I’ve been having so much fun experimenting with the basic sourdough recipe that I wrote up a few weeks ago!
Even though the formula was one I made up (did you notice the nice round numbers?), it’s nevertheless proven to be quite versatile. Recently, when I was baking along on Twitter with my buddies Alison and Rachel, I made epi stars and fruit loaves.
The stars were made from a single batch of the basic sourdough. After the bulk prove, they were rolled into long skinny sausages. These were covered with a tea towel and left to prove a second time…
Once they had puffed up a bit, I cut them into “ears”, using my kitchen scissors (which unlike Charlie Louie’s, hadn’t been used to amputate a lorikeet’s leg). This is the method used to make epi, which I wrote about here, except in this case, I cut all the way through the dough…
The “ears” were arranged on a sheet of parchment paper to form a star, and the round ends of each log were pressed into the middle to cover up the join…
The stars were sprayed with a little water and then baked in a preheated 220C fan-forced oven for 15 minutes, followed by a further 20 minutes at 175C with fan…
. . . . .
My second batch of sourdough was used to make two small fruit loaves…
As usual, I got carried away with the fruit and nuts, and ended up adding way more than was sensible. If you do try this, I’d recommend using 200g worth of additions rather than 350g – the larger quantity made kneading and shaping the dough very fiddly…
- 150g ripe sourdough starter
- 250g water
- 25g olive oil
- 500g bakers/bread flour
- 10g fine sea salt
- 200g dried fruit and nuts (I used 350g – a mix of cranberries, dried blueberries, Turkish figs, roasted hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pepitoes, raisins, dried cherries and walnuts)
Add the fruit and nuts to the wet ingredients and stir to combine before mixing in the flour and salt. Otherwise, I just followed the basic instructions in the tutorial here. Here’s a photo of the dough after its bulk prove…
The dough was shaped (clumsily, because bits of fruit kept popping out and flying across the bench) into two small loaves and allowed to rise a second time. I used my bannetons, but this would work equally well on a paper lined tray as per the tutorial.
When I shape fruit loaves, I always try to have as little fruit on the top of the dough as possible, as these tend to burn in the oven.
After a second rise (these didn’t actually rise very much the second time, despite my giving them over an hour), I slashed the tops, spritzed them with a little water, and baked the loaves in a preheated 220C fan forced oven for 15 minutes (it might need 20, depending on your oven), before dropping the temperature to 175C with fan for a further 30 minutes baking time.
I’ve learned over the years that fruit loaves need a watchful eye, as they can brown up very quickly, and might scorch a little at the higher temperature. This batch, however, were fine…
I sliced up a loaf and a half for the freezer, and left just half a loaf out for eating the next day. This is Pete’s favourite, so he was very happy indeed!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
fascinated me, they are so beautiful and should be so delicious too dear Celia, Thank you, love, nia
Thanks Nia, I’m glad you liked them! :)
Dear Celia, you are so ready to turn your passion into a business!
Aah, you’re kind, thank you, but the surest way for me to kill a passion is to turn it into a business. Trust me, I know this from experience! :)
awesome Celia
Thanks Linda! Still can’t get into your blog from your link?
Gorgeous work! Loved the stars, I might give them a try sometime… I had to laugh at your experience kneading fruit into the dough – it can be very very tricky, and like you, I sometimes wish I had a lighter hand with the “goodies” when making bread.
Thanks darling! The stars are great fun, but the fruit really did fly around everywhere! :)
The overloaded loaves look amazing :)
Tandy, thanks! They’ve been fun to eat (although fiddly to make)..
beautifull shaped bread,
thx for sharing the cutting leaf tricks…..
Thanks for stopping by! :)
The stars are just gorgeous Celia! And I love chunky big bits of fruit and nuts in my bread- delicious xox
Becca, it was delish, but I really did get carried away. I’m now thinking I need to make hot cross buns this weekend.. :)
Ahhh yes, my kitchen scissors. Fear not Celia – I boiled them up in a saucepan for over an hour. I’m quite sure I eradicated every germ. When I saw your long, long, long loaves I was thinking you must have an enormous oven but then you cut them and made such pretty shapes. And I just love your fruit loaf all sliced – it looks more yummy than any fruit loaf I’ve ever seen in a bakery. Oh, and I did an In My Kitchen post a few days ago… http://hotlyspiced.com/in-my-kitchen-march-2013/
Ahhh the kitchen scissors, Charlie! You’d be amazed how many people I’ve told this story to! Oh, and I do have an enormous oven – 90cm to be exact, and free-standing. There’s quite a story to it, which I must recount one of these days.. :)
Stars are beautiful, Celia! What a great post- I make the stars but I’ve always shaped them rather than cut them. I like the cut better!
Thanks Heidi! They’re so easy to make with scissors! I tried a hedgehog as well, but it was an absolute disaster.. ;-)
Star bread? Celia you are so clever! They’re just beautiful. My parents love fruit bread so I may just have to whip up a batch for them for Easter. Poor Charlie’s scissors. That post gave me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it!
Claire, I know! I reckon I’d have been inclined to turf them after that, but brave Charlie boiled them up to sterilise them.. :)
(My sons once used my chocolate thermometer to measure the temperature of a river..)
My husband is drooling over the picture of the fruit bread. I never put in enough fruit for him. Cute little stars/flowers.
Thanks Liz! You’re probably wiser than I am – with so much fruit, the shaping was a nightmare! :)
Another wonderful recipe to file, although this gal better start at the very beginning . . . these do look so imaginative tho’ !
Thanks Eha! The stars are very easy to make!
The stars are lovely! I also tend to be heavy handed with the goodies! Nice loaves!
Thanks Manuela! The stars are fun, and a great party favour!
Love your stars, but given a choice I would go for the fruit loaf first, love all the fruits and nuts in it (they look like jewels), with a pat of your local butter, I’ll be in heaven.
Thanks Norma! The fruit loaf is very rich, particularly with the macadamia nuts (this is the first time I’ve used them in a loaf!).
Wow! The fruit loaf loosk fantastic! I can’t wait to try more, but with only me home at the moment, I just dont eat enough bread to keep experimenting. j’s home soon, and I’ll definitely get on it.
Clare, your fruit loaves were fantastic! I can’t wait to see photos of the crumb! :)
Looks yummy Celia
Thanks Craig! Hope it’s all going well down there! x
Oh your fruitbread looks gorgeous…..all of your Pete’s favourites are to die for!
Elaine, you and Pete would get on, you both like the same things! :)
Celia, your stars and fruitbread look wonderful. Yum. Does ‘epi’ mean ‘ear’?
Carmen, I think so! The original epi loaves were meant to represent ears of wheat…
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/05/08/bread-101-epi/
The star flowers are so cute and I just loooove that fruit loaves! Yum!
Thank you! They were fun to make too! :)
You are certainly the bread making queen of art, dear Celia! Waw!
Those bread stars look fantastic & things of beauty too! Those fruit loaves look amazing & very artisanal too! :) Waw! Lovely food gifts too! I wished you were my neighbour! xxx
Sophie, you’re kind, thank you! It would be lovely to be able to share with you – I’d bake you all my gluten-free treats as well! :)
I don’t live Gf anymore only sometimes & often, I eat still GF pasta!
Celia, You’ve got Pete going now! He wants stars and fruit loaf! That’s what happens when you get one of Priscilla’s off spring.
Go Pete! Can’t wait to see what Shebru can do! :)
You really are good at this, Celia. I’m not one much for fruit in bread but yours does look good, although the image of fruit flying across the bench gave me chuckle — edible shrapnel. :)
John, all over the bench and on to the floor, where it was trodden in before we could pick it up. Sigh. It was worth it though, the loaves were delish! :)
You and your bread! Endless imagination.
Celia, I wanted to ask you about something. I am teaching a Global cooking class next semester and am curious, is there a dish you would say that profiles Australian Cuisine? What are the typical spices, herbs etc you use?
Since I sent the starters out, everyone’s been baking and it’s reinspired me again! :) Australian dishes? Roast lamb with rosemary, lamingtons, sausage rolls, and pavlova. Of course, that’s stereotyping, as Australia is now so multi-cultural that a good Thai curry and Lebanese kebabs are every bit as Aussie as roast lamb! :) In terms of herbs, rosemary, mint and sage are all very traditional in 1950s British inspired Aus cuisine.
That’s one serious looking fruit and nut loaf – jam-packed is the word that comes to mind! Looks gorgeous and love the stars. Top job!
Thanks Rach – can’t wait to see how your olive loaf turned out!
As I’ve already mentioned (I think?) I’m off to a sourdough bread class this month.. and I can’t wait!! You’ve been my inspiration on this since I first followed your blog and have admired your lovely bread creations. This one is just tops, I can see them appearing at Easter with our ham and sweet potatoes!! I can see why you added the extra dried fruit, I always do the same:D xx
Smidge, I’m so excited about your course – I hope you love it! I can just imagine what gorgeous creations you’ll be coming up with! xx
Wow love the stars and the fruit sourdough I am going to try ASAP. Beautiful blog and great great great!
http://www.mindfullygreen.com.au
Thanks Amber! I hope you have fun with them! Thanks for stopping by (and I love Chris’ blog too! :))
Very creative! . You are such an artist of breads. I’m hoping someday that I’ll be good on creating designs on bread. Your great! Thanks a lot!
Thank you! It’s fun to play with dough! :)
I love homemade bread and your stars are so adorable. :) The fruit loaf is wonderful too. Those fruit and nuts are gorgeous inside the loaf. Can’t wait to make my own soon.
Amy, thank you, hope you enjoy the fruit loaf! I’ve been eating slices for breakfast every morning! :)
aww those stars are cute – imagine them in a lunch box! I sort of have in my head that it is my year of learning about sourdough but an autumn heatwave doesn’t help things!
I have given you a Liebster Award at http://gggiraffe.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/liebster-award-meme-of-elevenses.html – there is a fun meme if you have the time and inclination to play along
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