Sourdough

I love sourdough.  There are so many things you can do with it.  Since starting it a month ago, I have made, bread, pancakes, biscuits, cake and gingerbread.  They have all been good.  My starter consists of, flour and water, that's it.  I started with 1/2 cup flour  and 1/3 cup water (equal amounts by weight) in a large jar.  I let it sit at room temperature and fed it every 12 hours with 1/2 cup flour (white and whole wheat by turns) and 1/3 cup water for a week.  This is called 100% hydration starter.  All this means is that it is made with equal weights water and flour.  I use half whole wheat and half white flour.  Based on what I've read it's hard to make a 100% whole wheat starter (I haven't tried).  Here I have it in a quart jar with a lid set on top.  The lid is not tight.  When I started it I covered it with a cloth napkin, I find it's just easier to use the jar lid.

 

The first thing I made was pancakes.   They fried up white.  Not too appetizing looking, so I added some sugar and it improved the colour.  They tasted good.  

I next made some bread.  I use an old recipe, modified to use sourdough. I made up my dough and let it rise overnight.

1 cup room temp (fed 8-12 hours before) sourdough starter

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup all bran (can be left out)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

1Tbsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp oil or shortening 

Flour to make a dough (about 5 cups)

Soak the whole wheat flour and all bran in the water for an hour or so, then add the starter.  Let start to bubble a little (1/2 hour or so) the add the rest of the ingredients and mix and knead till you have a smooth dough.  Try not to add too much flour, you want it smooth and elastic, not heavy and hard to knead.  It will be sticky when you start kneading.

Let rise overnight (I found this to be the best way).  

 

Next morning punch it down and make 2 to 3 loaves (depending in your bread pans).  Cover with a damp dish towel or napkin and let rise for a few hours.  It won't double but it should grow at least 50% larger.  Bake at 350*F for about 30-35 minutes.  

 

Feed hot, well buttered slices to your husband.  

I also made biscuits.  I changed the recipe slightly, substituting lard for the oil and butter and cutting it in instead of melting it.  I rolled out the dough and cut out the biscuits.  They turned out very good.  Again, serve hot and well buttered.

And finally, I made cake.  I made gingerbread, it was good, but I think it needed a little more salt or maybe just more spice.

I also made Maple pumpkin sourdough cake.  It is excellent.  I used 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp cloves1/8 tsp allspice and 1/4 tsp anise extract for the pumpkin pie spice.   I had no icing sugar to top it off with so I used nutri-whip with cinnamon, cloves and anise extract to taste.  

Serve with a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or milk.  :)

ENJOY