Simply enjoy food

What could be better than the tart sour flavor of apple mixed with sweetness from brown sugar and cinnamon? The complex flavor of sourdough, of course.

Ingredients:

500 grams of sourdough.
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 green apple (tart)
1/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon

I used a 66 per cent hydration dough with a very small amount of rye flour in it. You can build it the same day for a more subtle flavor or let it rise in the refrigerator overnight to increase the sour taste.

Roll it out flat as a rectangle on a floured surface. Put the butter in a microwave-safe measuring cup and melt it (about 25 seconds). Cut the apple into small pieces, either slices or cubes. Add the brown sugar, lime juice, apple and cinnamon to the butter. Mix.

Spread half of the apple filling onto the bottom surface of a 9x9 square baking pan. Use a dab of butter to grease the sides of the pan all the way up on each side. Spread the other half of the filling onto the rolled out dough and roll it up. Dust the roll with flour and make sure it's not sticking to the work surface. Pack the ends together to make an even shape. measure out three equal pieces and then slice the roll up into nine even pieces. Add each piece to the bottom of the pan as you slice it. You may have to squeeze in the last pieces to make it fit. Let it rise for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 45 minutes. Slide a spatula around the edges and flip out the buns onto a sheet of wax paper while they are still hot. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

There are many excellent sources of information on how to create a sourdough culture from scratch. You basically mix flour and water and wait for the yeast to become active and take over. Rye flour has more yeast cells stuck to it than whole wheat, and whole wheat has more than white flour, but any flour can be used.

There is a lot that can happen that will discourage the first-time microbiologist from succeeding in making some bread from this process and everyone has their favorite piece of advice to counter that.

The result is usually a very complicated description, complete with a somewhat precise timetable to make your life confusing.

I drew up a little flowchart that clarifies the process without adding too many details. For example, someone living in a northern climate can expect the ambient temperature to be different than the temperature in San Francisco, and therefore the time it takes for the yeast to get busy may be longer. How confusing it can be for someone's "step two" to take three and a half days instead of the two days it's supposed to take!

Using a flowchart eliminates that confusion. You move on to the next step when your starter is good and ready.

Attached to this article is the original file. Please edit it and improve it as you see fit. It can be opened using Inkscape.

Other sources of information:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10359/discouraged-southeast#comment-54426
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/starterprimer.html
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/13/raising-a-starter/

How to maintain and use a starter:
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/09/29/maintain-starter/
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9346/123-easy-formula-sourdough-bread

I had originally posted this flowchart here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10166/wild-yeast-levain-sourdough-start...

To those who don't know what sourdough is, it's wild yeast cultured to raise bread in the same way that commercial yeast does. To keep it alive and active, you need to discard a large portion of it and feed the remainder which makes it grow back. So, I found myself with about 200 grams of ripened sourdough starter to discard a few hours before I needed to prepare supper. Being fond of pizza, I decided to make a sourdough pizza with the otherwise wasted starter.

Having used sourdough, the crust had a lighter color, but I was still very happy with the result. Nice and open crumb with a crispy crust.

I used a 65 per cent hydration dough. My starter also happens to be 65 per cent, so the math was easy:

200g Starter
150g unbleached white flour
50g organic whole wheat flour
130 ml water
6 grams of salt

I mixed, stretched and folded and let it sit for about three hours. Then I rolled the ball of dough in a half/half mixture of white flour and wheat bran so that it wouldn't stick while I stretched it out. The wheat bran also gives the crust a nice multigrain texture. I stretched it out to a pizza shape and topped with everyone's favorites. Baked at 550 degrees for about ten minutes.