Walnut Sourdough

It's been a while since our last post, so here we go, baking a little walnut sourdough loaf. Walnut breads have been one of our favourites since forever: We love the nutty taste combined with creamy cheeses or just with butter. It is to die for!

Creating this blog, naturally took us to many, many food and bread blogs on the internet, but one in particular has caught our attention: The Fresh Loaf by Ryan Sandler. The formula we are using today is found on that site, and it was submitted by Hans Joakim. We have slightly adjusted the formula, just because we couldn't resist playing God. Try it out; it is awesome.

The Recipe
Makes one loaf of Walnut Sourdough

Rye Sourdough

100 gr whole rye flour
100 gr water
40 gr ripe rye sourdough culture

Mix the ingredients together and let ferment approximately 12-15 hours at room temperature.

Final Dough

310 gr all-purpose flour
39 gr whole rye flour
64 gr whole wheat flour
294 gr water
11 gr salt
100 gr walnuts, roughly chopped
240 gr rye sourdough

Incorporate the all-purpose flour, whole rye flour, whole wheat flour, water and the rye sourdough until all of the flour is hydrated. Let it sit for 30 minutes to do the autolyse. Add the salt and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Now add the walnuts and gently incorporate them. Let the dough rise for about 2 hours, then give it a gentle stretch and fold and let it rest for another hour. Now the dough is ready for shaping. Let the shaped loaf rise for 1 hour. Bake the proofed loaf for about 45 minutes in the preheated oven at 450 F. Enjoy.

Advanced bread workshop at UBC Farm

Our first advanced bread workshop finally took place yesterday at UBC Farm. This time around, we had quite a few familiar faces, friends and former customers from the bakery.

While our beginners’ class was all about the basics of baking bread at home, this one was meant to teach the subtleties of baking, to talk about the science of dough and to exchange ideas and stories. A few of the attendees brought home-baked loaves to the workshop, to have them sampled and discussed. After a bit of theory, talking about the different ingredients, showing different types of flours, as well as cracked grains, seeds and flakes, explaining the importance of preferments, soakers and mashes, autolyse, kneading and shaping techniques, we finally got to get our hands dirty. Together, we got to apply some of our knowledge to developed a formula for the evening’s dough. 

We had prepared beforehand a preferment, as well as two different types of soakers for the class. Everybody got their little share of the preferment and soakers, and then started measuring their ingredients, weighing water and flour, adding the yeast. As if by magic, the silent, focused group turned into a social and chatty gathering. After incorporating all the ingredients, and during a twenty minute break that allowed for the autolyse, we shared our sourdough starters, we sampled the home-baked loaves, and we chatted about baking and bread.  

The kneading part – after the autolyse is complete – is the stage where everybody always has lots of fun: thirty-two hands inside sixteen mixing bowls, kneading the dough to perfection!

Beginner bread workshop at UBC Farm

After a successful first workshop back in January, and because we had a long waiting list of students eager to learn more about baking artisan bread, we scheduled our second baking workshop at UBC Farm.

Based on feedback from our first class, we decided to do two workshops rather than only one, to meet the needs of all our students. One was designed for aspiring bakers, who want to learn the basics of dough mixing and kneading techniques, while a second one was meant for people who are already quite accomplished home bakers, ready to talk science.

Yesterday, shortly after 6 pm, fifteen students got together at UBC Farm equipped with mixing bowls and wide-eyed curiosity. Since making great bread requires time (and the more time you allow, the better your results), one cannot fit all the steps involved in a three-hour bread workshop. Therefore, our students, after mixing and kneading, had to take their dough home, and bake it when it was ready. 

In an attempt to illustrate the difference between two of the most common ingredients (whole wheat flour and white flour), three basic bread formulas were offered. One was a 100 % white loaf with 65 % hydration, the next was a 50/50 whole wheat and white with 70 % hydration, and the third a 100 % whole wheat loaf with 73 % hydration.

Every student received about 100 grams of "old dough" prepared the day before, which they added to their dough for increased flavor.

Three Basic Bread Formulas

100% white (65% hydration) 

1100 gr all-purpose flour (100 %)

710 gr water (65 %)                                    

22 gr salt (2 %)
11 gr yeast (1 %)

50/50 (70 % hydration)

530 gr all-purpose flour (50 %)
530 gr whole wheat flour (50 %)

740 gr water (70 %)

21 gr salt (2 %)

11 gr yeast (1 %)

100 % whole wheat (73 % hydration)

1050 gr whole wheat flour (100 %)

767 gr water (73 %)

21 gr salt (2 %)

11 gr yeast (1 %)

Warning: Do try this in your own home. It's tons of fun!