Buckwheat Apple Cider Sourdough
I made this bread a few weeks ago around the same time I baked up the Normandy apple bread. While both are loaded with partially dried apples this loaf has a much stronger taste because of the addition of buckwheat flour and apple cider. Cider is used both to make the starter and in the final dough which makes it a prominent flavor in the bread.
This is the last ‘fall style’ bread that I made this year when we still had apples from the bounty that we picked earlier in October. Now we’ve moved on to other in season fruits, including oranges and clementines. I’ve used oranges (zest and juice) before in bread, but only in quick breads. Maybe this winter I’ll experiment more with that.
I made several small versions of these loaves so that I could send some off to people and keep others for us. I’ve been going through what I think of as our bread reserves in the freezer and found half a loaf of this that I had forgotten about. There is a strong enough flavor that you can just eat it plain (toasted is great) but it also works nicely as a breakfast bread, maybe with some jam or preserves spread on top. And it has the Jordan Zimmermann stamp of approval, so you know it’s good.
A fair warning that the cider and buckwheat flour combine to make what I think it an unusually tart bread, so if that isn’t your think you might want to sub out some of the cider for water (or give the Normandy apple bread a try). And as this is a sourdough I want to remind those if you in the Ann Arbor area that if you want some starter, just let me know. A few weeks ago I met up with a reader who was interested in giving sourdough bread a try, I’m always happy to share!
- 100 g buckwheat flour (21%)
- ½ C apple cider (24%)
- 15 g unfed sourdough levain (3%)
- 385 g bread flour (79%)
- 7 oz apple cider (43%)
- 12 g salt (2%)
- 40 g dried apples (8%)
- Twelve hours before preparing the final dough mix the ingredients for the levain and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Set aside for 10-12 hours.
- When the levain is ready (a drop will float in water) mix together all the levain, bread flour, and cider and let sit for 30 minutes. Add the salt and mix until well combined.
- Let the dough rise for 90 minutes, and after 45 add the apples minutes perform a series of stretches and folds.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Then shape into a boule and place to rise in a proofing basket.
- Let rise for 3 hours at room temperature or 10-12 hours in the refrigerator overnight.
- Place a cast iron combo cooker into an oven and preheat to 430°F. Score the loaf and place into the combo cooker. Cook for 20 minutes with the top on.
- Remove the top and lower temperature to 400°F and cook for another 20 minutes.
