There are 2 ingredients in this bread that I have not tried before: barley malt and gluten powder. A dear friend of mine, not only recommended me these but also brought them to me as a present. I didn't have the chance to try them so far, so I have felt that this was the appropriate moment.
The first ingredient, the barley malt, you can find it in 2 shapes: as syrup or as powder. In this bread I have used the powder. This is a well known ingredient for bakers as it gives an improved fermentation. For commercial bakers is a secret as it also decrease the proofing time while increasing the volume. Even more, after baking the bread, it increases the life of the bread. No wander that is seen as a secret for bakers. The barley malt also darkens the color of the crumb and makes it more soften. It also gives a "malty" taste. But on top of this, this is a 100% natural ingredient.
I remember when I have opened the bag of barley malt powder it smelled strongly as coffee. I checked again the package to be sure I was not mixing something else, but it was the right one. I was wondering at that moment if this would have not give a coffee aroma to my bread as well, which would have been a total failure as I am not a coffee fan. But it didn't. The final taste and aroma had nothing to do with coffee.
The second ingredient, was the gluten powder. Well, if you are gluten intolerant, forget about it. But I am not, and none of my family members is. This one is exactly what the name indicates: just gluten powder. If your wheat is weak in gluten, add a teaspoon to your bread and it will make miracles. Also, if you are making a bread with special flours that are not so reach in gluten / proteins, use it. Mine was whole wheat flour predominant so I have decided to try it. Again a natural ingredient, so no worry.
The result you can see it with your eyes: a nicely raised bread with lovely ears.
Ingredients:
- 710ml water (32ºC)
- 100g spelt flakes
- 580g whole wheat flour
- 450g whole wheat flour
- 210g sourdough (100% hydration)
- 1 teaspoon barley malt
- 1 teaspoon gluten powder
- 50g sunflower seeds
- 15g salt
Directions:
- 11:00AM Mix flours and flakes with water for 10 minutes using a standing mixer.
- 11:10AM Make the autolyse for 50 minutes.
- 12:00AM Mix all ingredients together for 10 minutes.
- 12:10AM Cover the bowl with a lid and let it stand at 22ºC for 5 hours. This is the bulk fermentation phase.
- 17:00 Divide the dough in 3 and shape 3 oblong loaves.
- 17:20 Put the dough in bannetons and cover with a linen towel. Let it stand at 22ºC for the final fermentation around 1h30".
- 18:00 Turn on the oven at 260ºC with the baking stone inside and volcanic stones in a pan under to help creating steam.
- 18:45 Score the loaves with a blade and put them in the oven on the hot stone. Bake them for 15 minutes keeping the same temperature. After these 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 220ºC and continue to bake for another 30 minutes.
2 comments:
Beautiful bread Denisa
Bye
Tiziana
Thank you very much, Tiziana!
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