Squaw Bread

Time: 2 days (first day preparing soaker and starter, second day making intermediate levain, final dough and baking)
Makes: 2 small loaves (about 500g each)

Well, this is my first blog post and in the tradition of first posts I’ll issue the ubiquitous newbie disclaimer: I’m still very new to wordpress and blogging in general. Please forgive the cookie cutter template and poor fomatting…it will get better!
So here it is, the first recipe on Foolish Poolish Bakes :- ‘Squaw Bread’
My partner recently came across this bread at a local sandwich shop. Neither of us heard of it before. Praised both as a sweetish dinner bread and as a sandwich bread, her enthusiasm inspired me to formulate a recipe for baking at home. A few web searches later and I’d found a number of recipes. These fell roughly into two categories – one using a grain/cornmeal soaker (like Anadama bread) and the other calling for raisins (soaked and then pureed in a blender). All recipes were straight, enriched, commercially-yeasted doughs containing a mixture of whole wheat, white and rye flour and sweetened with molasses. This is my sourdough version of ’squaw bread’.

For my sourdough version, the idea of using a cornmeal soaker appealed to me but I was a bit unsure about including raisins. In the end I experimented both with and without raisin puree and found the puree-free version to be a lighter, more versatile bread.
I chose to use a high hydration rye starter and a fairly slack, mixed grain intermediate levain – a combination which has worked for me in the past to give a fruity, almost ‘wine like’ flavour and aroma to bread. The rye also contributes a rich, earthy note; a perfect complement to the slightly bitter, dark, sweet molasses.

Rye Starter (if needed)

I used a high hydration rye starter (150%) fed at 1:7:10.5 (starter:flour:water) and left to mature for 12 hours in a warm place 75-80F).
If you don’t have a rye starter, you can convert a wheat starter by mixing the following starter on the day before baking:
12g mature wheat starter
50g whole rye flour
75g water
Mix and leave to mature for 12 hours in a warm place.

Soaker
100g cornmeal
130g water
Mix and leave overnight

Intermediate Levain
75g bread flour
75g ww flour
25g whole rye flour
75g water
125g rye starter (150% hydration)
Mix all the ingredients well and proof in a warm place for 4 hours (or until doubled)

Autolyse
150g ww flour
150g bread flour
25g whole rye flour
125g water
All of cornmeal soaker
Mix all the ingredients for the autolyse into a dough ball.
Leave the autolyse to rest during the 4 hours that the intermediate levain is proofing.

Topping
1-2 tbsp rolled oats
4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp corn starch
Stir the corn starch into the water and simmer in a saucepan until the solution starts to thicken and turns translucent.
Pour the glaze into a container to cool before using.

Final Dough
All of intermediate levain
All of autolyse
60g molasses or treacle
50g butter (room temperature)
50g dark brown sugar
10g salt
(For darker crumb colour, add 1 or 2 tbsp of caramel colouring when mixing the final dough. This attempt did not include any additional colouring)

Knead together the starter and autolyse.
Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Knead in the salt
Knead in the sugar (a tablespoon at a time)
Mix in the molasses and knead until the dough is an even colour.
Knead in the butter, a few tsp at a time and continue kneading for a further 2 or 3 minutes until the dough is smooth.
Bulk ferment the dough for 2 1/2 hours (with three folds at 30 minute intervals).
Divide and shape two sandwich loaves.
Proof the loaves in tins for a further 1 1/2 hours.
Brush the tops with the cornstarch glaze.
Sprinkle rolled oats over the just-glazed surface.
Score each loaf (a single lengthwise cut down the middle is fine)
Bake at 400F for 10 minutes (with steam)
Lower the oven temperature to 350F and continue baking for a further 30 minutes or until the crusts are nicely browned (internal temperature of 200F for those with thermometer probes).

Note, this dough is quite slack and requires light handling. If you are using an electric mixer, keep the machine on a lower speed setting.

 

So how did it go? Well, I found the dough to be quite slack and so it required some delicate handling. The folds during the bulk fermentation added some much needed strength. Oven spring was dramatic and the loaves would have risen higher had I not been forced to transfer between ovens, about 3 minutes into baking (the loaves were getting dangerously close to the oven ceiling!) My attempts at using a cornstarch glaze (first time I’ve tried) leave a lot to be desired. I’m eager to learn how to do this better in the future (advice, tips welcome).
The smell as the bread came out of the oven was great! almost too tempting to wait to cool before slicing. The flavour was just as I hoped- fruity, rich, sweet, earthy. Texture-wise, the loaves were quite moist and light, with a fairly close crumb. However the richness of the bread makes for a substantial and filling slice.

Variations
For a ‘festive’ variation you could try adding some spices to the final dough, a little bit like Pain d’épices.
I would suggest the following:
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp cloves
For a fruitier, moist tea time treat, you could try adding some (whole) raisins. Steep 100-150g raisins in strong black tea overnight. Gently fold the soaked raisins into the fully mixed final dough.

Enjoy!
FP

Submitted for YeastSpotting at Wild Yeast