Son of Pain au Levain

I've been so busy at SCRATCHbread that I don't think I've made old-fashioned, kneaded, bake-on-a-stone bread in months, at least at home. This week, two samples of Hamelman's Pain au Levain recipe, baked at 440 on my baking stone. The one on the right is exactly the same, except that it was rolled in flaxseeds. The inspiration for this bake was an illicit gift that I passed on over Passover to my cousin Alexander. As we all ate our unleavened bread, I slipped him a jar of contraband sourdough starter under the table. While advising him how to bake with it, it occurred to me how long it had been since my starter made anything but Tartine-style bread.

Alexander, incidentally, has christened his starter "Mattya."

Daily Bread: Multigrain Pain au Levain

Testing bread in earnest now.

This morning I baked two loaves of multigrain pain au levain, using Daniel Leader's formula from Local Breads. The multi grains, which soaked for eight hours while the levain fermented, were sesame seeds, flaxseeds, coarse cornmeal, and oats. The dough also contained small percentages of whole wheat and rye flours. I forgot to add the seeds until halfway through kneading, rendering the dough very wet and gloopy, so kneading was a long slow process, with frequent rests.

One of the things that I'm concentrating on now that the weekend's loaves will actually sold to people is my shaping and scoring. I consider the loaf above to be a triumph. It also tasted good, dark and moist. I took it in to the architects' office where I used to work, and they, German, English, Japanese, and American, were very complimentary. I'll be filling in at that office quite a bit in the next month, and am looking forward to re-gaining one of my more enthusiastic and knowledgeable audiences.

Compulsive baking--win friends and influence people.