The forty-third Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Whole-Wheat Bread, and is found on pages 270-272. I made the full recipe of this bread, making 2 small loaves (8.5"x4.5").
The ingredients: whole-wheat flour, water, yeast, buttermilk, salt, honey, vegetable oil, egg, and poppy seeds.
This is a two-day dough, a few minutes on the first day to mix together the soaker and the poolish, with the main mixing and baking on the second day. Margaret and I are continuing on in our attempts to finish the book, only two recipes left. Nancy joined in this week as well, she has a fancy mill that grinds her own whole-wheat flour fresh.
These loaves are small and dense, very flavorful with a nutty kind of flavor and an ever-so-slight tang from the buttermilk, the dense texture making great grilled cheese and toast, but also very nice for sandwiches as well as the buttermilk gave the crumb a softer texture, nice for sandwiches made with whole-wheat flour.
The only thing I changed was that I needed to add 2 Tablespoons more water during the mixing as the dough seemed a bit dry with the combination of the buttermilk and whole-wheat flour. I probably should have added it at the poolish stage but I didn't think of it then so I added it later and it seemed to work out just fine. Oh, I wouldn't put the seeds on the top before going into the oven to bake as they just all fell off when I unmolded the bread from the pan. (I brushed on a bit of butter and then put the seeds back on to stick to that.) I would make this recipe again for the flavor and the ease of the recipe overall. Definitely a repeat.
You can visit the main group and marvel the breads. I'm getting there...Slow and Steady. Our next challenge: Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Torpedoes, found on pages 278-280.
