Starting a Sourdough

I often use sourdough in my baking. Personally I think that a young sourdough gives bread a nice delicate taste, and a chewy  crumb. You might think that sourdough breads are very acidic, and the San Francisco kind is very acidic. Too acidic to my taste. But after tasting Basic country bread from Tartine, I knew, I had to bake this mild sourdough bread. My relationship with sourdough started there and then.
Initially I bought a sourdough online to get started right away. Maybe because I thought it would be difficult to make your own. But now I do believe, that I need a recipe for sourdough here on my blog. 

I started up a new sourdough after Claus Meyers recipe. Meyer has been a pioneer in the Danish kitchen. And right now he is trying to build up a Danish/Nordic style bakery restaurant at Grand Central Station i New York. His bakery is already among the 12 best bakeries in NY according to Zagat. 

Here is how to start a sourdough from scratch.

Ingredients:

• 350 ml (1½ cup) water
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup dark rye flour

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a plastic jar, make sure you don't have any lumps in the "batter." Let the sourdough sit on the kitchen counter for 4-5 days, with the lid loosely placed on top. Whisk the "batter" 1-2 times every day. 

After the 4 days the batter is starting to bubble and get an acidic smell, this means that the sourdough is ready to use. If the batter isn't sour yet, let it sit on the counter for another 1-2 days. 

Now you have a few options. Do you want to have your sourdough living on the kitchen counter? This is recommended if you bake every day or every other day. You need to feed the sourdough every 5-6 days, and you need to bake with the sourdough the first 8-24 hours after the feeding*.

You can keep your sourdough in the refrigerator in between feeding, this is recommended if you do not bake with it all the time. Read more about keeping and feeding a sourdough here: Sourdough - Keeping and Feeding.

* Feeding: take ½ cup sourdough (discard the rest), ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup water. Mix it well and let it sit covered on the kitchen counter for minimum 8 hour before using. 

3-Grain Sourdough Rolls

3-Grain Sourdough Rolls

I had to try to make 3-grain sourdough rolls, and they turned out great. 

Makes 8

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons mature sourdough (fed and fermented for about 8 hours*)
• 300 ml water
• 350 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g whole wheat flour
• 50 g flaxseeds 
• 50 g rolled rye 
• 40 ml cream or milk
• 10 g salt

Sprinkles:

• sesame seeds 

Directions:

Dissolve the sourdough in the water in  a large plastic bowl. I used a dough-rising bucket. 

Mix in the rest of the ingredients. You just have to mix the dough until all the flour is wet. Let the dough ferment in the bucket, lid on, on the kitchen counter overnight or 7-10 hours.

Gently pour the dough onto a well floured surface. Fold the somewhat wet dough into it self until the surface is firmed up, and the surface got a good tension. Divide the dough in 8 (about 100 g pr roll), roll the dough into a round ball, brush the dough with water and dip it in sesame seeds. Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Let the rolls rise for 30-60 minutes, loosely covered with plastic wrap. I raised my rolls in my oven on the proof-setting.

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (230℃).

Place the rolls on the lower rack in the oven. Splash about ¼ cup of water in the bottom of the oven, and close the oven quickly. You need the steam to get the best oven spring and crust. Bake the rolls for about 22 minutes, until golden.

Let the rolls/rundstykker cool before serving.

Enjoy!

*To test the readiness of the sourdough, drop a spoonful into a bowl of room-temperature water. If it sinks, it is not ready and needs more time to ferment and ripen. If it floats, it is ready to use.

Danish Rye Bread - without Sourdough

Danish Ryebread

Danes loves their rye bread. Sometimes you just don't have a couple of days to bake your bread, this can be made as a overnight bread.  Mix it in the evening and bake it the next day. If you don't want to keep and take care of a sourdough, this is the way to go.

Ingredients:

• 12-15 g live yeast, or 1 teaspoon dry active yeast

• 200 ml dark beer, I used Guinness 

• 240 ml buttermilk 

• 500 ml water

• 100 g all-purpose flour

• 150 g whole wheat flour

• 300 g dark rye flour

• 150 g cracked rye 

• 100 g whole rye berries

• 50 g bulgur (100% whole grain quick cooking bulgur wheat)

• 200 g flaxseeds

• 135 g sunflower seeds

• 18 g salt

Sprinkles:

• poppy seeds

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the liquid in the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the rest of the ingredients, and knead the dough for about 10 minutes.

Pour the dough into a big loaf pan (I use a Eva Professionel rye bread tin, which holds 3.3 liter).

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place the loaf in the refrigerator to ferment for a minimum of 12 hours up to 48 hours. The longer the bread ferments, the more tart the bread becomes.

Preheat the oven to 350 (180).

Brush the bread with water and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake the bread for 90 minutes, remove the bread from the pan, and wrap the loaf in a clean kitchen towel, to cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy!

Teboller - Buttermilk Buns

Teboller - Buttermilk Buns

These buttermilk bun is my take on the traditional teboller/buns you can buy a baker's shops in Denmark. They are sweet and soft, and pairs perfect with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold and windy fall afternoon. Normally you can buy them with or without raisins or chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

• 200 ml water, finger-warm

• 40 g live yeast (or 3 teaspoons dry yeast)

• 4 tablespoons sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 100 ml buttermilk

• 525 g all-purpose flour

• 50 g butter, room-temperature 

• 1 handful raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

 Topping:

• egg-wash, here a beaten egg

• nuts & raw sugar (optional)

Directions:

In the bowl of the stand mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. Add milk, flour, salt, egg and knead the dough for 5-8 minutes on medium, (8-10 minutes if kneaded by hand), until smooth and elastic. Add the butter a little at a time (and raisins or chocolate chips), and mix until fully incorporated. 

Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes until doubled in size.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 12-15 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let buns rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Brush the on top of buns, sprinkle with toppings. Bake the buns for 8-12 minutes until deep golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

3-Grain Bread - Trekornsbrød

3-Grain Bread - Trekornsbrød

3-Grain bread is yet another Danish classic bread, from the start of "the health era."  This is still a white bread but with added healthy seeds and grains, (flaxseeds, wheat and rye). I have always liked 3-grain bread. The distinct taste of roasted sesame seeds with the nice baked crisp crust is really nice. And of cause the texture of the seeds and grains, this always makes my mouth happy.

Makes 2 big loafs.

Ingredients:

• 50 g compressed yeast (or 4 tablespoons dry yeast)
• 900 ml water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 100 ml yoghurt
• 200 g whole wheat flour
• 75 g rolled rye
• 75 g wheat flakes 
• 150 g flax seeds
• 2½ teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, I used Bornholmsk rapskimolie (rapeseed oil)
• 1000 g all-purpose flour

Topping:

• egg wash, here a beaten egg
• sesame seeds

Directions:

Crumble the yeast into the water and stir to dissolve. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes on a stand mixer. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes, covered with a clean kitchen towel.

Pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it lightly to deflate a bit. Divide the dough in 2, and form them into balls creating a taut smooth surface. 

Flip dough ball over so you have the seam on top. Fold the top ⅔ over, pressing the dough to adhere. Repeat a few times to make a log with good surface tension. Roll the log to the size of the baking sheet. Place the log/loaf on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with the second loaf. Let the breads rise, covered for another 30-40 minutes. 

Preheat the oven for 450℉ (235℃).

Brush the breads with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and score the breads a few times across the bread, to help with the oven spring.

Place the breads in the oven, and just before closing the oven door, splash ¼ cup water in the bottom of the oven, and quickly close the door.

Bake the breads for 40-45 minutes until deep golden brown. 

Let the breads cool before slicing.

Enjoy!