Experimental loaves

I do love to experiment with the food I prepare, the bread I make is no different. As well as trying new flours or techniques, I also like to try different flavour combinations in a standard loaf, just to see what I can create.

Here’re a couple of experimental loaves, just a plain dough with additions. One sweet and one savoury.

It’s important not too put too much of the extra ingredients in, about 15-20% of the weight of the dough is enough. Any more and the loaf won’t hold together, it might not even rise very well.

If the things you’re adding are wet or have a high liquid content, then you may need to reduce the amount of water in the dough.

The additions I tried were,

Apricot, Prune and Almond,

and Roasted Potato and Beetroot chunks.

I made a standard Olive Oil dough at 70% hydration and added the extras in the final knead. 50g each of chopped Apricots, chopped Prunes and Flaked Almonds here,

and 200g of chopped and roasted potato and beetroot here.

These pieces may be too large, but we’ll see how it proves.

After kneading they went into the oven to prove for an hour.

They both rose really well,

I shaped them into tins,

and they rose again while the oven heated up to 230°C

Thirty minutes later they were ready,

so a quick slash with my blade and in they went. I baked with steam from a pan of boiling water in the oven, after 25 minutes I took it out as the crust had formed. 

Another 20 minutes and they were done. The internal temperature was above 95°C meaning that the gluten had set.

Now I just have to be patient and let them cool a bit before slicing.

The fillings seem to be well spread, this is the potato and beetroot, 

and this is the Apricot, you can also see the edge of an almond or two.

They taste pretty good as well, perfect for sandwiches or toast.

What are your favourites? Let me know in the comments

Now all you have to do is enjoy it. I’ll be back on Monday with another blog hop.

Stay safe everyone.

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