Fig-Anise 50% Whole-Wheat Bread

This Fig-Anise 50% Whole-Wheat bread was developed with the help of baker Martin Philip during the Creating Signature Breads workshop at the Kneading Conference West 2013.

Ingredients

By percentages

By weights (for four loaves)

Method

1. Using mixer on first speed, combine flours, water and levain until incorporated (reserve about 10% of the water for later adjustments if needed) 
2. Sprinkle salt and yeast on top
3. Give a 15 to 30 minute rest (we didn't have time to do a longer autolyse at the Kneading Conference but a longer one would have been better)
4. Turn mixer back on to incorporate yeast and salt
5. Check hydration: dough should feel supple. Adjust as necessary
6. Mix 2 min on second speed until gluten is fully developed
7. Put in anise seeds, soaked grains (don't strain them) and figs
8. Mix to combine on first speed: dough will fall apart first, then knit itself together
9. DDT: 78°F
10. Fermentation: 3 hours with one fold at 45 min
11. Scale at 560 g
12. Pre-shape as a loose boule (you have to be really gentle with this dough as it contains a lot of whole wheat and could get really dense if manipulated briskly)
13. Shape as batards or tear-drops (to mimic shape of fig). If using a tear-drop shape, fold one end of the batard over itself as illustrated below
14. Proof seam-up in floured bannetons or on floured couches for 45 min to one hour (use whole-wheat or whole-spelt flour)
15. When loading on a peel, give each tear-drop loaf a slight curve to one side
16. Bake for 32 to 35 min at 450° F, with steam
17. Cool on a rack
18. Enjoy!

For detailed information on various aspects of artisan bread baking, please visit King Arthur's YouTube channel: in this video in particular, from 6:38 min on, Martin Philip demonstrates how to shape a batard (in the first part of the video, master baker Jeffrey Hamelman shows how to shape both boules and baguettes).
For those of you who are using BreadStorm (including the free version), please click on this link to import the formula so that you can scale it up or down as desired.

Pain campagnard (Country Bread)

I don't know about you but I have a hard time following a recipe or, for that matter, reading it properly before starting baking from it. Having none of my bread books with me here in the Northwest, I had checked The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger out of the local public library and settled on Beth's Pain campagnard which she describes as "a superb bread similar to the earthly wheat-rye loaves once made at harvest time in the French countryside". It called for a yeast-based sponge but I planned to use levain. It also called for all-purpose flour and dark rye flour, both of which I had. So no problem! I just hadn't noticed that it also called for wheat berries (which I didn't have) and that these wheat berries would have to be soaked... So I made the sponge 24 hours ahead of time as instructed. It smelled delicious when I uncovered it on Day 2 and I was looking forward to mixing the dough when I read : "Cover the wheat berries with boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak 4 hours at room temperature". My spirit sank until I remembered that I had some farro berries (a variety of spelt). So I soaked these instead but meanwhile the sponge which had looked quite ready when I first started was truly asking to be put to work and I had to let it sit until the berries were plump enough and, believe me, it took more than 4 hours for them not to be al dente. Since farro is way more tender than wheat, it would take even longer with the wheat berries and I would seriously advise boiling them instead of just soaking them. But that's besides the point which is to read a recipe attentively before starting. How many times have I read/heard that? And do you think I ever changed my ways? No. I am a speedy reader and have always been. Not that I took a class like Woody Allen who did learn speed reading, read War and Peace in 20 minutes and when asked about it, said: "It involved Russia". I do enjoy what I read and I recall it vividly but as far as recipes are concerned, I tend to zoom in on some words, start thinking of different techniques which could be put to use and consistently overlook some of the ingredients. The bread still came out pretty tasty and pleasantly chewy thanks to the farro but more sour than I would have liked. Is it due to the fact that the sponge was levain-based instead of yeast-based? Probably in part. But the sponge was definitely more sour when the soaker was finally ready that it had been when I initially uncovered it. On the other hand as I was mixing the dough and looking for some indication of how much water to use, I couldn't believe my eyes and had to read the list of ingredients closely three times to ascertain that there had been an editing mistake and that water had indeed been omitted from the final dough. If you have the book and want to try the recipe, make sure to add it back in!

Ingredients (This bread is made over 2 days) For the sponge 50 g firm levain (40% whole-grain) 225 g water 180 g whole grain mix, freshly milled (45% wheat, 45% spelt, 10% rye) (Beth uses whole-wheat) For the soaker 50 g farro, spelt or wheat berries, whole boiling water to cover For the final dough 6 g instant dry yeast 50 g dark rye flour 320 g all-purpose flour, unbleached 16 g salt 66 g water (from soaking the berries) + enough to get medium soft dough consistency Method

1. On Day 1, mix levain, water and flour until a smooth batter is formed. It will be very sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 12 to 24 hours
2. Also on Day 1, pour boiling water over the farro (or spelt or wheat) berries to cover, cover tightly and let stand for 4 hours (or more) at room temperature (Beth has you doing this on baking day but I think the soaker needs a bit more time)
3. On Day 2, stir down the sponge with a wooden sponge
4. Mix the flours with the yeast
5. Drain the berries and add the water, the combined flours, the berries and the salt to the sponge (an other option is to add the salt after an initial mix and a 20-minute resting period and to add the berries after the dough has been completely mixed. That's what I'll do next time as it makes more sense)
6. Mix until well combined (I mixed by hand using a series of stretches and folds)
7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and do another series of stretches and folds, dipping your hands in water if necessary to keep the dough moist
8. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in bulks (2 to 3 hours), giving the dough three folds over the first 90 minutes
9. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate it. Divide into two equal portions using a metal dough scraper
10. Pre-shape each of them as a ball and let rest, covered for 10 to 15 minutes
11. Shape the two loaves into balls and place seam-side down on a half-sheet covered with a semolina-dusted piece of parchment paper (or place seam-side up in well-floured proofind baskets). Since I didn't have any baskets on hand, I just placed the loaves on parchment paper)
12. Cover loosely and let proof (rise) at room temperature until doubled in bulk (1 to 1 1/2 hour)
13. Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450° F/232° C after placing in it a baking stone (on middle shelf) and a metal oven dish (on the lowest shelf)
14. Turn the loaves onto a peel, seam-side down, dust them with flour (an optional step) and score as desired
15. Place in the oven and immediately pour a cup of water into the preheated metal pan
16. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate the loaves and bake another twenty minutes
17. After 40 minutes, turn off the oven and leaving the loaves inside, open the door slightly
18. Ten minutes later, take the loaves out and place them on a rack to cool.

The Pain campagnard goes to Susan's Wild Yeast for Yeastspotting.