I'm back on the baking trail now that my flours have all arrived. Last week, I was on the hunt for flours when my order went the opposite direction from me. It put a real crimp in my making the January Daring Bakers Challenge. So, I decided to maximize my chances of getting an order by picking 3 different vendors to order from. I was able to get enough flour in to finish the DB Challenge fortunately. However it wasn't enough to go back to baking bread. All the flours finally came in and I've got bread on the menu for today.
It's a truly lovely loaf of Almond White Bean Bread - a lean dough that is egg and dairy free. It has a wonderful flavor that is great as toast with scrambled eggs, a dollop of strawberry jelly or simply for eating plain.
This picture is from the first set I made in early morning light. I was waiting for later in the day, for a second set, when the light would be brighter and warmer through the patio doors. The dining area contains my photo studio in our temporary home, so I got things ready and then went off to take a shower. When I was finished getting ready, I discovered my son in his search for something to eat with his scrambled eggs had absconded with the loaf. A good portion was already gone and my daughter was digging into it to add to her breakfast plate. By the time the afternoon light came around, there wasn't enough of the loaf left to take another picture.
What's coming up next in my bread baking adventure? Bigas...another method of pre-ferment, which was used by Italian bakers. The biga will add a more complex flavor and larger air pockets. Well...I'm hopeful about the larger air holes, because you've got to keep on your positive thinking cap when you bake gluten free bread. First up will be the basic lean bread, Almond White Bean.Then I'm making a Cracked Rice and Potato Loaf that has the addition of whole grains of rice in it.
If you haven't tried many of the alternative flours, but you'd like to give some of them a try. Check out my latest article for the Daring Kitchen called "Playing With Alternative Flours." It might help you over the hurdle and into trying out an alternative flour that will add a different flavor, texture or nutrition to your food.
Recipe
Protein Content
Original: 33.8 g
Gluten Free: 33.44 g
Poolish
22 g brown rice flour (1.98 g)
22 g sweet rice flour (1.32 g)
22 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
34 g almond meal (6.8 g)
28 g white bean flour (6.45 g)
12 g instant dry yeast
131 ml water
15 ml agave syrup
Final Dough
10 g brown rice flour (.09 g)
22 g sweet rice flour (1.32 g)
22 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
35 g almond meal (7 g)
16 g buckwheat flour (2.32 g)
25 g white bean flour (5.37 g)
________________________replaces durum flour
22 g brown rice flour (1.98 g)
22 g sweet rice flour (1.32 g)
22 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
30 g almond meal (6 g)
28 g white bean flour (6.02 g)
6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
________________________replaces bread flour
15 g instant dry yeast
10 g sea salt
4 g agar agar powder
135 ml water (120 - 130 degrees F)
10 ml agave syrup
Directions for Poolish
Pour all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and blend together. Then add the water and agave syrup and stir until incorporated. Set the bowl in a warm location to rise for 30 minutes.
Directions for Final Dough
1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir together. Add the poolish, water and agave syrup and blend together until a soft ball forms. If the dough is still too soft, add arrowroot starch by the tablespoon (1 Tb/15 ml) until the dough firms up.
2. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with arrowroot starch. Gently roll the dough into a cylinder about 10 in/25 cm long and taper the ends. Take a sharp knife and slice a an arcing cut in the center of the cylinder at an angle. Slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and place in a warm location to rise for 2 hours.
3. Place an oven proof bowl filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Then place a baking stone on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F/246 degrees C. Place the loaf in the oven and spray water over the oven box and the top of the loaf. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes. Prop the oven door open and continue to cook the bread for another 10 minutes. Remove the loaf and allow it to cool before serving.
What's Going On?
I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their DVD's from my family for my birthday. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.
Want more?
You can follow me on Twitter and on Flickr.
Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts
Baking & Pastry #36 - Roasted Potato & Basil Loaf
Baking & Pastry #35 - Almond White Bean Epi Wreath
Baking & Pastry Week 18 - Poolishes
Baking & Pastry #34 - Almond Buckwheat Batard
Baking & Pastry #33 - Stollen
Baking & Pastry Week 17 - A Sponge and a Poolish
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