Tag Archives: baking

Sourdough Starter Diagram

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© Johanna Kindvall

Currently I’m working on a new design of kokblog. I’m planning to launch the new design next week. In this process I have decided to turn some of my pages into posts. And one of them is my diagram on how to make a Sourdough Starter.

Description: The above diagram is just one way to start a sourdough starter. At the end you will have one rye and one wheat starter. I use either starter for most of my breads. The wheat starter can also be used in a sweeter dough like for e.g. Cinnamon Buns etc. I bake with my starters 1-2 times a week (sometimes even more). I keep them in my fridge and take either of them out one or two days before I want to bake. Depending on how long it has been without ”food”, I feed it once or twice with a few tablespoons of flour and a little water. I keep my starters small, in that way I always have just enough and there is no need to discard anything. I have kept a starter in the fridge (without feeding it) for up to 3 weeks (not recommended). You can also freeze the starter if you are not planning to bake for a longer time. Just give the starter some time to recover by feeding it once or twice every day for a couple of days before baking. When the starter is lively and full of bubbles it’s ready to bake with. My diagram is based on Iban Yarza‘s How to Make a sourdough starter video.

NOTE: Since I published this last year, I have discarded my rye starter (I simple baked it up). It was just easier to keep one. If I ever want to use a rye starter I feed one part of my all-purpose starter with just rye flour for a couple of days.

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Links to my sourdough breads

Sourdough Bread with Rye

Plain Sourdough Bread

Wild Fennel Knäckebröd at Case Vecchie

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Sourdough Bread with Rye

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One of my fun jobs this summer was to design chocolate packaging for Francoise Villeneuve at Wiggley Leroux Confections. My job was to create a label and a chocolate bean pattern for the chocolate bar wrapping paper. It was such a pleasure to work with Francoise on this project and her delicious confections are now available at BaconN’Ed’s food truck, Reston Station, Washington, DC.

Last week I was in Laramie, Wyoming to draw animals for the public art installation AnimalEyes by Walczak & Heiss at the Berry Biodiversity Center. It was great fun and I learned loads of cool stuff about local animals such as horned lizards, prairie dogs and bumble bees etc. Did you know that an ant queen can reach an age of 30 years? And that there used to be camels here?

On this trip I brought bread, which our hosts welcomed enormously. They served it with their in-house Roman dried tomatoes and pheasant gizzard confit. Wonderful!

This bread is also excellent, sliced thin, topped with aged cheddar and slices of fresh red pepper. This Autumn, I will have it as much as I can with a cup of strong black tea in front of the fireplace (or with my feet up on the radiator).

Sourdough Bread with Rye
one small boule

starter dough
50 gram well fed and lively sourdough starter
150 gram water (about 2/3 cup)
150 gram (1¼ cup) rye flour

2nd dough
330 gram (about 1 1/3 cups) water
600 gram (about 4¼ cups) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt

starter dough: For the 1st dough, mix together the starter together with water and rye flour. Cover and let sit for 12-24 hours in room temperature.

the dough: Add water to the starter dough and stir before adding the flour. Mix everything well together. Let rest for 15-30 minutes before adding the salt. Work the dough some more to distribute the salt evenly and form a ball (I find it easier to do this directly on the countertop). Place in a slightly greased bowl. Cover with a plastic bag.

Stretch and fold 3 times with 45 min intervals. After last stretch and fold let the dough rise for about one hour.

Shape the dough into one round boule. Set aside for about 10 minutes and shape again. Place it with the seam side up in a round floured banneton. You can also use a normal bowl with a well floured tea towel.

Cover with the plastic bag and let prove for 2-4 hours.

About 30 – 60 minutes before baking your bread, set the oven to 500°F (260°C). Place a baking sheet or baking stone into the oven. A stone will need more time to heat up than a baking sheet. If you want steam during baking, place a tray under the baking sheet. I fill it with boiling hot water just before I bake the bread.

When it’s time, take out the warm baking sheet (or stone) from the oven. Carefully transfer the shaped boule onto the hot baking surface. Score the dough (see scoring links below) before transfer it to the oven. Lower the heat to about 450°F (230°C). Bake for 15 minutes, open the oven door to let out some steam. The bread should have risen up nicely and started to get some nice golden color. Bake for another 30 – 45 minutes.

The bread is done when it sounds hollow when knocking on the bottom. You can also check the breads inner temperature, which should be around 208°F (98°C).

Let the bread cool completely uncovered on a cooling rack before slicing.

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More sourdough breads on kokblog

Plain Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Knäckebröd

Other useful links

Slashing or Scoring your Dough by Azelia’s Kitchen
Scoring Bread – post at Fresh Loaf

 

Lussebullar (Lucia Buns)

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The 13th of December is the day when Swedes celebrate Saint Lucia by lighting up the darkness with candles and crowns on their heads. The Swedes also sing songs and eat funny shaped buns they call Lussebullar (Lussekatter, Saffron Buns). Even if Lucia’s day has already passed, anytime is ok to bake and enjoy these saffron rich buns. Below is Anna Brones’ recipe (updated and tweaked) from our book Fika. Please read Anna’s Lucia article over at Foodie Underground (with more illustrations by me).

Lussekatter – Saffron Buns
makes 30 to 40 buns

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
dash of whiskey or cognac
3/4 cup (6 ounces, 170 grams) unsalted butter
2 cups (480 milliliters) milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 eggs
1/2 cup (3 ½ ounces, 100 grams) natural cane sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 ½ cups (2 pounds, 925 grams) all-purpose flour
handful of raisins, for decoration

Using a spoon, crush the saffron in a small bowl. Then add a few drops of whiskey to help fully develop the saffron flavor and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter; then stir in the milk. Heat until warm to the touch (about 110ºF/43°C). In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 2 to 3 tablespoons of the warm mixture. Stir and let sit for a few minutes until bubbles form on top of the yeast.

In a large bowl, whisk 1 of the eggs and blend in the sugar and salt and the saffron mixture. Pour in the remaining butter and milk and stir until well blended. Mix in the flour and work together with a wooden spoon or your hands until well combined.

Transfer the dough to the counter top or a flat surface and knead it until smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes. The dough should feel a little wet, but if it sticks to your fingers and the counter top, add a little flour. Go lightly, though; if you add too much, the buns will end up dry. The dough is fully kneaded when you slice into it with a sharp knife and see small air bubbles throughout. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel, and place in a draft-free place to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Grease a baking sheet. Remove the dough from the bowl and roll it into classic bun shapes (see diagram). Place the buns on the baking sheet with about 1 1/2 inches (4 centimeters) between each bun. Cover and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Whisk the remaining egg and brush on the tops of the buns. Decorate with currants (they traditionally go in the center of where the bun is rolled.)

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the buns from the baking sheet to the counter. Cover with a tea towel and let cool before serving.

These buns dry out quickly, so if they are not eaten on the day you bake them, store them in the freezer.

 

 

Sticky Chocolate Cake (kladdkaka)

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Most Swedes have probably made Sticky Chocolate Cake (kladd kaka) at least once or twice in their lives. If not they’ve eaten it for sure. I don’t know if this sticky chocolate cake is originally from Sweden but its something that’s definitely a Swedish thing to bake and enjoy. The ingredient that really makes this cake, aside from the unsweetened cocoa powder, is the ingredient that isn’t there: baking powder. The idea is that the cake should be chocolate rich, sticky and dead baked (it doesn’t rise)!

Most recipes for Sticky Cake contain the ingredients: egg, sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt and melted butter. The ratio varies from one baking Swede to another. However the ingredients are simply mixed together with no fuss and baked just enough.

I have enjoyed it filled with mint or licorice, topped with whipped cream and bananas, flavored with Cognac or just plain and wonderful. In my latest version I have switched the flour to milled almonds. I also use the richest unsweetened cacao powder (like Valrhona) and, as I’m married to a Pole, I like to top the cake with Poppy seeds (makiem). The flavoring is plain, with Rum or star anise.

Kladdkaka

2 eggs
250 ml (1 cup) sucanat (or muscovado sugar)
4-6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (of good quality)
one teaspoon salt (less if using salted butter)
200 ml (almost 1 cup) milled almonds
4 oz (a touch more than 100g) butter, melted

alternative flavors (optional)
1-2 star anise (crushed and soaked in 2 tablespoons of vodka for one hour)
about two tablespoons Rum

topping
poppy seeds

Whisk eggs and sucanat together in a bowl. Stir in the milled almonds, cocoa powder and salt. Pour in the butter and stir until smooth.

Add the flavor (optional), either Rum or the star anise infused vodka to the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a greased 9” spring form. Sprinkle some poppy seeds on top.

Bake the cake in the oven at 350 F (150°C) for about 15 minutes. The cake should just be set on top and sticky inside. Let the cake cool off.

This recipe was first published on Honest Cooking, 4 May 2011.

 

Rye Bread with Linseed

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baking 3

I have been so good this summer making my own bread and jams. Unfortunately this great habit only lasted for 3 months!

100 ml (½ cup) linseed
some water
3 tablespoons olive oil
500 ml (just over 2 cups) kefir or yogurt
50 gram (1 ¾ oz) fresh yeast (or other)
2-3 tablespoons roasted and crushed caraway seeds
200 ml (7/8 cup) roasted sunflower seeds
1-2 teaspoons salt
1-2 tablespoons dark syrup
400 ml (1 ¾ cups) rye flour
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) wholegrain rye flour
about 700 ml (3 cup) wheat flour

Soak the linseeds in some water. Heat up kefir and the olive oil to 37° C (almost 100° F). Dissolve the fresh yeast (or follow the description on the package) with some of the warm kefir mixture. Add the rest together with salt, syrup, caraway seeds, sunflower seeds  and the soaked linseeds.

Start to work in the rye flour and the wholegrain flour. Finally you add as much of the wheat flour as you can until the dough is smooth and doesn’t stick to the edge of the bowl. Cover the dough with a towel and let rise for one hour in a warm and draft-free place.
After about an hour or two, when the dough has doubled in size, place it on your counter top and knead in more regular flour until flexible and firm. Form two loaves and place them on a baking tin. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes at 175-200° C (350-400° F) depending on what kind of oven you are using. When the bread is done place the baked breads on a rack and cover. I know it can be hard to resist new baked bread, but they should rest for at least a half day so the taste can develop to its best.