Ideas continued to flow as I rummaged through the fridge, looking for natural food additives for my next homemade bread recipe creation. Then I saw a jar of wolfberries sitting next to my sesame seeds, and other items that I like to add to my vegetable stir fries. It’s been quite some time since I last restock on this powerful anti-oxidant fruit, so I know I haven’t been eating my wolfberries as often as I should. After all, it is a well-known ingredient that is said to improve vision. Gosh, I wish I could make my kids eat more of this too.
So after putting aside a handful that I will be snacking on after dinner, I have about 20g of the berries to be added to my bread recipe. I soak them till soft with 35g of filtered water, then I whizz them with a hand blender into a bright orange slurry mixture, which explains the color of the bread.
Now I have one bread recipe that is good for the eyes, naturally enriched, no less.
Wolfberry Taro Loaf
160g fed starter ** 265g plain flour 1 tablespoon raw sugar 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 100g mashed taro 20g wolfberries 65g water *** 20g cold butter, cubed
** I used a starter made from raisin yeast.
*** Use 35g of the water to soak the wolfberries till they are soft, then blend into mixture. Remaining 30g to be used at the kneading stage.
In a mixer bowl, add the starter, plain flour, raw sugar, sea salt, mashed taro, and blended wolfberries. Start mixer to knead on lowest speed with a dough hook.
Slowly add the remaining water until the ingredients come into a ball. You might not use up all the water or you might need more, depending on the hydration level of the ingredients. Once a dough ball is formed, stop the mixer and let the dough rest for 15 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid better.
Start the mixer again to knead for 1 minute before adding cubed butter one by one, and knead until the dough reaches window pane stage. Stop mixer and leave the dough to bulk rise at room temperature for 120 – 150 minutes, until the dough expands and passes the poke test, a sure sign that the first fermentation is completed.
After the dough has risen to double its volume, punch down the dough to deflate and transfer to a clean work top. Sprinkle worktop and palms with flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.
Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Shape each portion like this. Arrange them in a well greased Pullman bread tin, seam side downwards. Leave this aside to proof for 120-150 minutes, covered.
Preheat oven to 160C, and bake the bread for 35 minutes.
When done, remove bread from tin immediately and place on a rack to cool completely.
MONO and CO 