Saturday, October 14, 2006

Sourdough Ciabatta

I was reading the usual bread forums and came across a Ciabatta recipe posted by Jeremy, a forum member of Sourdough Australia. I decided to give it a try since I had some refreshed starter. With the starter raring to go, I mix up half of the recipe which yielded two small loaves, enough to feed three of us.
As usual, with the temperature being different from the origin, the proofing times were slightly different from the recipe. It was about two and a half hours for the initial bulk fermentation then shaped and followed by another hour or so for the final proof. The loaves were baked in a 220C oven for between 20 to 25 minutes.

The baked loaves were cooled and cut with good crumb texture by my standard. Taste wise, it's soft and chewy with a good tang of sourness. The crust was fantastic and the saltiness was about right. It went well toasted and topped with a generous spread of jam. Will be trying this recipe again when time permits. Have a go at this recipe, you will love it...

Till the next bake, have a sticky doughy time... Cheers!

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Sourdough Bagels

Well, been baking spelt and gluten-free bread lately, so I finally got my starter that was sleeping in the fridge out for a "run" and was pleasantly surprise with this small batch of bagels.

















It has that chewiness of a soudough and a subtle sour tang to it... Want some???