Almond, cranberry and pineapple sourdough

My sourdough has been used for savory sandwiches so often that it is in the danger of being  stereotyped . Since my starter dough is  like a tamaguchi which  needs its weekly feed, I thought it would be a good opportunity to use any leftovers for a breakfast edition.

Against 'tradition', the fruity sourdough even pairs  well with cream cheese and smoked salmon so much so that I am expecting an encore baking in the not too distant future.

Back to the tamaguchi starter : I brought the starter, hibernating in the fridge, back  to room temperature by leaving it on the counter overnight, then fed it 1 part sour,2 parts cold water and 3 parts bread flour.

200 g of this refreshed starter I put it back to the fridge immediately  and the rest was left  to ferment overnight on the counter top, covered. Yes, you counted right - that's 2 nights in a row, even before the sourdough is baked. This fermented portion, which is a good 175 g, was part of the component of the fruity bread, originally meant for breakfast.

I used candied pineapple, which is what I have at hand. If some zing is what you prefer, used orange peel instead.

Makes 1 big loaf of fruity bread

296 g water ,room temperature

175 g Starter sour, feed and fermenting at room temperature

3 g malt sugar

306 g bread flour

135 g whole wheat

12 g salt

96 g chopped almonds

58 g cranberries

120 g chopped candied pineapple

2 T whole wheat flour, for tossing

In bowl A, mix bread and whole wheat flour.

In bowl B, toss  fruits and nuts with 2 T of whole wheat flour to prevent sticking.

In a mixing bowl, break up sour starter in water and malt sugar  with  a whisk.

Add flour and mix until water and flour is combined. Rest 15 minutes.

Add salt into dough. Mix until the dough is elastic, about 5 minutes.

Add nuts-fruits and mix for 1 minute, until condiments are well distributed in the dough.

Let dough ferment on a floured container for 60 minutes or until dough springs back halfway when poked.

On a lightly floured surface, stretch dough and fold in thirds, as like a letter. Let it rest for another 60 minutes.

Grease and flour a big bread container. Transfer dough to the container and let it ferment until double in size, covered. For maximum flavor, leave  it to ferment in the fridge overnight, covered.

If it was chilled overnight, bring dough to room temperature, 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 250 C, with a  tray of water under a baking rack.

Mist spray the dough while the oven is preheating.

Just before baking, score the surface of the dough with a very sharp knife and mist spray one last time.

Transfer dough with the container into the oven and adjust the temperature to 230 C. bake for 30 minutes.

Remove bread from the container and cool on a cooling rack before slicing. Great for breakfast or with savory smoked salmon or smoked meats.

Inspired by 'Artisan Breads' by Eric W Kastel

Vanilla cake with lychee-coconut icing makes strange bedfellows

Here's my grouse : 'invisible icing'  sandwiched between the top and bottom layers of the cake

It was all my doing. All because I wanted to use up some leftover frosting from my previous project.

When I saw this on janesweets, I got rather excited because it somehow reminds me of the cakes I had in Vienna recently. But as I set off to bake it, I realized that pairing cake and frosting is far from arbitrary; one must take into account taste, character and colour.

The end result, a big deviation from Jane, is a cake with a frosting that looks as transparent as glass. I was not trying for zen, but this is how it turned out to be. In fact, vanilla cake and lychee-coconut frosting are strange bedfellows that needs some getting used to - which I did after polishing off more than half of it !

Coconut lychee on vanilla cake can be rather nice.

The cake base recipe is adapted from http://janessweets.blogspot.com , with minimal adjustment.

3 1/2  cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature

1 cup milk

4 eggs, room temperature

2 egg whites

1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Vanilla seeds from one pod of vanilla

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk in butter and half of the milk, 4 minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs, egg whites, the rest of the milk, vanilla extract and seeds.  Add the egg mix to the flour mix until homogenous. Do not overwork the batter.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Jane suggested pouring the batter into 2 baking tins , which  form the top and bottom halves of the cake,  and baking  them at 180 C for 35 minutes each. As I have only one tin, I baked the cake in one springform tin. The compromise is that the cake rises in the middle, which has to be shaved off with a long knife , causing considerable waste. I salvaged it by breaking it into plain yogurt and dumped it inside my tummy.

Cool the cake thoroughly before proceeding for easy handling. If you are using one  baking tin like I did, level off the domed top of the cake and halve the cake across horizontally.

Spread half of  your favorite frosting  on the bottom half of the cake, assemble back the top half and spread  the rest of the frosting on the top layer , including the sides. I used the leftover lychee coconut frosting from the lychee cupcake recipe ( which unfortunately was not enough for the sides  ). A more classic and elegant  way  would be to use a chocolate based butter cream like Jane did, which provides good contrast in colour and compatibility in taste .

Oh  well, there is always a next time.

Verdict : The lychee coconut frosting   stands out because of the fragrance of coconut and you really need a good eye to see the frosting sandwiched between the cakes. I should have slathered it with a chocolate buttercream   but then again, lychee frosting on vanilla cake is one less option  to consider next time. Despite using cake flour, the cake does not achieve the desired lightness in texture , probably due to the order in which the ingredients are  mixed.