sticky buns

The night before baking, mix together and knead for a few minutes:

1 cup active sourdough starter
1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
2 cups all-purpose flour

Flour lightly and set aside, then mix:

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt

Melt 4 Tablespoons butter and spread in a baking pan, then sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over. Soften another 4 Tablespoons of butter.

Roll out the dough into a rectangular sheet about 1/2 inch thick. Spread the softened butter over it, sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture, and roll the dough up into a cylinder. Cut into disks and place them, cut end up, into the prepared baking pan, leaving enough room for them to expand. Cover and set aside to rise overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 350, and bake for another 15, or until browned and firm. Place a serving tray over the baking sheet and carefully turn the buns out.

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My mother would use about a quarter the sugar and about half the butter, and they'd still come out too sweet for her; they're a little too sweet for me in this recipe.

Sourdough Hearth Loaf- on YouTube

Last week I made a good loaf of sourdough, using the pizza stone that Kate's parents gave me for Christmas. I also video-recorded (most of) the process, and Kate was kind enough to edit the resulting mess into something more or less watchable for the Mad River Valley Localvores.

Mix together:

1/2 cup mixed grain cereal
1/2 cup cold water

Set aside to soak.

Mix together:

2 1/2 cups active whole-wheat sourdough starter
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 T maple syrup
3 cups white all-purpose flour

Let sit for twenty minutes or so, then mix in

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Knead for 10-12 minutes, adding an additional

1/4 cup water

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover lightly, and let it rise overnight. In the morning, knead in the soaked mixed grains and shape the dough into a round loaf. Flour a cotton towel-- it's fun to use one with a coarse texture that will leave a print on the crust-- and use it to line a medium, shallow basket or bowl. Place the loaf upside-down on the floured towel, cover it lightly (fold the corners over, adding flour if necessary so they won't stick) and leave in a warm place to rise for four or five hours-- I use the oven with the pilot light on.

When the loaf has doubled in volume, take it out of the oven (if that's where it's been rising), put a baking stone on the oven's center rack, and preheat to 500 degrees. Prepare a peel-- a rimless baking sheet, or the bottom side of a cookie sheet-- by sprinkling it thoroughly with cornmeal. When the oven is hot, gently turn the loaf out of the floured towel onto the cornmeal on the peel. Take a razorblade or very sharp knife and score the top of the loaf. With a spray-bottle full of water, open the oven door and spray the walls and floor of the oven to create steam, then quickly slide the scored loaf off of the peel directly onto the preheated bakind stone. The cornmeal should allow the dough to slide easily, all in one piece.

Close the oven door, turn down the heat to 425 degrees, wait 3 minutes and repeat spraying water on the walls and floor of the oven. Close the door, wait another 3 minutes and spray once more. In 45 minutes, check the loaf by tapping the bottom (it should sound hollow). If it's not done give it another ten minutes. When you think it's done, take it out and let it cool, wrapped in a clean cotton towel, on a wire rack.