Black Garlic Sourdough Bread

Black garlic is a type of fermented (aged) garlic that has a deep brown color, also it has incredible taste: sweet and syrupy with hints of balsamic vinegar and tamarind.

It will bring the flavor of your bread to a new exquisite level.

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter 

• 5g sourdough starter
• 35g water
• 30g all purpose flour or bread flour
• 5g rye flour

Dough

• 240g bread flour (90%)
• 60g stone ground whole wheat flour (20%)
• 207g water (69%)
• 27g (9%) cold water added along with salt, total hydration 78%
• 60g sourdough starter (20%)
• 1 head of black garlic
• 6g salt (2%)

Directions 

Starter 

• 7 am add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let it sit at a room temp 74-78F for about 8-10 hours until starter reaches its peak (at least triples in volume).
• Learn how to make starter from scratch here

Note: for starter’s refreshments follow your regular proportions 

Dough

• 5 pm mix water with flour and cover, let it rest 1 hour for autolyse.
• During the autolyse process flour absorbs water, becoming fully hydrated. This activates gluten development.
• 6 pm add sourdough starter. 
• Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated.
• Cover, let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile prepare black garlic by cutting it in half and squeezing the soft part.

• 6:30 pm add salt and extra water. 
• The process of adding extra water is called bassinage, it helps to tighten up gluten. Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or with KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5-6 minutes until well incorporated. The dough should come up together, but still be sticky on the bottom.
• We will continue gluten development and structure building by performing stretches and folds during the warm fermentation period.
• Leave to rest 30 minutes. At 74-78F /23-26C
• 7 pm spray your work surface with water, wet your hands to perform lamination.
• Lamination is the process of stretching the dough as thin as you can without ripping it.
• Spread black garlic all over the dough, fold and let it rest for 45 minutes.

• 7:45 pm 1st stretch and fold.
• 8:30 pm 2nd stretch and fold.
• 9.15 pm 3rd stretch and fold.
• Performing stretches and folds will help with gluten development. Keep monitoring the dough, if it rises too fast, you can shorten the time between stretches to 40 minutes or less.
• After the final stretch let the dough proof for 30 minutes at 76-80F/ 23-26C. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter. We are looking for 50% rise. 

Preshaping sourdough 

• 9:45 pm transfer the dough on to a work surface and dust its top with flour. Flip the dough over so the floured side faces down.
• Fold the dough onto itself so the flour on the surface remains entirely on the outside of the loaf. This will become the crust.
• Place the dough round on a work surface and let it rest for 30 minutes uncovered.

Shaping sourdough 

• 10.15 pm dust the dough with flour. Use a dough scraper to flip it over on to a work surface so the floured sides face down.
• Starting with the side closest to you, pull the right 2 corners of the dough to the left, then fold them up into half of the dough. Repeat this action with the other side too.
• Finally, roll the dough. Shape it into a smooth, taut roll.
• Transfer the roll, seam side up, to a prepared proofing basket (loaf pan with kitchen towel).
• Cover it with plastic and return the dough to the 80F (27C) environment for 15 minutes.
• Then transfer the dough to rise for 14-24 hours in the refrigerator.

Baking

Next morning

• Preheat your oven to 500 F, place a cast iron pan with the lid inside for 45 minutes -1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the fridge. 
• Flip it over on a parchment paper, score it with a sharp knife or a scoring lame. 
• Transfer on to the hot cast iron pan, cover with the lid (to create steam for a beautiful and crusty crumb).
• Bake at 500F for 15 minutes with lid on.
• Remove the lid, lower temperature to 450F. 
• Bake for 20 more minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!