- The afternoon before mixing the dough, mix together all the ingredients for the levain and let the mixture rest at room temperature
- The morning after, mix the flour, the yeast, the levain and 500 g of the water on low speed in the bowl of the mixer until just incorporated
- Let rest, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes (autolyse)
- Add the salt and mix on low speed until the salt is incorporated and, when pulling gently on a piece of dough with wet hands, you can see that the gluten structure has barely started to develop (the mixing time should be kept rather short, especially if using a
KitchenAid type mixer. I use a spiral mixer which is very gentle and only has one speed and, after the autolyse, I only need to mix the dough for 3 to 4 minutes) - Add the carrots and the raisins
- Mix the remaining liquid with the olive oil and the milk and slowly, very slowly, dribble it over the dough at it spins (a process known as "double hydration")
- When all the liquid is incorporated, stop the machine and transfer the dough (it will be almost runny) to an oiled container (oblong shape is best as it makes it possible to fold the dough straight in the container. As indicated in a previous post, I use an Ikea sturdy food container which a snap-on lid)
- Let it ferment for 2 to 3 hours, with folds every 30 minutes ( the dough was so weak that I gave it 7 folds all together, including one last fold after it had spent 30 minutes in the fridge. It was either that or get ready to drink the bread with a straw later, it was so wet)
- Then refrigerate for two to three hours
- Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured work surface and dust it with flour before slicing it in two (lengthwise). Then according to what you want, divide each piece in 12 or not (for want of a sufficient number of half sheet pans to make 24 rolls, I went for 12 rolls and 1 loaf)
- Gently transfer the pieces to parchment paper dusted with semolina flour and flour
- Dust them with flour again and dimple them with your fingers
- Then let rise another hour at room temperature in a large clear plastic bag filled with air
- Pre-heat the oven to 500 F/260 C at least 45 minutes before baking
- When ready to bake, heavily mist the interior of the oven with water and slide in the loaves (as my oven is tiny, I can only bake one half-sheet pan load at a time). Spray twice more at 2 minute- intervals, then bake for 15 minutes (at home, in my "normal" oven, I then lower the temperature to 450 F/232 C). Rotate the bunnies and bake another 8 minutes
- Set loaves on a rack to cool and bake the other one(s) the same way.
The big loaf
These Boozy Bunnies are hopping on to Macheesmo ( a beautiful blog which I am very happy to discover) for this week's issue of Yeastspotting. Thank you, Nick, and thank you, Susan!
You're my hero. First you make limoncello ciabatta, now you are fermenting your own raisin wine for carrot cake bread. What's next?!
ReplyDeleteI'm speechless! I was just reading about fermenting raisins for dough, etc., and here you are en artiste! I love the "croissants en steriods" comment! Bravo, as always!
ReplyDeleteIt looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThat looks awesome!Fermenting raisins for this bread? wow indeed!I'd love to guide our readers to your site if you won't mind.Just add your choice of foodista widget to this post and it's all set, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful bread Farine. How inventive to ferment raisins for the bread too, Wow!!!!
ReplyDelete@mimicooks! Thank you so much. My ancestors made their own wine (and sold some too). So I guess fermenting is in my genes!
ReplyDelete@Shellyfish! Thanks for stopping by! What should I try to ferment next?
@Penny! I wish the Web allowed for tasting...
@Alisa! I will look into the widget. Thank you!
@George! Thank you for your kind words. When making bread, the sky is the limit. Thats what makes it so much fun...