Sourdough bread in the bread maker

I'm still experimenting with my sourdough made using the breadmaker from sponge to loaf.  I think I'm close.

My breadmaker is an elderly Breville but it does give me the opportunity to manually set up a recipe.  Based on other recipes that come with the breadmaker and what's needed to make a sourdough loaf, I've tried a number of manual settings now.  While the loaves are fine, they are difficult to remove from the bread pan - small price to pay for automation IMHO. 

Once the sponge is left overnight to rise and become active, the process takes between 5 and 9 hours, which isn't too bad.  I'm thinking that the process will take longer in our Winter than it will come Summer.

Keep tuned for the recipe.

Chocolate Liqueur Cake

Chocolate Liqueur Cake with Chocolate Ganache

I made a lovely cake last night and added the ganache this morning.  The recipe is based on one I found on Best Recipes for Irish Cream Fudge Cake.  No Bailey's in the cupboard - well there was but it had been opened about 12 months ago and was well past it's best by date.  I used a chocolate flavoured liqueur instead.

Totally decadent.

I made the cake for a photo competition but missed the cut off.  Oh well, next time I'll get my act together and in the mean time, I have a lovely cake to console myself with.

PS - this is not the shot I was going to use, but it's not bad is it?

Simple Sourdough

Simple Sourdough baked last night

While it's nice to have artisan bread, really, I just want a loaf of bread that tastes nice, toasts well and doesn't take a lot of mucking about to make.  I think I've found a method that suits my needs.

See my recipe and method for Simple Sourdough Bread.

Breadmaker Sourdough

I've been looking for a recipe for English muffins.  First attempt failed as muffins but I managed to produce reasonable flatbreads.  Too many distractions happening - well that's my excuse.

The recipe I used is a simple one though and would make good pizza dough.

Moving the thought process onwards, I experimented with making a sourdough loaf in the breadmaker using the same recipe.  I set a sponge going overnight using all the water and 2/3rd of the flour.  The next morning, the sponge was poured into the bread pan along with a little salt, sugar, the rest of the flour and a little bicarb soda.  Normal setting produced a loaf with reasonable holes and the most amazing crust.  Not sure I'd do it again though because the stirrer blade was well and truly embedded in the loaf and very difficult to remove because of the crisp crust.