Friday flours (yeah, really)

/ Su Leslie
Sourdough focaccia with roasted tomato, garlic and olive topping. Image: Su Leslie 2020

I guess it had to happen! Friday seems to have become baking day, and there are more flours than flowers in my life at the moment.

I’m trying to perfect focaccia for a dinner party next weekend; 100% organic baker’s flour, salt, water and sourdough starter.

I think I’m getting there.

Sourdough focaccia. Image: Su Leslie 2020
Rye crackers made with leftover starter. Image : Su Leslie 2020

Keeping a sourdough starter healthy involves feeding it regularly, so inevitably you generate spare starter. Turns out, you can actually use it to replace some of the flour/liquid in other recipes, and it makes really good crackers. I use rye flour, partly for the taste and partly because I bought a really big bag of it.

Whole-wheat with grains. Image: Su Leslie 2020

The key ingredient in sourdough baking is time, and I figure if I’m going to be in the kitchen all day, I may as well experiment. This one involves organic whole grain wheat flour (90%) plus 10% organic rye flour, with a porridge of toasted oats and buckwheat folded in for texture. It’s still too hot to cut, so you’ll have to wait to find out if it’s any good.

41 thoughts on “Friday flours (yeah, really)”

  5. That focaccia looks amazing, as do your rye crackers. I hadn’t thought of using starter for crackers. Next time I’m trying to use up three bowls of it, I’ll remember that. (I baked 9 loaves this week.)

    I’ve gone downmarket in my bread baking. I used to buy bakers flour but I bought some large bags of plain flour from Aldi recently to use instead and I’m informed by a reliable source that the bread is just as good. 🙂 In the current reduced income state, that’s good news. (The plain flour was about a third of the price of the bakers flour.)

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    • Thank you.

      I’ve used plain flour too and I think you’re right — for most loaves it probably makes no difference. The percentage difference in the gluten is quite small.

      The price difference here isn’t that great, but that’s probably because (while we can still afford it) I’m buying organic flour and the plain/baker’s difference is marginal.

      I do feel a bit like my head’s going to explode trying to take all the different factors into account: organic, locally-grown, percent gluten, food miles … it’s a good thing I really love bread.

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  6. Wonderful. I had a sourdough period but somehow, when I stopped I never started again. Perhaps because the new baker in town, who bakes exclusively with sourdough, is so very good. That focaccia looks delectable. Perhaps I ought to bake some too?

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  12. Woo-hoo!! Friday flours finally!! 😄 Love it and the pun! That focaccia looks perfect – you have definitely found your superpower and I envy all your guests at the upcoming dinner party! 💕

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