The weather is getting cooler at the Home by the Sea. Could this affect the number of bubbles I see in the starter?
Sourdough Problems or Not?
Since I attended one of those slightly cringeworthy Tupperware parties of the 80’s, I always store my white flour in the fridge. I never get weevils or pantry moths in my flour due to this storage method. However, I got to thinking that this might make the sourdough more sterile, due to a lesser number of bugs. So I ask the bread-making veterans: Would this make a difference?
Day 6
The Starter seems to have run out of steam, a little and I am looking for explanations. I do have a confession to make:
I added the morning feed quantity at the evening feeding and the following morning it was very liquidy on the top.
I may have overfed it!
I may have killed it?
I continued feeding the batch I was intending to keep and use, and left aside this ‘to be discarded if it doesn’t do anything’ batch, for a day but it didn’t seem to improve.
Not many bubbles, compared to day 2, which is seen below.
I have no idea as to whether it is still alive, or if I am flogging a dead sourdough mother.
After being late with the P.M. feeding of my starter last night, I was a little concerned that it may not be fermented enough by the time the morning feed was due, but comments from supportive fellow bloggers and my Sourdough mentors, Peggy,Sandy and Chris, relaxed me about the process.
A Forgiving Dough
Mary from Mary’s Nest Sourdough website, states that you can change/swap or alter your sourdough starter as you go along, from white to rye, or wholewheat. What flexibility! [Happy Dance]
I started this process using a mix with half whole wheat flour and half white flour, as this is the mix most of my family and me, prefer. This excludes the fastidious Moth, of course. He is a committed, refined-bleached- white flour man, who likes his bread ultra-fresh and soft as a baby’s bottom. That is a bad comparative metaphor for bread, but you get my drift.
So Day 4 Dawns, and I feed this mother of all sourdough mixes.
Some exponents, including Sandy, prefer using equal parts flour and water, by weight in their starter mix, and I might still do that. I guess I can change it up as I go along, with this ultra-flexible sourdough mix.
After all, as Chris pointed out in a previous comment, people have been making bread this way for millennia, and most likely didn’t have clocks, timers or accurate scales to measure ingredients.
Day 3 dawns and I finally get to engage a bit more with my Sourdough starter.
It’s been sitting for two days. Like a child, it must now have a morning and evening feeding – twelve hours apart.
I raised the lid on the glass container and there were bubbles, loads and loads of them.
Maybe too many?
Mary from Mary’s Nest said a wide glass jar allowed for better fermentation. I did place it on the benchtop near the, oh so warm, slow cooker all of yesterday, and it WAS a warm day weather-wise. Perhaps it was too hot for the yeast?
Have I killed this sourdough baby before it has even had a chance to grow?
Would there be bubbles and fermentation if I had indeed, killed it?
The mix smelt really yeasty, but perhaps too yeasty. I did a quick image search on Google. It didn’t look like mould but maybe it smelt like it? I decided to feed it and see if it would grow. If it was dead, it wouldn’t grow, would it?
As nothing much is happening on Day 2 apart from stirring the sourdough. The little yeast organisms can does their job fermenting on the benchtop.
Meanwhile, I thought I would share some abridged snippets of useful information.
Preservative and Chemical Free Bread
Sourdough is free from other types of breads that have oils, sugar, preservatives, and other chemicals in their ingredient list.
Besides affecting the flavour of the bread, chemicals and additional ingredients are often added to other breads because they can’t stay fresh as long as sourdough can or fend off mould as well. The presence of bacteria, due to sourdough’s unique fermentation process, improves sourdough’s nutritional profile. This allows for better nutrient absorption, improved gut health, and some studies have even shown fermentation alters the structure of carbohydrates in the dough for better blood sugar control and a lower score on the glycemic index.
Bread for Gut Health
Sourdough’s fermentation means it is gentler on our digestive tract and may be tolerated by those with a sensitive tummy. This is possibly attributed to the breaking down of a carbohydrate in wheat called fructans which can mimic gluten intolerances. Phytic acid, also present in bread and wheat products, causes digestive issues and sourdough bread neutralizes the effect of phytic acid on the body.
As varieties of wheat have changed over the years, it is possible the changes in composition of the grains, may be the reason some people assume they are gluten intolerant.
Shortcut to Making Your Own Sourdough
This Whole-Wheat Bread recipe recipe only takes 12 hours, compared to almost a week. Probiotic-rich yogurt and vinegar mimic the tangy flavor of sourdough without the need for a starter.
At the moment, fresh food is in short supply and it looks like we will have to find alternate methods of ensuring we have access to the wonderful array and choices of food that we have all grown accustomed to having in our pantry. Such as basics like bread, pasta and toilet paper…
D.i.Y is on the rise! Hopefully not with toilet paper but D.I.Y bread is very popular.
I have an idea to make my own bread, but I never had much luck with using dried Yeast.
Many years ago, I use to cook my own bread -it was a blend of whole wheat and white bread, something that you could not obtain in the shops in the 1980’s. It was delicious, albeit with large airholes in the bread but the taste was fantastic when it was just out of the oven!
I made this bread using compressed yeast. This method worked really well and I often made whole wheat fruit buns and fruit loaves and they all turned out fine. They looked a bit like this.
I don’t have any photos of mine to show. Clearly I wasn’t the shutterbug that I am now!
It seems you can no longer get compressed yeast – trust me I have asked around. Even the Bakers themselves, do not seem to use it any longer, so a sourdough starter maybe an alternative bread raising agent.
Plus sourdough is good for your gut biome as the information below indicates. (I know M-R will totally disagree if she reads this!)
Vitamin and Mineral-Rich
Sourdough is a great source of several minerals such as iron and selenium. Iron and selenium helps protect our immune system, cells, and tissue. Sourdough is also a great source of many B vitamins, which assist in proper nervous system function and help regulate our metabolisms.
Prebiotics are a type of indigestible fibre that keep your gut healthy by feeding the good bacteria, called probiotics, that live there. The presence of prebiotics in sourdough is thought to make it easier to digest than many other breads and the presence of probiotic cultures have shown to increase vitamin and mineral absorption. The probiotics themselves don’t survive the baking process, but the lactic acid bacteria produced during fermentation remains and provides the benefits. The presence of lactic acid bacteria in sourdough has shown to also contain antioxidant benefits, safeguarding your body against illness.
Finding an energy-dense food that is not only rich in fibre and omega-3 fats but also contains higher amounts of antioxidants than most other foods and could improve brain health, sounds like a valuable addition to our diet. If we aren’t allergic, we can gain these benefits by adding walnuts to our diet.
Even though walnuts are rich in calories, studies indicate that they don’t increase obesity risk when replacing other foods in your diet… [and they] are the only nuts that contain significant amounts of Alpha Linoleic Acid or ALA. ALA is considered especially beneficial for heart health. It also helps reduce inflammation and improve the composition of blood fats.
If you don’t like simply snacking on Walnuts, and there is only so much Waldorf Salad you can eat, incorporate walnuts in a sweet baked delight such as Streusel Cake.
Streusal Cake Recipes
113g Butter
198g Sugar
2 Eggs
240g Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
227g Yogurt
2 tsp Vanilla
Streusel Mix Topping
100g Sugar – I used a mix of brown and fine white sugar
2tsp Cinnamon
Minimum of 1/2 cup of Walnuts, chopped
Prepare a 8 inch bundt pan or 9″x9″ pan and pre-heat oven to 350F – 175 C Cream together room temperature butter with the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Fold flour mixture into the creamed butter, alternating flour and yogurt until well mixed. Spoon half of the batter into a prepared pan, sprinkle with half of the streusel and cover with remaining batter.
Sprinkle remaining streusel on top. *(I omitted this step) Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes or until cooked through.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out.
Variations to the Recipe:
I am going to increase the ratio of brown sugar to white sugar in the streusel topping mix and put in a thin layer in the bundt pan first, before adding the cake batter. That way, the cake will turn out with a streusel topping insitu.
I used a mix of fermented kefir and vanilla yoghurt, and it worked fine, so I am pretty confident any yoghurt, or even sour cream, will work with this recipe.
Here is how my variation turned out. Simply Delicious.
For full enjoyment, break out a gourmet leaf tea to accompany like this Royal Ritz flavour from The Tea Centre.
Thanks to Sandy for her recipe which was originally sourced from King Arthur’s Flour.
They’re healthy, contain a vegetable and decadent with jam and cream:
They are Pumpkin Scones.
For Americans, do you call them Pumpkin biscuits?
The following is not my usual recipe.
But it is a great way to gain some of the benefits of eating pumpkin, particularly if you don’t like it or have children who dislike it.
Pumpkin is a great source of potassium and beta-carotene, which is a carotenoid that converts to vitamin A. It also contains some minerals including calcium and magnesium, as well as vitamins E, C and some B vitamins.
The following recipe comes from a controversial figure – a wife of a highly conservative politician, known for Electoral Gerrymander, who became a conservative Federal Senator herself, Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen. The recipe is good, but I do prefer my recipe for Pumpkin Scones.
She could make a good pumpkin scone apparently, but the higher oven temperature on the following recipe, is way too high and will result in burnt scones. I would err on the lower recommended temperture rather than the highest.
Tip: I also pat a little milk on the top of each scone so that they brown up nicely. There is nothing worse than a pallid scone – it looks uncooked.
Minerals in our diet. Not something we give much thought too, is it? But should we? What does it matter if we are deficient in a little, say, magnesium?
It turns out to be pretty important for our bodies! Without enough magnesium, one could suffer:
foot pain
muscle cramps
migraines
high blood pressure
anxiety disorders
asthma
chronic fatigue
irritable bowel syndrome
in severe cases: cardiovascular disease in the form of cardiac arrhythmia, or angina.
low magnesium has been implicated in diabetes.
Magnesium can help control premenstrual syndrome or (PMS), especially where it concern breast tenderness, headache and irritability.
Magnesium can also be useful in relaxing muscles and preventing muscular cramps, during exercise.
“It is generally recommended that women with severe PMS symptoms take 300 to 500 milligrams a day for the two weeks before and during menstruation. The RDA for magnesium is about 300 milligrams, but at least twice as much is needed to see preventive and therapeutic benefits. Supplements are definitely needed to prevent osteoporosis. Women over 50 that are not taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) probably need about 750 milligrams of magnesium every day, an amount that is hard to get through the diet alone,” according to
Oral supplements are readily available, but it is best to include as many magnesium-rich foods, into the diet, as you can, especially if you fall in to the post menopausal age group.
Dairy products, like non-fat yoghurt
Fish particularly tuna and halibut
Dark leafy greens, such as kale, mustard greens, collards, chard (silverbeet), dandelion greens, sorrel, watercress.
Foods very high in magnesium include:
Brazil Nuts,
Pumpkin and Squash seeds
Sesame seeds
Spinach
Broccoli
Almonds
Walnuts
Beans
Peas
Apricots
Avocados
Bananas
Molasses
Brown rice
Cantaloupe
Figs
Garlic
Grapefruit
Peaches
Tofu and soybeans
Wheat, and whole grains
Dark chocolate (Eating magnesium can be tasty too!!)
Several herbs, such as chamomile, cayenne, fenugreek, lemongrass, licorice, paprika, parsley, peppermint, and sage also contain magnesium.
Worth noting also is, “The consumption of alcohol, diuretics, anticonvulsants, antibiotics, digitalis, and lithium can interfere with magnesium absorption. People taking these medications should speak with their doctor about supplementing. Other factors that can decrease magnesium absorption are elevated levels of fluoride, zinc, and vitamin D; diarrhea; high-fat and high-protein diets; consumption of large amounts of cod liver oil; and frequent consumption of foods high in oxalic acid, such as cocoa, rhubarb, spinach, and tea,”
Firstly, this is not a post about Corona, so if you want something a little juicier, you might check out some recent posts on StPA.
Ju-Lyn’s wonderful Orange and Blueberry Cake
Truthfully though, I have to admit that I was tempted to call this Corona cake, not just because I cooked it for the first time, in these panic-ridden days, when the Corona virus is causing havoc around the world, but primarily because of the stunning way my blogger friend, Ju-Lyn presented it. There are several layers to this cake and it is decorated with blueberries like a crown – (hence the reference to ‘Corona’, which means ‘Crown’). But then, I was worried that Ju-Lyn might take offence at my referencing something like that, so I will call it- Ju-Lyn’s Mini Cakes.
Ju Lyn blogs at All Things Bright and Beautiful and very kindly shared her recipe for this delicious sounding cake with me, before it was posted on her own blog. That is a measure of her kindess. Thanks, Ju-Lyn!
Cake Recipe
I have to admit that I changed the original aesthetic slightly, as I was a little pushed for time, and I am not a big fan of butter cream icing, even though the Moth, (the “Man of the house”), just loves it. [He does better to watch his calories, you see.]
Ju-Lyn’s Orange Blueberry Mini Cakes
Ingredients
130 g Self Raising Flour
110 g Caster Sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Zest of one orange and a little juice
Pinch of Salt
150 g Sour Cream
40 g melted butter
50 g fresh blueberries
Few extra blueberries for cake toppers
Method
Mix flour sugar and baking powder together in a bowl
Mix together eggs, the zest of orange and a little juice – I used a teaspoonful
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix throughly
Mix in melted butter and sour cream.
Gently fold in the blueberries
Place in muffin trays, lined with paper cases, if you wish.
Scatter a couple of extra blueberries on top of each cake.
Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes
Testing with a skewer to see if the cake is cooked.
Allow to cool and serve with a dusting of icing sugar if desired.
Insider Tips:
You can make one large cake with this mix but bake for 40 – 50 minutes.
Double the ingredients for a layer cake and ice all over with buttercream.
More Cake Recipes
I have previously posted another of Ju-lyn’s wonderful recipes for Honey Spice Cake, which is now a staple on Sunday mornings, at the Home by the Sea.
Recently, I wanted to make one of Ju-Lyn’s fabulous cake recipes and only had jumbo sized eggs that I had purchased at a farmer’s market.
Would it matter if I used them? I was making a cake, after all and I didn’t want it to flop as our new neighbours were coming over, for morning tea.
After a little research, it seems that size does matter, when it comes to using eggs in cooking.
Substituting Eggs in Baking Recipes
If you are using Jumbo eggs and the recipe calls for large or extra large:
Break the eggs into a bowl and lightly beat until both yolk and white is combined. Measure off the amount of the egg mix that would equate to the volume of egg the recipe requires.
1 large egg, beaten = 3-1/4 Tbs.
2 large eggs, beaten = 6-1/2 Tbs.(1/4 cup plus 2-1/2 Tbs.)
3 large eggs, beaten = 9-2/3 Tbs.(1/2 cup plus 1-1/2-Tbs.)
4 large eggs, beaten = 12-3/4 Tbs.(3/4 cup plus 1 tsp.)
5 large eggs, beaten = 1 cup
Eggs in Non Baking Recipes
In non-baking recipes, if you’re substituting only one, two, or three extra- large or medium eggs for large eggs, simply make a one-to-one direct substitution. Beyond that, use these equivalents:
• in place of 4 large eggs, use 4 extra-large or 5 medium • in place of 5 large eggs, use 4 extra-large or 6 medium • in place of 6 large eggs, use 5 extra-large or 7 medium
Eggs + yolks: Extra YOLKS means more fat which gives the cake ultra moistness! Add the amount of eggs called for in the recipe but add two extra egg yolks. The extra yolks add the density and moisture you’d find in a bakery cake!
Egg WHITES: Not adding the yolks to the cake makes the cake fluffy and whiter!
To clarify: Eggs + yolks: Extra YOLKS means more fat which gives the cake ultra moistness! Add the amount of eggs called for in the recipe but add two extra egg yolks. The extra yolks add the density and moisture you’d find in a bakery cake!
Milk: Add MILK, not water, when your mix calls for liquid. The milk adds density, fat and, most importantly, extra flavor to your mix. So add extra tablespoon or so of butter if you are short on milk.
Egg WHITES: Not adding the yolks to the cake makes the cake fluffy and whiter! But taking out the egg yolks removes fat so add an extra two tablespoons of butter above (or, one tablespoon of melted butter per each removed egg yolk).
Vanilla: Freshen up the cake mix with a dash of VANILLA EXTRACT! Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract for enhanced flavor. I feel the cake keeps better with vanilla in it, but that could be false.
Melted Butter: Use BUTTER instead of oil. They’re both fat but butter has better flavor! Muffin recipes call for vegetable oil. Melting butter in the microwave, as this adds a richness and depth of flavor.
Sprinkle with Sugar: Sprinkling the top with SUGAR not only gives it a sweet crunchy texture to yoru cake, but the weight of the sugar prevents the cake from rising too much while it bakes.
You can even make a layer cake or one for now and one for later. Pour the cake batter into two cake pans and sprinkle the top with sugar. It’s important for your cake to rise but you don’t want it to rise too much or you will have to cut off a lot of it if you layer it.
Results
It worked out beautifully at the Home by the Sea.
Recipe to follow shortly. As it is Ju-Lyn’s recipe, I wish to wait for her to publish it first.
A Home by the Sea 
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