1. Levain 
1. Mix all of the ingredients for levain.  Cover and leave it to rise until tripled in size at room temperature (28C - 30C). It took about 3 - 4 hours.  You will get 105g but, you will need 100g only.
2. Autolyse
1. Mix flour and water, stir until there is no more dry flour with a spatula.  Or use a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes at low speed.  Cover and leave for 1 - 2 hours at room temperature (28C).   
3. Add In Levain, Salt & Olive Oil 
1. Add in levain and salt. Mix with paddle attachment for about 3 - 4 minutes at speed 2 (KA mixer) and slowly turn to speed 4 or until the dough turns smooth, comes together and away from the sides of the bowl.
2. Add in olive oil and mix for another minute.  You should reach window pane stage at this time.
3. Transfer the dough into a greased dish.  Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
4. Stretch and Fold (S&F & Coil Fold) - 9.45 pm
1. S&F 1 – Fold 4 - 6 folds and round up. Your dough will be quite weak at this time. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
2. Coil Fold 1 – Fold in the dish. Cover and rest for 45 minutes.
3. Coil Fold 2– Fold in the dish and transfer to the greased 10" square pan. By this time, your dough should be smooth and strong.  Cover and rest for about 60 minutes or until the dough double in size.   
4. Note - You may need one more coil fold if the dough is still very weak.
5. Retard - Then retard overnight in the fridge (4C) for 12 - 16 hours.  
6. Next Morning
1. Remove the Focaccia dough from the fridge.
2. Gently stretch the dough to fill up the pan.   Let it proof for about 1 hour in room temperature at around 28C.
7. Baking 
1. Preheat the oven at 210C - 220C (fan-forced) for at least 20 minutes.  I preheated my oven for 30 minutes.
2. After one hour of proofing, the dough would have risen and puffy.  Drizzle olive oil, dimple the dough with your two hands and add toppings.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for about 35 - 40 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Remove from the oven and drizzle with more olive oil if you like.  You can serve immediately or cool baked focaccia bread on a wire rack.

Baking Temperature & Time

Do also note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.

Hydration

The liquid measurement given is also a guide.  It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go.  This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency. 

 This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently.

1. Sweet Stiff Starter (For Stiff Starter Recipe)
1. In a bowl of stand mixer, dilute starter with water, stir in sugar and add in bread flour.  Mix with paddle attachment until well mixed and all come together.   It can be done by hand mixing too.
2. Cover and let it ferment until tripled. I prepared a night before and leave it in aircond room (approximately 24 - 25C room temperature) overnight until tripled.  It took about 7 - 9 hours depending on your starter.  You can also prepare and leave on your kitchen counter, let it rise until triple in several hours and use at its peak.  The starter should look smooth and round dome.  It shouldn't have any dimples or it shouldn't collapse.
2. Mashed Potato:
1. Wash, peel and cut the potato.  
2. Steam for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
3. Mash the potato with a potato ricer.  Set aside to cool.
3. Main Dough:
1. Put all ingredients (except butter) into a bowl of stand mixer.  I usually slightly torn the stiff starter dough first.
2. Slightly combine the mixture by hand with the paddle attachment before turning on the machine so that the flour will not splash out.  Using the paddle attachment, mix for 2 minutes or until all incorporated.  This step is critical to prevent  an uneven mixed dough as the stiff starter is rather hard and a dough hook may not be able to mix it well enough.
3. Change to hook attachment and knead for another 3 minutes or until the dough comes together. Add in butter and continue knead for 10 - 12 minutes or until reach window pane stage.  During the whole kneading process, I stopped few times to scrape down the dough from the hook to be sure it is evenly kneaded and also to prevent the motor from overheating.
4. First Proofing/Resting The Dough:  
1. In the same bowl, let the dough rest for 30 - 60 minutes. Keep it covered with clingfilm or use a lid.  This dough I rested for 30 minutes at 29C room temperature and the dough rose a bit. (I did not find any big differences of 30 mins to 60 minutes rest.  So, please follow your schedule).
5. To shape:
1. Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface then divide into 12 equal portions. 
2. Form each portion into a ball.  
3. Flatten with rolling pin. 
4. Roll the dough like a swiss roll. Then roll it to a long strand (about 12 inches).
5. Please watch the video"How To Shape Twisted Donut"
6. Place the twisted dough into the prepared baking tray about 1.5 - 2 inches apart.
7. I made marks with a pencil about 0.7 cm away from the original size of the dough. 
6. Final Proofing:
1.  Let them proof at a warm place until the dough rise about 70% in size or when it reaches the pencil marks.   This one took approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes at room temperature of 29C - 30C.  The duration of proofing depends on your ambient temperature and starter.
7. To bake:
1. Preheat the oven at 200C (top and bottom heat) or 175 (fan-forced mode) 10 - 15 minutes before baking.
2. Bake at preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
3. Remove donuts from oven. 
4. Immediately brush the donut with melted butter. Then sprinkle with sugar mixture.

Sweet Stiff Starter

Main Dough

GENERAL NOTES:

MILK POWDER 

Why do I use milk powder?  

1. Milk or milk powder will enhance the flavour of the bread and makes the bread texture softer due to the fat content of the milk. 
2. Milk powder is shelf stable and you can have it anytime when you want to use.  Unlike liquid milk you need to finish within a certain time before it spoils.

KNEADING TIME

For kneading, please regard the timing provided as an indication only. It is only meant as a guide.  Timing may differ depending on the brand of flour and electric mixer used. The protein content may vary from one brand of flour to another.

OVER KNEADING

Some have experienced the dough breaking during the second proofing.  If that happens it is due to over kneading.  Please stop the machine and check your dough during the final cycle of kneading to ensure that you don't over knead. Every machine is different and there is always a chance of over-kneading when using a machine. You may need to adjust this timing and stop as soon as you reach the window pane stage.  This happen especially to Yudane dough method.   I noticed that it is harder to achieve a very thin window pane  with Yudane method dough. 

FLOUR

The right flour plays a very important role in bread making.   To achieve fluffy, soft and light bread, I used Japan High Gluten Flour in most of my bread baking.  The protein content is around  12 - 13%.

HYDRATION

The liquid measurement given is also a guide.  It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go.  This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency.  This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently. 

PROOFING

Please note that the proofing timing may also vary depending on your climate, environment, flour and your starter. 

If you are unable to judge by just looking at the dough, you can do the finger poke test:

Proofing:

1. Lightly press the side of the proved dough with your finger.  If it bounces back immediately without any indentation, it means the dough is under proved and needs more time before baking.
2. If the indentation stays and it doesn’t bounce back, it means it has been over proved.
3. If the indentation slowly bounces back and leave a small indentation, it is ready to bake. 
4. There will be a final burst of rising once the bread is placed to bake in the oven and it is called oven spring. 

WRINKLE TOP OR SHRINKING

If your bread collapses or gets wrinkled on top after removing from oven, it could be because your dough over proved during the second proofing. 

BAKING

Do also note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

A healthy starter is very crucial as advised by Baking with Gina.  It is advisable to feed your starter daily if you want your bread to rise nicely and to use the starter (levain) at its peak.  A starter that is fed regularly will be more active in general.

If the mother starter is not strong, the bread dough will not rise a lot even though the starter is used at its peak.  

When is a starter at its peak?  My sourdough starter is usually at its peak when it is tripled in the jar.  It usually stays at its peak for around 30 minutes before it starts to reduce/fall.  

Why use starter at its peak?  This is when the starter is most active and it will result in a better rise for your bread in general.  

Recipe - Turmeric Open Crumb Sourdough Bread with Curry Leaves

GENERAL NOTES:

BAKING

Do also note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.

HYDRATION

The liquid measurement given is also a guide.  It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go.  This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency.  This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently. 

SOURDOUGH STARTER

A healthy starter is very crucial as advised by Baking with Gina.  It is advisable to feed your starter daily if you want nice big crumb bread that rises nicely and to use the starter (levain) at its peak.  Refresh your starter few days before baking if you don't feed your starter daily.  If the mother starter is not strong, the bread dough will not rise much even though the starter is used at its peak.

How I judge my starter is healthy?  My starter usually tripled in size (or at least double) in within 3 - 4 hours at room temperature (27C - 28C) for feeding ratio of (1:1:1 = starter:water:flour)

When is a starter at its peak?  My sourdough starter is usually at its peak when it is tripled in the jar. The surface of my starter looks bubbling and uneven.  It usually stays at its peak within 1 hour before it starts to reduce/fall.  

Why use starter at its peak?  This is when the starter is most active and it will result in a better rise for your bread in general.  By the way, you can use when it is doubled/before its peak too.  But, not it starts to fall.

I learnt making sourdough starter from "How To Make Starter From Scratch" by Full Proof Baking.  Thank you to Full Proof Baking for the detailed video which proved invaluable.

BULK FERMENTATION

Bulk fermentation starts when you add in levain to the dough and ends when the dough is ready for shaping.  

TEMPERATURE DURING BULK FERMENTATION

Ambient temperature plays a very important part in sourdough baking.  It will affect the dough temperature and eventually affect your fermentation time.  The cooler ambient temperature will extend the fermentation time.  The greater degree of proof, the stronger the dough will be as explained by Trevor J. Wilson. 

The ambient temperature that worked for me is between 24C - 25C and bulk fermentation time is between 4.5 hours to 5.5 hours.  At the end of bulk fermentation, my dough would have increased 50% in volume. 

But, my kitchen ambient temperature (without air-conditioner) was 29C - 30C.  So, I have to bring down the temperature. 

How to bring down ambient temperature?

1. Air-conditioner room - Rest the dough in air-conditioner room during bulk fermentation.  I used this option sometimes.  I turned on my air-conditioner when I added in levain and try to maintain temperature between 24C - 25C.
2. Home oven (that's turned off) -  Place ice cooler packs inside along with an ambient temperature thermometer.  Then place your dough during bulk fermentation in the oven. Keep an eye on that thermometer and try to keep between 24 - 25 C.

DOUGH STRENGTH

Too strong (tension or elastic) dough will take a longer time to increase (proof) in volume.  So too strong dough may not have good oven spring and open crumb.  While too weak dough (extensibility) dough may not hold it shape and rise with good oven spring too.  

So over-working the dough (too strong dough) or under-working (weak dough) may affect the crumb structure and oven spring.  

The number of coil folds is not fixed and very much depends on the strength and extensibility of the dough.  

As demonstrated in an experiment by Kristen (Full Proof Baking) the over-worked dough rose super tall but was smaller in overall size and had a more dense crumb while the control dough rose tall during the oven spring and had a better overall result.

How do we know when it is enough and no more coil folds are needed? 

We usually do 3 coil folds for this method.  However, if by the second coil fold the dough is strong with less extensibility as you lift up a part of the dough then it should be the last coil fold, or just do a half coil folds instead of full. The resistance of the dough to being folded should be an indication to refrain from folding further.

How do we know when to do the next coil fold or stretch & fold?

When the dough spreads. Please do not rely on the time given in the recipe as it is just a guideline.  Please watch your dough and not the clock.  

SALT

You may wonder why most of the recipes asked to add salt after autolyze and adding levain.  Salt will tighten the gluten and make it harder to stretch.