People, World Bread Day is almost over (at least on this side of the earth) and I'm loaded with work but didn't want to miss out completely on this event that's created by the lovely Zorra of Kochtopf and that's very dear to me!
So this is going to be a short one. During my recent trip to Germany, I had plenty of stuff on my to-do list. Next to "meet as many friends as possible", there was "eat as many German specialties as you can possibly stomach". What shall I say, I really worked hard on that one...Of course, one of the most memorable things I ate (apart from an incredible number of sausages and cured meats) was a certain type of bread - full with seeds but not dense and heavy at all. Still chewing, my better half requested this particular loaf to be recreated in Sydney and who am I to deny that..;-)
I started off with this recipe from Petra of Chili and Ciabatta and made the changes following below. For non-German-speakers, just a rough summary of the procedure: let the soaker rest for 3-4 hours (covered), mix the dough, let rise until doubled, degas it while stretching and folding it 2x, shape into a loaf, let rise until nearly doubled, and bake at 220 degrees Celsius.
The dough is relatively moist and rather sticky but not too hard to work with (stretch & fold helps a lot to get a good dough structure). My version produces a soft but hearty crumb (due to the different kinds of grains and seeds) and a compact but rather soft crust. It goes well with honey, jam, and mild cheeses.
PS: The first time I made it with a mixture of sourdough and instant yeast as below, the second time around I used sourdough only but can't remember for the life of me if I therefore upped the amount of sourdough or not. Hence, I need to make it again to find out...
Seed Bread
The ingredients
Soaker:
45g flax seeds
45g rye flour
35g sesame seeds
35g rolled oats
11g salt
206g boiling water
Final dough:
180g water or whey
all of the soaker
250g wheat sourdough, 100% hydration
1tbsp honey
360g bread flour
30g wheat germ
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp malted barley flour
up to 4 tbsp whole wheat flour (depending on the stickiness of the dough)
The source
Adapted from Petra of Chili&Ciabatta
26 comments:
What a wonderful loaf! Seeds add an interesting flavor to bread!
Cheers and happy WBD,
Rosa
Oh goodness Eva . . . I made something like this! But now I want to compare the recipe I used with yours and then pay some attention to the soaker idea. I picked it because I like the flax, rye and oatmeal! I liked it very much.
Thanks, Rosa! I was very happy with the result as it came really close to the German original. But I hope to update the recipe with a sourdough-only version, too.
Tanna, how funny is that! I've just had a look at your version, will need to try it soon, especially the stuffed buns are wonderful!
So, with no German language (plenty of German genes from my Dad) and linking back to the source for your recipe would the recipe in Hamelman's book be the Five-Grain Sourdough with Rye Sourdough or the Five-Grain Levain. I'm leaning to the first. Babal fish only takes me so far. I guess I do know that korn is grain.
The stuffed buns were just serendipity but totally grand.
I absolutely love bread like this - although my boyfriend calls it bird seed :) I do think I need to make it though, it sounds amazing.
You know you're a bread geek when you see a recipe (your's in this case) and a few hours later you have soaker and starter sitting out on your counter ;0)
I should have this in the oven this afternoon.
Would you want me to scan the original recipe and send it?
Engineer Baker - mine said the same the first time I made this complaining about the hard-to-bite seeds..;-) Then I discovered the recipe using a soaker and now he loves it, too!
Tanna, I'd love to have the original recipe! I'm really looking forward to seeing your next loaf!
I always thought seed bread would be dense, so knowing its light makes me want to try it.
Rye flour isn't something I get here, but I'm going to see if I can't find something to substitute. :)
Oh and btw, I mentioned this in my post, but if you don't really like a slightly bitter ganache, you might make it with a sweeter chocolate or milk chocolate.
I can't find your email anywhere here. Mine is at the bottom of any of my pages. Email me and I'll pop it to you, unless you want me to leave it in a comment - and it's pretty long (big table).
Oh, and yes I'm really enjoying this one.
Hi Aparna,
I could imagine that any other flour than wheat would also give this bread a nice hearty flavour. Buckwheat, barley or spelt maybe? If you can't get any of these, I'd suggest using more wholewheat flour instead.
And I love bittersweet ganache..;-)
Hi Aparna,
I could imagine that any other flour than wheat would also give this bread a nice hearty flavour. Buckwheat, barley or spelt maybe? If you can't get any of these, I'd suggest using more wholewheat flour instead.
And I love bittersweet ganache..;-)
What a loaf! It looks just like my favourite bread - the soy and linseed loaf from Sonoma. It also reminds me of a fabulous seed bread from Luneburger.
I've never tried the bread at Luneburgers (I'm always too tempted by the pretzels...) but it's quite a common bread in Germany - maybe I should taste-test their version... Although I don't live far away from Sonoma, I've never bought anything there - I should try this, too, I guess!
Beautiful loaf, Eva!
Danke Eva, dass du dich trotz vieler Arbeit die Zeit genommen hast, und dieses tolle Brot für den WBD'08 gebacken hast. Muchas gracias! :-)
The bread is perfect!
Thank you, Susan!
War mir ein Vergnuegen, Zorra, gerade noch so reinzurutschen..;-)
Thanks Tartelette!
The wonderful seeds and your photography make this bread shine!
Such a beautiful bread. I love seeded bread, I think the nuttiness from the seeds really add flavor to it. I am bookmarking this!
What gorgeous bread! When I lived in Germany (I was 8 years old), I loathed German bread and longed for squishy white bread. Now that I'm much older, I wish for some of the wonderful German bread I spurned. Now I need to find malted barley flour.
Spectacular bread Eva! German seed bread is one of my favourite breads ever and I'm not usually a big bread eater :)
Thank you, Gattina! You're too kind!
Elra, let me know how you're going with it!
Hi Lynn, I'm glad you fell in love with German bread! Don't worry if you can't find malted barley flour, it's not essential but helps with browning and getting a good crust.
Welcome, Lorraine! This one is now one of my favourites, too!
My! That looks wonderfully moist and warm and satisfying. I love seeds in my bread, they give such a nice nuttiness.
Eva,that's a hearty loaf of bread,love the Flax seeds!
Thanks for stopping by, Natashya! I think so, too!
Yes, Yasmeen, gone are the days when I thought that flax seeds would be too healthy to be good..;-)
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