Roasted Sweet Potato Sourdough Loaf
A fellow blogger, Liv from Better than a Bought one, lives down the road & has a sourdough culture named Terrence. Liv started the culture about 4 years ago firstly on potato skins & now feeds it with rye flour. From time to time I pop in to see Liv, have a yarn, a cuppa & I'll take home a bit of Terrance. My last bit of Terrance, now called Arthur as it is on a gluten free diet, is still going strong & will continue in this house for quite a while (the bread is great). Funnily enough Liv has been on a gluten free diet of late & I've given her some of my Arthur.
You can read a little about converting wheat/rye based sourdough starters here.
This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.
Sourdough Starter
50 g of previous days leaven
50 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour
100 g Lukewarm water
50 - 70g Roasted sweet potato
The remaining 150 g of the previous days leaven I either use to make bread (below) or put it on the humus heap.
I'm not gentle when it comes to mixing the starter - I find the easiest way to mix is with a stab blender. It's quick & gets the lumps out.
Ingredients
400 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour
1.5 -2 tsp Salt
150 g Sourdough starter (leaven)
70 - 100 g Roasted sweet potato
50 g Oil (I use Rice bran)
350 g Warm water
Extra oil for top of the dough
Method
Lightly oil a heavy duty loaf baking tin.
Thermomix
Place all ingredients in the TM bowl.
Mix @ 37o C for 1.5 mins at speed 3.
Ensure all ingredients are incorporated. If not, scrape down the sides and briefly mix again.
Stand Mixer
Mush the roast sweet potato with a fork.
Combine ingredients using the flat beater until a uniform consistency is achieved. You may need to stop the mixer and scrap down the sides.
Both Methods
Transfer dough to the baking tin. Let the dough proof for 3-5 hours in a warm moist environment. The actual time will depend on many factors particularly how active your sourdough starter (leaven) is.
Turn your oven on to 200 C.
Before putting it in the oven ensure that the dough has risen ~2X.
Bake at 200 C for 1 - 1 hr 20 mins, the time will vary depending on the individual oven. If your oven has a hot spot turn the bread halfway through baking. Baking the bread for longer will result in a wonderfully crusty bread.
Take out of the oven & cool the bread on a cooling rack (take it out of the baking tin). The bread should slide out of the baking tin. If it doesn't don't force it out, wait until it cools.
Ensure the bread is sufficiently cooled before cutting into it.
I used 1/2 the loaf on the day that it was made. I refreshed the remaining 1/2 by putting it back in the oven for ~20 mins at 180 C - full flexibility was restored.
Simply enjoy!