Well, their famous sourdough at least. Well, it wasn't nearly as good as the real stuff from three-thousand miles away. It was soft, slightly sour, and hearty. Tossing in a bit of leftover bran from my blueberry bran muffins and some flax it had the texture of a good sandwich bread with the soul of a toasting or soup-sopping loaf.
It began when I was asked to make sourdough pancakes; well ,you need a starter to make anything sourdough-like, so first I began with that.
Look at that microbial action!
Now, with about a cup of starter left, I haven't made pancakes, but it lives in the fridge for up to two weeks ideally, so theres still time! But even if I never get to make those perfect silver dollars, my bread was a success and that makes me happy.
Brown, soft, and sour!
Whole-Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Beginning with my favorite cookbook - The Bread Bible - I whipped up my starter Thursday, feeding and whisking it up. I used all whole wheat in place of unbleached all purpose with a tablespoon or so of gluten tossed in for good measure.
Rising - warm inside cold outside. Baking at its best
Fast forward to today, after making some breakfast burritos I proceeded to bake my glorious bread.
Subbing White Whole Wheat and a tablespoon of gluten per cup of flour for the all purpose called for and adding a bit of that bran (about 3 tablespoons) and flax meal (1/4 cup or so) to the dough, the loaf came together in no time. It rose substantially in the first rising period and even more after I'd already formed the loaves in the pans. Best of all, they simply fell out of my loaf pans!
Give sourdough a try sometime, you won't be disappointed. Who needs white bread when you can make a fermented masterpiece? It made arguably the best Peanut Butter-banana I've tasted.
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