A New Adventure in Sourdough

Last week when my Mom came to visit she brought me some of the cookbooks that she didn't want anymore. Among them was one that I was very excited to receive..."Bread Winners Too- The Second Rising" by Mel London. I looked for some sourdough recipes in the book and found several that intrigued me. I was looking to make a lighter, airier loaf worthy of toast and sandwiches and I found a recipe for a whole wheat sourdough brioche bread. So, yesterday I decided to make it and I'm so happy with the results. The above loaf is one of the two that resulted from my efforts and it was well worth it!

Below is the recipe along with my notes about the slight changes I made and the advice I give about making this bread:

Whole Wheat Sourdough Brioche Bread:

Adapted from "Bread Winners Too- The Second Rising" by Mel London

2 cups whole wheat sourdough starter
1 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3 cups milk
3 large eggs- separated
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon coarse salt
9-10 cups whole wheat flour
1-2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened

1 egg yolk, beaten or 1/4 cup milk or cream for brushing loaves

2 small loaf pans

1. Mix the yeast and warm water in a bowl. Let it set for 5-10 minutes or until it looks frothy.

2. In a large bowl, mix the starter with milk. Beat the egg yolks separately and then add to the dough. Then, add the yeast and water mixture. After that add the honey and salt. Beat in half of the flour.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until fluffy and then fold them into the dough. I beat mine by hand with a whisk but you can also use a stand mixer for this. Add the remaining flour slowly and knead well. If the dough seems too sticky and wet add more flour.

4. Knead on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes or so. Then, put the dough into a floured bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. I let my dough rise about 4+ hours for this first stage. Below is a picture of my dough. I let it rise outside for a while during the time it was sunny.


5. Punch the dough down and work in the butter. The dough will be very moist, but work all of the butter in until it is no longer visible. Make sure it is all absorbed. This will take a few minutes.

6. Spray 2 small loaf pans with non-stick spray or butter them. Form 2 loaves out of the dough and place them in the pans. Cut slits in the tops of the loaves and brush with beaten egg yolk, milk or cream. Place in a warm area to rise another 3-4 hours.

7. Place a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500F. Reduce the heat to 450F and then put the loaves in to bake. Bake for about 40 minutes to 1 hour or so. The tops will brown quickly, so during the last half of the baking time put a piece of foil over each loaf. Cool loaves on a wire rack.

My Notes:

The original recipe did not call for yeast. During the first rising period my dough didn't rise much, so I added the yeast after the first rising instead. In my version of the recipe here I add it at the beginning. I think it helps because otherwise the dough is so dense with eggs and milk that the sourdough will take a long time to rise the dough.

Another problem I had that I solved quickly before it was too late was that I had originally formed the loaves into free form circles and put them on baking sheets. During the second rise they spread out and were forming big "pancake-like" loaves. I didn't want this effect so I scooped up the dough and put it into the loaf pans instead. This made the bread much better!

One final note is to double check to make sure the bread is done. You might even take a wooden skewer and insert it in the center. I was fooled by my larger loaf of bread because I sliced 2 slices and we had them with dinner, but when I went to make toast the next morning I noticed the bread was raw in the middle. I promptly popped it back into a loaf pan and baked it 20+ minutes more until it was done. It's never too late to correct your mistakes!


Enjoy your bread and happy baking!