The looming deadline of a blog event, hosted by my blogging buddy Anna Antonia, gave me the much needed kick in the energy to overcome my dog days’ laziness and write a new post.
What to do with stale bread? For me a no-brainer: baguette or brioche leftovers usually end up as bread pudding. But for sourdough or other hearty breads there’s only one option: grind, toast, and re-bake!
My favorite baker in Hamburg, Jochen Gaues, recycles old bread in many of his baked goods (like Sunflower Seed Rolls.)
Unfortunately, his (visually gorgeous) baking book “Brot” is so sloppily edited that only experienced bakers are able to figure out how to work with sparse instructions and missing ingredients.
One of his breads was the inspiration for my Nice-Twice Sunflower Seed Bread.
Collection of many different kinds of old bread crumbs
What makes a dough with a larger amount of old bread (here more than 13%) so special? Not two loaves are the same, because leftovers of several different (and differently seasoned) breads go into my crumb collection.
Freshly ground rye meal
With the Mockmill I just brought home from the Kneading Conference, I’m finally able to achieve finer and coarser grinds – something my old Nutrimill couldn’t do. (No, I don’t get any goodies from them!)
If you don’t own a mill and your rye meal is drier, you might have to add a little more water to the dough.
Tastes good just with butter alone!
I was very curious how my improvised sunflower seed bread would turn out. We were absolutely delighted!
It had an excellent taste – slightly sweetish and hearty, with a thin, crispy crust. One bite – and it was admitted to my “Bread Hall of Fame”.
My new favorite bread
NICE-TWICE SUNFLOWER SEED BREAD (inspired by Jochen Gaues)
STARTER
40 g rye mother starter (100% hydration)
30 g whole rye flour
50 g whole wheat
80 g water (lukewarm)
SOAKER
167 g cracked or coarse ground rye
67 g old bread, ground and toasted
234 g water
FINAL DOUGH
75 g water
200 g starter (all)
2.8 g instant yeast
468 g soaker (all)
83 g whole wheat flour
83 g whole rye flour
9 g salt
35 g sunflower seeds, toasted
sunflower seeds, for sprinkling
DAY 1
In small bowl, mix all starter ingredients. Cover, and leave for 8-12 hours at room temperature (overnight).
Soaker with rye chops and old bread
Stir together all soaker ingredients in another small bowl. Cover, and let sit at room temperature overnight.
Dough will be very soft and sticky
DAY 2
In mixer bowl, mix all dough ingredients for 6 minutes on low speed (paddle works here better than kneading hook ). Let dough rest for 5 minutes, then mix for 1 more minute. (Dough will be very soft and sticky.)
Smooth surface with wet spatula or hands
Transfer dough to a greased loaf pan. Smooth surface using wet rubber spatula or wet hands, taking care to fill corners. Sprinkle loaf with sunflower seeds, then, with wet spatula or wet hands, press seeds slightly into dough.
Sprinkle with sunflower seeds, pressing them slightly into the dough
Cover pan with aluminum foil, and let dough rest for 30 – 45 minutes (it will not visibly rise.)
Preheat oven to 450ºF/230ºC (no steaming device necessary.)
Bake bread, with foil, for 15 minutes, remove foil, reduce oven temperature to 425ºF/220ºC, and bake for another 35-40 minutes, until it is golden brown and registers at least 200°F/93ºC on an instant thermometer.
Freshly baked Sunflower Seed Bread
Turn loaf out onto wire rack. Let it cool completely before slicing.
If you have the discipline to wait that long – I usually don’t!
Wieder mal ist es einer von Zorras Blog-Events, der mir mit seiner Deadline den Tritt in den Ansporn dazu gibt, meine sommerliche Faulheit zu überwinden, und einen neuen Post zu schreiben.
“Altbacken”, ausgerichtet von Christine (alias Anna Antonia), sammelt Ideen, was man alles aus alten Brotresten in der Küche zaubern kann.
Während ich misslungene Backversuche von weissem oder süssem Brot durchweg zu Bread Pudding (amerikanischen Brotauflauf) verarbeite, gibt es für Sauerteig- und andere Brotreste von nur eine Möglichkeit: mahlen, rösten und neu verbacken!
Mein Hamburger Lieblingsbäcker, Jochen Gaues, recycelt Altbrot in vielen seiner Backwaren, z.B. in den leckeren Sonnenblumenbrötchen.
Sein Backbuch “Brot” ist zwar optisch ein Genuss, aber leider so schlampig editiert, dass sich nur erfahrene Bäcker einen Reim aus spärlichen Instruktionen und fehlenden Zutaten machen können.
Von einem seiner lückenhaften Rezepte (genervtes Augenrollen!) habe ich mich zu meinem Nice-Twice-Sonnenblumenbrot inspirieren lassen.
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