Sunday 6 November 2016

Sourdough fruit bread with poppy seeds

A while back, I experimented with variations to my regular overnight sourdough bread recipe.  One loaf was carrot, onion and poppy seed bread and the other was this sourdough fruit bread with poppy seeds.  It was very satisfying to have fancy home made bread in the house.

It is a great luxury to have home made fruit bread.  I have tried sourdough fruit bread once before and it was quite rustic looking.  This time I added a bit more liquid which worked better.  And it was a good opportunity to use up some of the dried fruit in the pantry.

I had some chocolate and macadamia spread which was brilliant on the toast.  Around the same time I was making strawberry and rhubarb jam for the school fete.  One of the jars did not seal so we had to eat it.  Things I do!  It was great on the bread but I also loved eating the fruit bread toasted with some margarine.

More breads with dried fruit on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Malted loaf with chocolate, figs and brazil nuts (v)
Overnight sourdough fruit bread (v)
Potato boston bun (v)
Pumpernickel rolls with currants (v)
Rhubarb and raspberry no knead focaccia (v)  
Vegan sourdough hot cross buns with marzipan (v) 
Walnut and fig bread (v)

Sourdough fruit bread with poppy seeds
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

200g sourdough starter
275g water
9g salt
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp mixed spice
50g each cranberries, apricots and prunes, chopped
50g walnuts, chopped
10g (1 tbsp) poppyseeds
400g plain white flour
100g wholemeal flour
maize flour to dust surface

A few hours before making the loaf, take sourdough starter out of the fridge and feed it so it gets nice and bubbly. 

About an hour before going to bed (or first thing in the morning) mix everything together.  It is easiest to mix everything except flour first and then add flour.  Use hands to mix if required.  Set aside covered with a tea towel for half an hour.  Knead in the bowl for about 1 minute.  Cover with greased clingwrap and leave at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours.

Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured board.  Very gently without punching the air out, fold the dough in three.  Shape into a loaves.  Place on a floured surface and cover with the lightly greased clingwrap.  (Maize flour is great here.)  Set aside to rise for 30 minutes.  While the loaves rise, preheat oven to 240 C, with casserole dishes heating if you are using them.

Slash the loaves and put in the heated casserole dishes with lids on (or on a tray or in a tin).  Bake for 20 minutes with lid on.  Remove lid and bake another 20 minutes.  Then reduce oven heat to 180 C and return to oven for another 10 minutes to make sure the crust is crispy and golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing.

* NOTES: For more extensive notes on this method, go to my post on overnight sourdough bread.  If you can't find golden syrup, you can use an alternative sweetner such as sugar or maple syrup.  You can use other dried fruit or nuts in the loaf.  I used what I had about.


On the stereo:
Thursday's Fortune: Club Hoy

This post is part of the Vegan Month of Food (Vegan MoFo) in November 2016.  Go to my Vegan MoFo list for more of my 2016 Vegan MoFo posts. 

Week 1 is Treat Yourself.

9 comments:

  1. It looks utterly gorgeous and I would love a sice right now. I still don't have the confidence to make sourdough bread, Celia sent me some of her Priscilla and its still inthe packet - I am just nervous about bread. I have made some in the past no problem, but recently I made a basic bread loaf and it did not rise, turned out it was not me the yeast was old. Hoping to try again, but i'd love to try my hand at sourdough wish I had you by my side spurring me on.

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    1. Thanks Shaheen - I would happily share a slice with you and spend some time helping you with sourdough if you lived nearby. I highly recommend the overnight sourdough recipe which makes it so much easier. I keep hoping to find time to write up reflections on nurturing a starter after a few years - I wrote about it soon after I started using it but I think I am more relaxed now. So I do understand your nervousness and am happy to spur you on from afar if I can!

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  2. A loaf like that wouldn't last long in our house -- beautiful!
    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Mae - I put a few last slices in the freezer and still have them - as I am the only one who really loves fruit bread it can last a while :-(

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  3. It was one of your older posts that alerted me to the joys of making overnight sourdough, but mine never look quite as beautiful and well risen as yours! I wonder if it's not leaving the starter long enough?

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    1. Thanks Joey - I have been making the overnight sourdough for ages and have a good sense of when it is risen enough - probably helps that I always use the same bowl so can compare rises easily. Sometimes if I feel it is not risen enough I leave it another hour or two. I am pretty slack about making sure my starter is bubbly but that also seems to help (if mine isn't I think maybe it needs longer to rise)

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  4. Your soughdough looks amazing!

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