BAKE WITH PAWS

Orange Sweet Potato Soft Sourdough Bread

I have been baking quite a lot of Purple Sweet Potato Soft Sourdough Bread recently. I used the same recipe to bake an Orange Sweet Potato Soft Sourdough Bread. I am super happy with the result. The texture is especially soft and moist on the first day and it lasts very well for 2 - 3 days. It has a very mild sourness that may not be very discernible.

Sweet Potato Soft Sourdough Bread is quite common but it can be a little difficult to get it right. I have been experimenting with different quantities of mashed sweet potatoes. A higher percentage of potatoes usually causes the bread to be dense at the bottom. However, its texture is more moist and the bread tends to stay fresh longer. In this recipe, this is the right quantity that worked for me.

I have another Soft Sourdough Bread that you may also be interested in. Pumpkin Soft Sourodugh Bread recipe.

It is advisable to read the General Notes before baking.

GENERAL NOTES:

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.

FLOUR

The right flour plays a very important role in bread making. Usually bread flour content around 11.5 - 13.5% protein, while high gluten flour is around 13.5 - 14.5%. All purpose flour content less protein around 9 - 11%. To achieve fluffy, soft and light bread, I used Japan High Gluten Flour in most of my bread baking. Sources from here and here.

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 and environment. The humidity and temperature at your place will influence how dough rises.
If you are unable to judge by just looking at the dough, you can do the finger poke test:

Proofing Test:

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.
If the indentation stays and it doesn’t bounce back, it means it has been over proved.
If the indentation slowly bounces back and leave a small indentation, it is ready to bake.
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. Please proof your dough until it just reaches or is slightly below the rim of the pan.

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.

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

I used more levain (sourdough starter) in my soft bread recipe to get less sourness taste. This sounds weird right? More starter will make the dough rise faster and less time needed for the dough to digest and produce acids. The acids give the sourness taste. In resulting less acids produce and bread become less sour.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible.

RECIPE - ORANGE SWEET POTATO SOFT SOURDOUGH BREAD

Yields: 3 small loaves in 450g loaf pan

INGREDIENTS:

Levain (74%)- 190g total (ratio 1:3:3):

28g sourdough starter (100% Hydration)

84 bread flour (I used Japan High Gluten Flour)

84g water

* I used sourdough discard (3 days old) in this bread as my discard is quite strong. I left my discard outside for about a hour first to bring to room temperature before using.

Main Dough:

255g bread flour (I used Japan High Gluten Flour)
125g mashed orange sweet potato (about 200g potato - peeled, sliced, steamed and mashed)
25g brown sugar

1 tsp salt

26g butter
40g - 60g full cream milk/water (Add 40g first and add in the balance 20g if the dough too dry. I used total 40g water. The amount of liquid also depend on the hydration of mashed sweet potatoes and also the flour type)

45g whisked egg (from 1 large egg and keep the balance for egg wash)

Egg Wash:
Balance of the egg wash + 1/2 tsp water

Utensil:

450g loaf pan (21.3 X 12.2 X 11.5 cm / 8.4" X 4.8" X 4.5")

METHOD:

Levain:

One night before baking, mix all ingredients in a jar and cover.
Let it ferment at room temperature (approximately 26C - 27C) overnight until tripled. It took about 12 hours. You will get slightly more than 190g of starter. But, you will need only 190g stater.
Note - If you like to prepare the levain on the same baking day, please use the ratio 1:1:1. Let it ferment at room temperature (approximately 29 - 30C) until tripled. It took about 3-5 hours depend how strong is your starter.

Main Dough:

Put all ingredients (except butter), including the 190g sourdough starter (levain) into the bowl of a stand mixer.
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.
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.
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes - 60 minutes in the same bowl, covered with cling film or the lid. (I rest this dough for 60 minutes and sometimes 15 minutes depend on my schedule). The dough may rise slightly after 60 minutes.

To shape:

Punch down the dough to release the air. Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface then divide into 3 equal portions.
Form each portion to a ball.
Flatten with rolling pin.
Fold both right and left to centre.
Roll out with rolling pin into long rectangle shape.
Roll up the dough like Swiss Roll until a small log is formed.
Place all dough in the prepared loaf pan. Let the dough rise until it reach the rim of the pan. This bread took me around 5 hours at room temperature of 28C - 30C because I was using the discard. If your starter is strong, your bread should be able to rise till double in less than 5 hours.

To bake:

Preheat the oven at 190C (top and bottom heat) or 170 (fan-forced mode) 10 - 15 minutes before baking.
Brush with egg wash.
Bake at preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove bread from oven and let it cool completely on rack before slicing.

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Sourdough Mantou (Sourdough Steamed Buns)

After seeing the Scallion Sourdough Discard Mantou post by Baking with Gina I was so inspired and wanted to make it too. This recipe and method is adapted from Gina and it is a very good, simple method. Instead of using discard, I used fresh sweet levain fed with low protein flour. I did that because my sourdough discard contained 100% high gluten flour and that made the buns chewy; but if you prefer a chewy texture, then please use the discard that you have. The discard must be a few days old and it needs to be still healthy and strong.

The sweet levain method is adapted from Autumn Kitchen. This method ensures that the taste won't be tangy at all.

I used unbleached pau flour and also brown sugar. As a result, my buns are not as white as the mantou we usually to see. If you want very fine and white buns, just use "Hong Kong flour".

I have others steamed buns recipe using instant yeast. Please click here if you are interested.

How To Store Mantou?

The mantou may be stored in an airtight container and kept in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Steam it again when you want to eat it. I have not tried freezing it so I cannot give any advice on that.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible.

Recipe - Soudough Mantou (Sourdough Steamed Buns)

Yields: 12 Mantou

INGREDIENTS:

Sweet Levain - 200g total (ratio 1:3:3):

28g sourdough starter (100% Hydration)

86 pau flour (low protein flour), please use Hong Kong flour if you prefer white and fine texture.

86g water

28g sugar

Main Dough:

250g pau flour (low protein flour)

25g caster sugar (I used light brown sugar)

1/2 tsp salt

12g vegetable oil

60g - 65g water or milk (use 60g first and add another 5g if needed)

METHOD:

Sweet Levain:

One night before baking, mix all ingredients in a jar and cover.
Let it ferment in aircond room temperature in tropical climate (approximately 25C) overnight until tripled. It took about 10 - 12 hours.

Main Dough:

Put all ingredients including all the sweet starter into a bowl of stand mixer.
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 4 - 5 minutes or until all incorporated. I did not knead the dough as I do not want gluten to be formed if possible.

Proofing and Shaping:

Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest for 30 minutes in the same bowl, covered with cling film or the lid.
Lightly dust the working surface with flour. Roll out the dough to a rectangle (about 54 cm X 26 cm).
Roll the dough tightly from the longer edge to form a log. Cut dough into 12 equal portions with knife.
Place each mantou on a piece of baking parchment paper.
Spread the mantous on the bamboo steamer about 1 inch apart as the dough will rise.
Place the bamboo steamer on top of warm water and proof for 1.5 hours - 2 hours or until the buns increase 80% in size.

Steaming:

Prepare the steamer, wrap the steamer cover with a clean cloth. This will prevent steamer water dropping on the bun in order to get a smooth skin.
Once the mantous have risen, steam over medium low heat for about 10 minutes
Once it’s done, off the heat. After 5 minutes transfer the bamboo steamer away from the water and let it stand for another 10 minutes before removing the cover. With this, the mantou will not shrink and get wrinkle on the skin after cooling down.

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Marbled Butterfly Pea Flower Sourdough Bread

Marbled Butterfly Pea Flower Sourdough Bread is so pretty and I have been trying to bake it. I did the first one 2 months ago and the crumb and oven spring was not so great and I think that was due to an unhealthy starter. At my second attempt, the crumb, oven spring and ear turned out great but the colour was a little dull. The butterfly pea flower that I have has not been consistent. This is my third attempt and I think it's third time lucky! I finally achieved the colour, crumb, ear and oven spring that I have been looking for.

I used 77% hydration (final) as I think this is a good hydration for the Japan High Gluten Flour that I am using. Too much hydration will cause the colours to merge and the swirl pattern will get a little muddled.

The idea and method is adapted from "Full Proof Baking".

I have another Butterfly Pea Flower Open Crumb Sourdough Bread recipe that you may be interested.

Please read the below notes before baking for beginner.

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.

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

My daily feeding schedule:

9.00 am - Ratio 1:5:5 @ room temperature of 26 - 28C

9.00 pm - Ratio 1:5:5 @ room temperature of 26 - 28C

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. Warm ambient temperature will shorten the fermentation time while cooler ambient will extend fermentation time. For this bread, we prefer a longer fermentation as this allows you to have more time to develop the gluten structure . Therefore, short fermentation in warm ambient doesn’t allow you to work the dough as well. Credit to Janet The Soprano

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 40% - 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?

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.
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.
Cooler bag - Place ice cooler packs inside a cooler bag. Then rest the dough inside the cooler bag during bulk fermentation. Try to maintain temperature 24C - 25C.

DOUGH STRENGTH AND EXTENSIBILITY

The number of coil folds is not fixed and very much depends on the strength and extensibility of the dough. Over-working the dough may affect the crumb structure and oven spring.

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 & pull?

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.

Credit to Autumn Kitchen and Full Proof Baking.

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.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible.

Recipe - Marbled Butterfly Pea Flower Sourdough Bread

Yields: 1 loaf

Total flour: 300g + 30g (from levain) = 330g

INGREDIENTS:

Butterfly Pea Flower Water:

About 60-70 dried butterfly pea flowers, boil with 80g water, steeping for 30 minutes, strain to get the blue water and keep aside to cool.

White Dough:

180g bread flour (I used Japanese high gluten flour) - 90%

20g whole wheat flour - 10%

150g water (reserve 10g for salt) - 77% final hydration

4g sea salt - 2%

40g levain (sourdough starter - 100% hydration) – 20%

Butterfly Pea Flower Dough:

90g bread flour (I used Japanese high gluten flour) - 90%

10g whole wheat flour - 10%

74g butterfly pea flower water (reserve 5g for salt) - 77% final hydration

2g sea salt - 2%

20g levain (sourdough starter - 100% hydration) – 20%

Banneton (proofing basket)'s size - 6.5" oval shape

METHOD:

Feed starter - Feed ratio of 1:1:1, keep at room temperature (28C – 30C) and wait until tripled, around 2 – 3 hours.
Autolyse -

White Dough - Mix flour and water, stir until there is no more dry flour with a spatula then by hand. Cover and leave for 1 to 3 hours.
Butterfly Pea Flower Dough - Mix flour and butterfly pea flower water, do the same as white dough.

Levain -

White Dough - Wet your hand, add 40g sourdough to the white dough and hand mixing until incorporated, about 3 - 4 minutes. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Butterfly Pea Flower Dough - Add 20g levain and do the same as white dough.

Sea Salt -

White Dough - Dilute sea salt with the balance of 10g water. Pour on top of the dough, use hand to mix in the sea salt water. It takes about 5 minutes until it is fully incorporated. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.
Butterfly Pea Flower Dough - Dilute sea salt with the balance of 5g butterfly pea flower water. Do the same as white dough.

Stretch and Fold -

Stretch and fold both dough individually in the dish as per the video. Cover and rest for about 30+- minutes or until the dough spread. Please watch your dough and not the clock. Time given is just a guideline.

Lamination & Combine both dough- Please watch the video. Put dough in a clean dish. Cover and rest for about 30+- minutes or until the dough spread. Please watch your dough and not the clock.
Coil Fold 1 - Fold dough in the dish. Cover and rest for about 30+- minutes or until the dough spread. Please watch the video.
Coil Fold 2 - Repeat the same. Cover and rest for about 30+- minutes or until the dough spread. Please watch the video.
Coil Fold 3 - Repeat the same. Cover and rest for 60 - 90 minutes or until the dough rise about 40 - 50%. Please watch the video.
Shape - Please watch the video. Flour the counter top. Shape and transfer to a heavily flour banneton.
Proof - Proof at room temperature for about 10 - 15 minutes.
Retard - Then retard overnight in the fridge (4C) for about 12 - 16 hours.
Baking -

Preheat oven, with the dutch oven at 250C for about 30 minutes before baking.
Take bread dough out from the fridge, invert onto a parchment paper and scoring (please watch video). Immediately transfer the dough with the parchment paper to your preheated dutch oven.
Lower the temperature to 230C (fan-forced) and bake with cover on for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and lower the temperature to 220C (fan-forced), continue bake for another 10 - 15 minutes.
Remove bread from oven and dutch oven. Let it cool on rack sliglty before slicing.

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RECIPE - ORANGE SWEET POTATO SOFT SOURDOUGH BREAD

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RECIPE - ORANGE SWEET POTATO SOFT SOURDOUGH BREAD

Recipe - Black Sesame Cookies (黑芝麻饼)

Recipe - Pumpkin Open Crumb Sourdough Bread

Recipe - Oats and Honey Bar

Recipe - Crispy Sourdough Cheese Crackers (Using Discard)

Recipe - Soudough Mantou (Sourdough Steamed Buns)

Recipe - Marbled Butterfly Pea Flower Sourdough Bread

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