Black Sesame Sourdough – Bread That Looks Good, Tastes Good & Feel Good
After my sourdough adventures in making sourdough that tastes like Blueberry Cheesecake, Chocolate cake and apple pie, I wanted to make a sourdough bread that not only looks good, tastes good, but it will also make you feel good. Coz life to too short to feel sick. Sesame has always been one of my favorite seeds to use in dessert or savory dishes. And I basically drizzle tahini (aka sesame paste, aka sesame butter) on everything I eat. So it is only a matter of time to create a sesame sourdough recipe. And today I will share with you my black sesame sourdough recipe! 🖤
Black Sesame – An Underrated Superfood
When it comes to superfood, black sesame may not be the first thing that came to your mind. However, apart from its distinct nutty flavor with a hint of bitterness, black sesame is in fact a vegan powerhouse. There is a myth in Chinese culture that black sesame have the effect of reversing greying of hair, as well as promoting healthy hair. This is due to its melanocyte activity to produce melanin, which is the pigment responsible for hair and skin colour.
Besides, these tiny black seeds are rich with vitamin B, iron, calcium, zinc, copper and magnesium, which is essential for a healthy nervous system, blood, bones, and skin.
Zebra Bread
The reason why I make a black sesame sourdough instead of white sesame on is mainly due to its color. I like how by laminating the two dough together, the marbing of black and white dough created a zebra pattern. The major difference between black and white sesame seeds, apart from its color, is that black sesames are slightly bitter as a result of the hulls being present, while white sesame seeds have a sweeter and nuttier flavor.
Serving Suggestions
This black sesame is so fragrant and full of flavor that you don’t really need anything to eat with. However, I do find avocado pairs perfectly with it. And if you are a sesame lover like me, an extra bit of tahini won’t hurt. 😜
Black Sesame Sourdough (Zebra Bread)
Course: Baked Goods, Bread, SourdoughCuisine: SourdoughDifficulty: Medium6
servings30
minutes40
minutesThis sourdough bread not only looks good and tastes good, but it will also make you feel good.
Ingredients
- Plain Dough
105g Bread flour
15g rye flour
15g spelt flour
112.5g water
3g salt
30g levain (100% hydration)
- Black Sesame Dough
105g Bread flour
9g rye flour
9g spelt flour
27g black sesame powder (ground black sesame seeds)
112.5g water
3g salt
10g agave syrup (or any liquid sweetener)
30g levain (100% hydration)
- Black Sesame Soaker
12g hot water
- Topping
Black sesame seeds
Directions
- Prepare the Levain & Seed Soaker
- Feed your starter using 1:2:2 (starter:flour:water) ratio. Cover loosely and let it rise until it tripled in size, around 5-6 hours.
- Soak black sesame seeds in hot water. Leave it to cool while the levain is rising.
- Autolyse (Plain Dough)
- In a mixing bowl, mix flour and water until everything in incorporated into a dough. Cover and let it rest for 2 hours.
- Autolyse (Black Sesame Dough)
- In a separate mixing bowl, mix black sesame powder, flour and water until everything in incorporated into a dough. Cover and let it rest for 2 hours.
- Mixing the Dough & Bulk Fermentation
- Once your levain has peaked, add 30g of levain to the plain dough and black sesame dough separately. Mix until you feel the dough has strengthened. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 min rest, add 3g sea salt to plain dough, 3g sea salt and 10g agave syrup to the black sesame dough, mix until everything is incorporated.
- Cover both dough and let the dough rest for 30-45 minutes, or until the dough has relaxed.
- Perform one set of light bench fold on each dough. Rest 30-45 mins.
- Perform lamination on your dough and add in black sesame soaker, make sure it’s evenly distributed.
- Perform one set of coil fold. Rest 30-45 mins.
- Perform last set of coil fold. Leave the dough untouched until the dough has increased by roughly 50% in volume.
- Shape the dough, top with more black sesame seeds if prefer. Transfer to a banneton dusted with rice flour. Rest for 15 minutes at room temperature. Then retard the dough in the fridge overnight or 16 hours.
- In the morning, preheat the oven to 250°C for 1 hour with a dutch oven inside. I love baking with my challenger pan.
- After 1 hour, take the dough out from the fridge and transfer it to the challenger pan using a parchment paper. Place 2-4 ice cubes beside the bread, cover the pan immediately and bake for 20 minutes covered.
- Remove the cover after 20 minutes, lower the temperature to 220°C and bake for another 10 minutes.
- For the last 10 minutes, further lower the temperature to 210°C.
- Turn off the oven and leave the oven door a crack open for 15 minutes.
- Remove the loaf from the oven and place it on the cooling rack until it’s completely cooled.
