I may have mentioned before that I feared we’d become bread snobs. It’s hard not to though really, with artisan bakers on just about every street corner. I mean if bread is one of those foods we’re not supposed consume too much of, then eating mass produced supermarket bread is just a waste of carbohydrate calories.
The Jam-maker has been developing a new sourdough ‘mother’ since early June. I call the jar his sea-monkeys because sometimes it’s hard to see what he’s so exicted about. His name for it is Saccrharomyces exiguus lactobacillus ‘Grasmerecremornus’. Whatever it’s called, it’s a terrifically vigorous starter made simply by mixing plain flour and water together, then carefully feeding it with wholemeal flour (there are useful enzymes attached to the whole grain missing from the fully processed stuff).
Sea monkeys, aka Sourdough Mother
He’s made some very fine breads out of this already, in particular a seedy bread full of black and white sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. It’s at its best when toasted and all those raw seeds get warm and brown, and their flavours meld. Awfully good with Vegemite, it is of course superb with any of Lloyd’s Luscious concoctions (though there’s something about the spicy notes of the cardarmom in What’s up Doc that takes both bread and jam to new heights).
The Jam-maker’s interest in sourdough bread-making stretches back about seven years, when he first began experimenting with a wild yeast starter. Not for him the simplicity of store-bought yeasts, his first ‘mother’ lasted about three years and was used during his first experimentations with bread-baking. These were heavy, German-style breads, often combining rye flour and molasses for added body and flavour. ‘Mother’ died when the Jam-maker’s working life got very busy and there just wasn’t time for bread-making on the weekends.
I’ve no idea why, but he bought a loaf of supermarket fruit bread a couple of weeks ago; the thick-cut, ‘cafe style’ kind. Got an urge for it, I guess. As delicious as it was, slathered in butter (this house is a margarine free zone), it’s still at its heart, bog-standard, fluffy white bread. No substance to it; doesn’t fill you up like a good bread should. Anyway, the next thing you know, he’s digging through the pantry in search of dried fruit …
The first loaf was fine, with a tablespoon of diced dried apricots, a scattering of pecans, a handful of sultanas and currants, and good measures of cinnamon and nutmeg. There’s a trick to making bread with extra ‘bits’ – a complex balancing act between the extra weight of the water in whatever you’re adding and the yeasty lift you need to make bread, bread (rather than cake). Perfectionist that he is, the Jam-maker wasn’t too proud of the result, so no sooner had we broached the new loaf and he was pondering how to improve the next.
Dates. Big chunks of sticky, sugary dates were added to the next mix. Rather too many for my taste, I have to say. My mother’s interpretation of Christmas cake is a fruit and nut dense concoction called Brazil Nut Sensation. It has about a cupful of thin cake batter holding together masses of brazil nuts (obviously), red and green glace cherries, and dates – lots and lots of dates. It’s incredibly rich, so you can only eat it in tiny slivers. So while I don’t exactly have an aversion to dates – I love them in the right context and proportion – I put in a plea to cut-down on the dates and substitute dried figs, the queen of dried fruit.
Well, what can I say? The loaf he baked on Tuesday was OUTSTANDING. Chock-full of pecans and walnuts, dried figs, raisins and just the right proportion of dates to add that intense sugary hit to every third mouthful. The Jam-maker was proud too that the starter lifted the loaf to high-top heights.
Lloyd's Most Luscious Fruit & Nut Bread
When cut open it smelled just like a hot cross bun, but it came into its own when it was toasted and smeared LIGHTLY with butter (no need to gild this lily). This is bread that is better than any cake. One slice is enough to start the day, but the Jam-maker insists on toasting me two every morning (I take the second slice to work with me and reheat it in the sandwich press for morning tea). Yesterday I didn’t get to re-toast my second slice until after midday, so it became my lunch and kept me going for the rest of the afternoon. That’s what good bread should do for you, bugger the calories.
Lloyd's Luscious 