CELEBRATE WORLD BREAD DAY -SWEET POTATO SAGE BREAD

Fall has finally come to Portland, Maine – thanks to climate change visibly later than in earlier years. Though days are sunny and still quite warm, people are getting the Halloween spirit. Between their blooming chrysanthemums and dahlias, many front yards are decorated with grinning skeletons, spider webs, bats, and carved pumpkins.

Last weekend, I saw a new bread in our neighborhood food store, Rosemont Market: Sweet Potato Sage Sourdough.

I like sweet potatoes and sage, and was intrigued. Knowing that this seasonal offering would be available only for a short time, I bought a loaf.

We had the bread for lunch and found it very tasty. And I had an inspiration for my contribution to Zorra’s Blog-Event for World Bread Day 2024 on October 16!

I knew a good place to start from, one of my favorite blogs, Maurizio Leo’s The Perfect Loaf. I love his Roasted Potato Rosemary Bread. I have baked it several time (with some tweaks and changes to the procedure). Even though sweet potatoes are no “real” potatoes, the ratio of ingredients should be about the same.

My experiment worked: the Sweet Potato Sage Loaf tasted great! It also looked very attractive with its autumnal orange.

The taste of the fresh sage is quite subtle. If you prefer a stronger sage aroma, just add some more chopped sage leaves.

The no-knead loaf ferments in the fridge overnight. It doesn’t have to de-chill, and you bake it conveniently in a Dutch oven.

Ingredients:

STARTER
20 g active starter (100% hydration)
10 g spelt flour (or whole wheat flour)
10 g bread flour
20 g water (85ºF/30ºC)

FINAL DOUGH
430 g bread flour
75 g spelt flour (or whole wheat flour)
1 medium sweet potato, about 250 g (200 g flesh is needed )
5 g sage leaves, coarsely chopped
380 g lukewarm water (90ºF/32ºC)
10 g salt
60 g starter (all)

Instructions (with scheduling option)

DAY 1
7:00 am
In small bowl, mix all ingredients for the starter. Cover, and leave in a warm spot for 4-6 hours. It is ready, when a teaspoonful of starter rises to the surface when dropped into water (swim test).

Poke sweet potato a few time (so that steam can escape). Microwave it for about 6 minutes, flipping it halfway through, until very soft. (Alternatively, bake it for 50 – 60 minutes in a 400ºF/200ºC oven).

Peel sweet potato and mash with a fork (puree doesn’t have to be too smooth).

1:00 pm
In large bowl, whisk starter into water (reserve 25 g of the water for adding later).

Mix both flours, then add together with sweet potato flesh to starter mixture. Stir until all flour is hydrated (I use a Danish dough whisk).

Let dough rest, covered, for 1 hour (autolyse).

Add sage, salt, and reserved water to dough. Pinch and fold it 5 – 6 times to combine everything. Then give it a few stretches and folds in the bowl until dough firms up (it will be sticky).

Let dough rest, covered, for about 4 hours in a warm spot, applying 3 – 4 more folds at 30-minute intervals. It will not rise dramatically, but should look a bit puffy and have 20 – 30% more volume. (If not, leave it for another 30 – 60 minutes).

6:00 pm
Sprinkle half of your work surface with flour. Scrape dough onto the un-floured side. Lightly flour top. Using oiled spatula, work into round by drawing spatula around in circles to create surface tension, while rotating it.

Let pre-shaped dough rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Generously flour rising basket (I use a mixture of all-purpose and rice flour). Sprinkle bottom with wheat bran or wheat flakes (to prevent sticking).

Dust top of dough with flour. Using bowl scraper or bench knife, flip it around, floured-side down. Pull bottom of dough up to fold into 1/3 of the round. Pull sides and fold over center to elongate it. Fold top down to center, and then bottom over top fold, leaving seam underneath.

With floured hands, rotate dough ball on the counter, until taut. Place into rising basket, seam-side up, and sprinkle with flour. Cover, and refrigerate overnight, 12 – 14 hours. (No warming-up necessary).

DAY 2
Preheat oven to 500ºF/260ºC, including Dutch oven, placed on center rack.

With a vigorous slap, turn loaf out onto large piece of parchment paper. (Don’t be timid, or the bread will stick!) Cut parchment around bread to make a sling . Slash loaf as desired.

Remove hot pot from oven, and uncover it. (I always place an oven mitt on the lid, so that I don’t accidentally touch it. Been there, painfully done that! ).

Using paper sling, place loaf into hot Dutch oven. Cover with lid.

Bake bread for 20 minutes, then remove lid, and reduce oven temperature to 450ºF/230ºC. Bake for another 20-25 minutes, until loaf is golden brown, and registers at least 200ºF/93ºC on an instant thermometer.

Using sling, transfer bread to wire rack, and remove paper. Let loaf cool completely for several hours before cutting.