Embossed Sourdough Loaves

March 5, 2018 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

I’m SO excited by this discovery that I’m sharing it with you before the loaves have even cooled down!

Last night, I was reading about the Azerbaijani dessert Shekebura, which uses specialised tweezers to pinch a design into the pastry before baking. I thought it might translate to sourdough, so this morning I made up a batch of our cooking class dough and gave it a go.

After proving and shaping the loaves in bannetons, I made one long slash down the side (to control the rise and ensure that the loaves didn’t burst), then set to work with my fish tweezers…

I actually squealed with excitement when I took the lids off the pots! The finished loaves have beautifully patterned crusts…

I’ve found that dusting with fine semolina prior to baking enhances the pattern – you’d probably get an even more pronounced effect with a coating of flour prior to baking…

I’m wondering now if I can emboss more detailed patterns or possibly even words onto the surface…

Have a go! It’s definitely something worth experimenting with! ♥

Posted in Recipes | 33 Comments

33 Responses

on March 5, 2018 at 4:49 pm thecompletebook

What pretty loaves Celia.
Have a beautiful day.
Much love,
:-) Mandy xo
on March 5, 2018 at 4:49 pm marilynscottwaters

These are so pretty! Thanks for the tip! <3 Maz.
on March 5, 2018 at 4:50 pm Amanda (@lambsearsandhoney)

Clever-clogs. They look brilliant!
on March 5, 2018 at 5:10 pm Cathy Ryan

The loaves look gorgeous. I had a good belly laugh when you said that you squealed with delight, I love how it is the simplest of things in life that give us great joy.
on March 5, 2018 at 5:43 pm rarebirds

Wow !! Love it .. I’m about to do a video course on Artisan Sour Dough with the American Woman … I’ll start anew and learn lots of variations 😘
on March 5, 2018 at 5:44 pm rarebirds

North West Sour Dough it’s called
on March 5, 2018 at 5:54 pm fergie51

Never cease to amaze me! I don’t own fish tweezers but small tongs, eyebrow tweezers, pliers, hair tongs, ice block tongs are all being eyed differently now. :)
- on March 5, 2018 at 5:55 pm fergie51
  
  PS, the second one is my preferred, got the look of an Egyptian necklace about it.
on March 5, 2018 at 6:52 pm katechiconi

They’re wonderful, but I had to laugh, because you’re the only person I know with fish tweezers… I wonder what sort of pattern you’d get with the scalloped edge of tongs, and what about doing half scoops with a melon baller (surely you have one of those?). I’d better stop there, as I’m feeling the urge to go and rootle in the kitchen drawer…
on March 5, 2018 at 7:10 pm Chica Andaluza

Fantastic! Have been watching a new series with Nigel Slater where he visits Syria, Turkey and Iran and in one of the programme he makes little cakes with a family of women and they use very short, wide tweezers to decorate the dough round the little cakes. Each flavour had to have a certain pattern. Most interesting,
- on March 5, 2018 at 7:22 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Ooh that sounds like the Azerbaijani cakes I was reading about!
  - on March 6, 2018 at 12:59 am Chica Andaluza
    
    Could be the same things!
on March 5, 2018 at 8:12 pm Carol

They look amazing – I guess there is just that little bit more crunch to the crust. My mother and Aunt used to make Mamoul – date and walnut filled pastries that are also decorated like that – there is a special tool that I found in a cake supply store in Adelaide but I think the fish tweezers would work a treat.
on March 5, 2018 at 9:15 pm Cindy Nour

Love your work! Beautiful!
on March 5, 2018 at 11:14 pm sallybr

OH, I ADORE THIS. I am so excited to give it a try… it is AMAZING….

Celia, this is too cool for words!!!!!
- on March 6, 2018 at 9:45 am Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Hahaha I adore YOU! I love that my breadbaking friends are as excited about this as I am! :)
on March 5, 2018 at 11:38 pm Susan

Now that IS very exciting! More FUN in the kitchen!!
on March 5, 2018 at 11:49 pm Eva Taylor

The markings on bread are not just there for beauty, at least, that is true in Morocco, they are there to help identify the loaves after baking them in a communal oven! When we were in Morocco, we took a cooking class and we baked bread in a communal oven and had to mark our bread to identify it in the afternoon when we picked it up! I wonder if the same is true for Azerbaijan too.
on March 5, 2018 at 11:52 pm Manuela

I’m baking bread today. Perfect timing to try something new. Your designs look beautiful.
on March 6, 2018 at 12:02 am Laurie Graves

Wonderful! I’ve probably already asked you this, but have you read or heard about the novel “Sourdough” by Robin Sloan? In the book, the sourdough loaves have faces on them, and that’s what I immediately thought of when I saw your bread.
on March 6, 2018 at 2:41 am Elaine @ foodbod

Great fun! And a great result 😊😊
on March 6, 2018 at 5:17 am Bonnie Harms

Your loaves look amazing! I have wondered if you ever experiment with gluten free bread baking. I don’t bake much, but I do enjoy making jams. My favorite is ginger jam (equal parts water, sugar and ginger, blended smooth, then simmered until thick)—our morning oatmeal is rather tame without it.

I subscribe to your blog and have greatly enjoyed following your posts for several years. Your stories from long ago about your hens were delightful and had me hooked! Thanks so very much for your posts about mindful, frugal living.

I recently visited Australia and was enchanted by its beauty. More than anything else I marvel at and praise your government for how Australians are so much better protected from food additives and Monsanto farming chemicals than we are in the US. We are further disadvantaged by GRAS, foods “generally regarded as safe,” which are not required to be listed as ingredients on food labels. I am allergic to gluten, eggs and soy (as well as anything else not found in nature that somehow have made it into our food supply) which makes it difficult to buy anything except the most basic, organic ingredients and then cook everything from scratch!

Thanks again for your wonderful website!
Best wishes,
Bonnie
on March 6, 2018 at 6:15 am Sue Snowden

They look so good , I’m just perfecting the normal loaves at the moment, so am not game to deviate , I must add, since copying your overnight sour dough I haven’t bought bread for a couple of months. Many thanks
Sue Snowden
on March 6, 2018 at 9:28 am Kathy Aylward

You are so clever
on March 6, 2018 at 10:53 am Liz

A great idea, Celia. I think I’ll have to pinch that one. I used to stencil some of my bread, great fun and attractive but very fiddly.
on March 6, 2018 at 11:13 am equipsblog

Gorgeous. You are creative in so many different areas.
on March 6, 2018 at 12:02 pm corneliaweberphotography

What a great idea, Celia, thank you for sharing. Still trying to revive my abandoned starter.
on March 6, 2018 at 2:18 pm Anne

Great idea! Will try on my next sourdough.
on March 7, 2018 at 5:18 am Kim

Clever Celia! I’m not letting The Management see them or he will expect more efforts to be made here 😂
on March 11, 2018 at 12:18 am Nkiru Onyechi

Lovely. Have you seen this video? Hopefully the link will work. Such pretty bread…
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2121161421234643&id=60878984298&_rdr
on March 11, 2018 at 7:56 am laurie

such a clever idea,, such beautiful bread!!!!
on April 20, 2018 at 8:42 am Margy

Dear Celia
Do you run workshops to teach how to make sourdough bread?
Kind regards
Marg
- on April 20, 2018 at 8:46 am Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Sorry, I don’t! But if you look at my 2018 cooking class tutorial, there’s a step by step guide.