With Blue Spirulina, Yellow Turmeric, and White Whole Wheat Flour
This "Ukrainian Heart" bread is dedicated to all of the brave Ukrainian people who are fighting for their country, their families, their independence. I have been blessed to have Ukrainian people among my friends and family, and my heart is breaking to see many being forced out of their homes, face danger while evacuating, and lose a sense of safety anywhere. Praying for peace every day.
To create this design, I used blue spirulina powder, which has a natural blue color, and turmeric powder. You can also use food color, but I, personally, don't like the taste of it and prefer to use natural ingredients. Besides, both spirulina and turmeric are very healthy and nutritious. Spirulina has no algae taste or smell and will not change the taste of the bread but will add incredible anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.
For the marbled look, I experimented with two different blue to yellow dough proportions (1/2 & 1/2 versus 1/3 & 2/3) as well as different amounts of spirulina and turmeric. Even though both loaves were delicious, I loved the vibrant colors and the marble swirls of the latter, which is pictured above.
The lamination process was very simple - I placed the blue dough halfway on top of yellow and folded them in layers.
I used a DIY heart stencil and a lid from my protein powder container to outline the sunflower center; the petals I drew freehand.
Useful Tips:
When scoring, the deepest cut should be the circle around the heart, so the dough doesn't break open in an unexpected place and ruin the design
Spread a little bit of goat cheese, sunflower seeds, and honey to make a healthy sweet treat
The ingredients listed below are for 2 loaves so you can bake 2 and share 1 as a gift. To make a single loaf, simply divide each ingredient in half.
Recipe
Ingredients for 2 loaves:
Levain 1:2:2 Ratio
70 g Sourdough Starter
70 g Bread Flour
70 g White Whole Wheat Flour
140 g Water (bottled or filtered)
Dough 2/3 yellow and 1/3 blue
300 g Levain: 100g blue dough /200g yellow dough
700 g Water (bottled or filtered): 234g blue / 466g yellow
700 g Bread flour: 234g blue / 466g yellow
300 g White Whole Wheat Flour: 100g blue / 200g yellow
20 g Salt: 6g blue / 14g yellow
4 tsp Blue Spirulina Powder
4 tsp Turmeric Powder
Other
Rice Flour for dusting
Instructions:
Prepare the Starter (morning 10 am)
Feed 70g of starter with 70g bread flour, 70 g whole wheat flour, and 140g water, cover, and leave it on the counter to ferment for 6 hours. With room temperature at 76°F, it should at least double in size by then.
Make the Dough #1 (afternoon 4 pm)
Combine 100g of starter with 234g of Water at 85-90°F in a large mixing bowl and mix until the starter is dissolved.
Add 234g of bread flour, 100g of white whole wheat flour, 6g of salt, and 4 tsp blue spirulina powder to the mixture and mix the dough with fingers until all of the ingredients are well incorporated with no dry bits left.
Cover and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes.
Make the Dough #2
Combine 200g of starter with 466g of Water at 85-90°F in a large mixing bowl and mix until the starter is dissolved.
Add 466g of bread flour, 200g of white whole wheat flour, 14g of salt, and 4 tsp turmeric powder to the mixture and mix the dough with fingers until all of the ingredients are well incorporated with no dry bits left.
Cover and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes.
Stretch and Fold
For the next hour, perform stretching and folding technique every 30 min for each dough: take one side of the dough, stretch it as far as you can, and fold it on top of the dough. Turn the bowl counter-clockwise and do it 7 more times, stretching and folding each side.
Laminate the Dough
Divide each dough into half.
Lay the blue dough on top of the yellow dough so that it overlaps in the center.
Pick up the yellow dough and fold it on top of the blue dough, then pick up the blue dough and fold it on top of the yellow dough.
Pick up the edge and roll the dough until it becomes a square.
Cover and leave the dough on the counter for 1 hour to rise at about 76°F room temperature.
Perform Coil Folds
For the next hour perform coil folds every 30 min by picking up the dough and folding each side underneath.
Cover and leave the dough on the counter for 30 min to rise at about 76°F room temperature.
Shape and Proof (evening 8 pm)
Mist the bannetons with water and sprinkle with Rice flour.
Gently take the dough out of the bowl, place it onto an unfloured surface, and shape it into the final round shape using the same coil fold technique as above.
Gently turn the dough with your hands round and round to create the surface tension and make it into a tight ball. Do not over-shape.
Flour the top with bread flour, put each piece in the banneton seam side up, and dust the top of the dough with rice flour.
Place the bannetons in plastic bags and let the dough rest overnight in the fridge.
Bake (next day)
Test the dough if it's ready to bake by gently pressing it with your finger. If it springs back up slowly - it's ready.
Preheat the oven to maximum temperature (550°F in our case).
Carefully flip the dough out of the banneton into the dutch oven or a cast iron combo cooker (no need to preheat it.)
Dust off the rice flour with a brush, mist the top of the dough with a little bit of water and cover it in all-purpose flour, spreading it evenly.
Score the dough with a razor blade and put the lid on.
Reduce the temperature to 475°F and bake for 30 min.
Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 450°F and bake for another 15 min uncovered.
Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool completely before cutting.
Enjoy Baking!
Tools I used:
