a half)

Leave your dough to rest for 30 minutes after the mix. When the 30 minutes are up give it a series of stretch and fold and leave it covered for another 30 minutes. Just so you know, I usually perform the stretch and fold directly in the bowl, without removing the dough. Perform 3 series of stretch and folds and then leave the dough to proof for the last hour.

The pre-shaping and rest stage - around 25 minutes

After the bulk fermentation is over, you are now ready to pre-shape. I always tend to pre-shape my dough as a boule (round), in this case not a tight one and then leave it to rest, smooth side up, covered with a clean towl. Leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

The shaping stage - around 5 minutes

Flour your banneton, or basket. I have started, recently, to use rice flour instead of wheat, just because my bread used to get stuck to the banneton during the long retarding in the fridge. It works quite well now :). Uncover and shape your bread. I usually shape the Pain au Levain as a batard (oblong shape). Place the loaf seam side up in your proofing basket, cover it, or slide the basket in a plastic bag and close it tighlty.

If you need help with shaping, I have found this clip to be amazing!

The overnight proof (retarding in the fridge) stage - 10 hours

Slide yous basket in the fridge and leave it there for the next 10 hours. This should allow your bread to rise very slowly building up the flavour. In my case also helps time wise, as it allows me to start the whole process the morning of day 1, before going to work on a Friday and baking the bread on a Saturday morning.

The room temperature proof (optional) - 90 minutes

Remove the basket from the fridge and leave it, covered, to sit for around 90 minutes. You really need to watch your bread, which is why I mention this stage is optional. It might be that you don't need this proof at all - if the temperature of your fridge was high. I usually find that I can proof this loaf for another 90 minutes after taking it out of the fridge. While the loaf is proofing, start to heat up your oven.

Heat your oven - 90 minutes

It takes around 90 minutes for my oven to heat up, together with my baking stone and a tray that I use to create the steam at the baking stage. I heat it up to 250C, which is the maximum for my domestic oven :).

The baking - 50 minutes

When the 90 minutes are up dush your peel (in my case an old plastic chopping board) with semolina, transfer the loaf to the peel and score it. I am by no means an expect on scoring, but here is the loaf we are talking about and the lousy job I did on scoring, it still came out with a nice ear ;).

Transfer the scored loaf to the heated stone and immediately add hot water to the pre-heated tray in the oven. Shut the door and bake the bread at 250C for the first 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 230C.

20 minutes into the baking remove the tray from the oven to complete the baking without the steam.

Leave to bake for another 25 minutes, so a total of 45 minutes.

When the 45 minutes are up, turn the oven off and leave the loaf inside for another 5 minutes with the oven door ajar.

This is it! You have baked a Pain au Levain.

All you need to do now is just slice it and enjoy it warm with butter! Who am I to tell you to leave it cool off first!

 

xoxo bread addicts!