Whole Wheat Anise-infused Apple Sour Bread

Whole-wheat anise-infused apple sour bread

My adaptation of Stephanie Petersen's adaptation of the Apple Sour Bread recipe from Cordon Bleu Professional Baker's cookbooks.

Apple starter:

2 cups of shredded apple (or applesauce)

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

2 t anise seeds


Combine all the ingredients in a glass or plastic container, covered with cloth or loose lid for 8-10 days. Leave at room temperature. Do not stir. When mixture is bubbly and smells fermented, it should be ready for bread making.


Put the entire bottle in the fridge and keep it there up to 2 months. It gets better with age.


If you're running low, then 24 hours before you want apple sourdough, remove jar from the fridge and add

1 cup shredded apple, or applesauce

3T water

3T sugar

Stir and let sit covered for 24 hours and bake....

---

The first dough, or build has these ingredients:

1 T honey

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup apple sour

2 1/4 cups whole wheat bread flour.

Combine and knead 5-7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form into a ball and place in a large lightly oiled bowl, covered, for 8-10 hours (or refrigerate up to 24 hours depending on what your schedule is like).

Second Build:

2T honey

1/2 cup shredded apples

1/4 cup water

Dough from first build

1/2+ cup whole wheat bread flour

1/2 T salt

In a large bowl or kitchen aid, combine apples, water, and dough from the first build. Add the salt and 1/2 cup of the flour. Knead 5-7 minutes. Add the remaining flour only if dough is VERY wet. It should be a moist dough.

Remove dough from bowl and form into a ball. Place in a large covered crock or bowl and allow to raise 5-8 hours in a 75-80 degree room (dough should be about 80 degrees). If you want to have dough raise in the fridge, it can be there for 18-24 hours. Remove from bowl and form into a Vienna Loaf shape.

Place loaves in 8 by 4 by 4 inch loaf pans, or free standing artisan bread. Let rise 3-4 hours, depending on the dough temperature. If dough was in the fridge, it will take at least 4 hours.

Preheat 425 degrees. Bake 20 minutes then lower temperature to 375 degrees and bake 20 more minutes, until internal temperature is 175 degrees tested with a meat thermometer

Desem Primer

MAKING DESEM WHOLE WHEAT SOURDOUGH BREAD:
A Primer





“Desem” is a delicious 100% whole wheat bread made with water, salt, and natural starter—and that’s it. It does not use commercial yeast. Desem is a simple, nutritious, versatile bread. I bake many other breads—whole grain and other—but keep returning to desem as my basic weekly loaf. The term “desem” is Flemish for starter, and the bread is similar to the French “Pain Poilâne” and “pain au levain”. Although made with natural yeasts and bacteria (i.e. “sourdough”), desem does not taste sour and is not at all like the famous San Francisco sourdough loaves.

Why this web page? There is quite a bit of information about making white sourdough bread on the web, but not much about how to do so with whole wheat.

Some features of desem bread
• The taste of pure wheat is highlighted.
• It uses no oil, yet is moist, and stays fresh longer than commercially yeasted bread.
• The raw bitterness and heavy texture found in many whole wheat breads are mellowed in the natural yeast process without the need to add white flour, gluten, or conditioners.
• The nutrition inherent in the whole grain is broken down into usable form by the bacteria.

-recipe and rest of article-