Baby Steps … to Bread

Flavor, heat, along with ideal texture…what’s not to like?

Description

This was my first Batard. I was looking for something with inclusions, and found a great recipe in a bread book that I’ve had for years . This bake included three types of flour: Bread, Whole Wheat and Rye. The combination yielded a nice soft interior along with a soft crust.

Lessons Learned

Jalapeno’s…leave the seeds in the next time. This loaf definitely encompassed the flavor of cheese and jalapeno but no heat. I expected it to be spicy but I must have cleaned the jalapeno’s a little too good.

Maybe a bit more grated cheese on the top to impregnate the crust. It was a good balance overall but I’d like to make future bakes “pop” with flavor and spice.

Ingredients

• Levain
  • 1:10:10 mixture of starter (7g), bread/whole wheat flour (50%/50%), and water
• Dough (for two loaf’s)
  • 600g Bread flour
  • 125g Whole Wheat flour
  • 40g Rye flour
  • 200g Sharp Cheddar (shredded or cubed)
  • 75g Jalapeno (diced)
  • 35g Honey
  • 485g Water
  • 15g Salt
  • Levain 147g

Notes

• Mix the Levain the night before, roughly 12 hours prior. Store in a warm place so that it’s ready when you plan to mix your ingredients
• Autolyse the flours and water together for an hour prior to getting started. Cover after mixing
• Hold off on the inclusions until the first set of stretch & folds. Incorporate one-fourth of the inclusions at each 90-degree stretch & fold. If needed, you can splash a bit of water on the mix to help incorporate the ingredients
• You can shape as a Boule or Batard…your choice