Happy New Year! Wishing you all a joyous 2019!
. . . . .
As I mentioned in my previous post, we spent the last two weeks of December in Singapore. We were there to attend the wedding of our nephew Nick (my cousin Jennie’s son) and darling Rachel. It was the most wonderful day…
Of course, it was impossible for me to spend a fortnight away and not take some sourdough starter with me. I was reluctant to enter Singapore with dodgy looking dried starter, so I opted to take it in liquid form. Yes, I know, I used not one, but two plastic bags, but it seemed the only way to ensure it didn’t leak out over my clothes…
Our new Singapore baby, christened Lah-Lah by my sister Cynthia, sprang to life immediately. We used Waitrose Duchy Organic Strong White Bread Flour from the UK (available in Cold Storage) and it worked very well…
I soon figured out that proving times in 32°C Singapore were much shorter than in Sydney. I suspect the humidity made a difference as well. Lah-Lah was incredibly active, ripe and raring to go within just a few hours of feeding. Doughs that need an overnight rise in Sydney were ready in just five to six hours.
Here are a few adjustments which worked well for my Singapore loaves. (My sister’s kitchen isn’t air-conditioned.)
1. As the ambient temperature stayed high around the clock, I wasn’t confident about letting my sourdoughs prove overnight. By the same token, leaving the starter on the bench for an extended period was also problematic. In the end, we fed Lah-Lah at about 6pm, then popped her back into the fridge for the night.
Very early the following morning (6am), I took the container out of the fridge, poured some into a bowl, and stirred in ¼ cup bread flour and ¼ filtered water. She was then left covered on the bench for three hours, by which time she was usually bubbly and ready to play. Always test that the starter floats before making dough!
2. My Singapore bread schedule involved mixing up the dough at 9am. The high humidity resulted in a wetter mix than usual, which I compensated for by reducing the water quantity a fraction (20g or so). After a 30 minute rest followed by a quick knead, the dough was left to rise on the bench for five to six hours while we went out exploring. Sometime after 2pm, the dough was shaped and popped into lined bannetons (yes, I took those with me), allowed to prove for a further half an hour or so, then baked on parchment paper in enamel roasters (yup, lugged those over as well, plus welding gloves to manoeuvre them in and out of the oven).
3. It took me a couple of attempts to figure out my sister’s gas oven. We used the Convection Bake setting, but as the heat source was from below, I struggled not to burn the bottom of the loaves. My first chocolate loaf was scorched, but we cut the burnt base off and ate it anyway…
In the end, we lined a cookie tray with parchment paper, then sat the enamel roaster on top. The dough inside was also on a sheet of parchment. The additional paper lining between the cookie tray and the roaster was Pete the engineer’s suggestion – something about breaking the contact between the two metals and diffusing the heat a bit more. Worked a treat!
4. Storing bread in the tropics is tricky! Placed into a sealed plastic box, the loaf sweats and the crust goes squishy. I took beeswax wraps with me and they worked brilliantly – the loaf below was wrapped for several days and while it eventually went stale, there wasn’t a hint of mould…
The problem though – and this one took me by surprise – is lizards. Apparently they can climb into the tiniest cracks, so an unsealed fabric wrapping isn’t much of a deterrent. After some discussion, we found that storing the beeswax wrapped loaf in the toaster oven or microwave kept it both fresh and reptile-free.
. . . . .
And for my extended family, here’s how I made the large slab of focaccia for our Christmas dinner. It’s based on Emilie’s wonderful recipe from Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, which I highly recommend if any of you go further on the sourdough journey. I’ve adapted the timings for Cyn’s Singapore kitchen!
1. Take your starter out at 6pm the night before. Tip out about half of it (you could use it for pancakes if you like) and feed it with ¼ cup bread flour and ¼ cup filtered water. Whisk well, then put the container back in the fridge. Note: if you’re not baking regularly, you’ll need to do this once a week to keep your starter alive.
2. At 6am the following morning, take the starter out of the fridge. Pour about ½ cup into a bowl, then put the container back in the fridge. Into the bowl, add ¼ cup bread flour and ¼ cup filtered water and whisk until combined. Cover the bowl and put it in a warm spot for three hours.
3. At 9am, the starter should look bubbly and bouncy. Test it by putting a teaspoon of starter into a glass of water – if it floats, it’s good to go. If not, wait a bit longer.
4. Make the dough. Using a set of scales, put the following into a large mixing bowl:
- 100g active starter
- 750g filtered water
- 500g bread flour
- 500g plain flour
- 18g fine sea salt
Note: halve the quantities if you have a smaller oven, or if you’re not feeding a crowd.
With a clean hand, mix everything together, squishing the mixture between your fingers to evenly combine. Scrape your fingers off, then cover the mixing bowl with a shower cap, plate or clean tea towel.
5. Half an hour later, wet your hand and give the dough a quick knead in the bowl – just for a minute or so. I like to fold the outside of the dough into the middle, rotate the bowl a bit, and then repeat until I’ve gone the whole way around. Don’t worry too much about it – Em’s original recipe doesn’t include this step, so it’s fine if you just skip it.
Once you’ve done that, cover the bowl again and put it somewhere warm to rise. You can now ignore it for the next few hours.
6. At 3pm, check the dough. It should be puffy and light, but if it isn’t, let it prove for another hour or so. This timing has a bit of flexibility, so don’t panic if you get to the dough a bit later. Priscilla (and Lah-Lah) are quite resilient and they’ll usually bounce back.
Prepare a large baking pan – I used a heavy duty aluminium tray which fit perfectly in Cynthia’s oven. It’s disposable, but can be washed and reused many times. Adjust a rack to the middle of the oven.
Pour ¼ cup of light olive oil into the tray and spread it around with your dough scraper (yep, took those too). Now carefully scrape the puffy dough straight into the pan – don’t worry that it looks like a blob.
Wet your hands, then slip your fingers under one edge of the dough and flip it over so that both sides are coated in oil.
Cover the tray with a tea towel and allow it to rest for about half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C with fan (I used the Convection Bake setting).
7. Once the dough has rested and relaxed, it should be much more workable. Wet your hands, then pat and stretch the dough to fit the tray. Get your wet fingers under the edges and pull it gently into shape…
8. Sprinkle two good pinches of flaky salt evenly over the top. Then wet your hands again, shake them off, and push your fingertips into the dough – dimpling all the way to the very bottom. This will carry all the flavour through the finished bread…
9. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, then rotate and bake for a further 5 – 10 minutes, or longer if needed. Every oven will be different, so keep an eye on your focaccia and adjust as necessary. In Cynthia’s gas oven, I baked on the middle rack for a total of 30 minutes, then took the finished loaf out of the tray, flipped it over, and gave it just a couple of minutes more upside down, straight on the rack. Be very careful with this (optional) step as the top can scorch if you leave it too long. Bake until it’s golden brown but not burnt…
. . . . .
It was huge fun baking in the tropics but it did take a little finessing! Hopefully this post will give you some ideas about adjusting your baking routine to suit your climate. And to all my extended fam – I hope you give the focaccia a go! ♥
Happy New Year!
It is interesting how much humidity and temperature affect the sourdough. I would never have expected lizards to be attracted to bread!
From the tropics and occasionally 80% humidity here in Mackay, thank you for the tips! We have a similar problem with geckos…
I didn’t realise it was got so humid up there, Kate! And I’m laughing about the geckos – the ones we have in Sydney seem harmless enough and we encourage them as they keep the bugs at bay.. :)
Not all the time, but at this time of year and with the monsoon front blowing up, going outside is like stepping into a warm shower!
Happy new year and thank you for the tips…..sounds pretty much like sourdough here in Queensland.
What fun to read of your baking sour dough in the tropics! You must have had a suitcase dedicated to your pots and bannetons. Happy New Year and yes, what a gorgeous pair of newly weds.
Totally ingenious!! How to foil humidity/heat/lizards……..very impressive ;0 The
couple is just gorgeous. Congratulations.
Happy New Year. What a beautiful bridal couple and stunning bride. Thank you for the great tips on baking when the humidity is high, something we experience a lot!
Just what I wanted..Thank you, Celia, I am just started on my sourdough journey…I have the book found some good flour …I already do the double tin method and on a rack, as burnt bottoms are painful…lol as my oven is like your sisters bottom heating…The joys of living here but with a bit of imagination most things turn out eventually all good fun…Now to the sourdough…Let’s begin…Happy New Year and thank you for the tips :) x
Carol, Pete suggested that a silicon mat between the cookie tray and the roaster might work even better than just a sheet of parchment as a heat diffuser? Have fun with the sourdough!
Thank you, Celia…I don’t use anything at the moment just a solid tray at the bottom and then the tin I am using I stand on a rack in the tin if that makes sense ..It worked A treat for my sausage rolls and mince pies I haven’t tried it with bread or cakes yet but will bear Pete’s suggestion of the silicon in mind if it starts to catch…The things we do …lol.. Ovens are very limited as to choice here..Thais don’t use ovens just hobs or BBQ …Thank you again …Happy New Year :) x
Happy New Year! Lovely couple and they look so happy :) Never thought the temperature and humidity would have such an effect on sourdough, but it’s great that you adapted the recipe and it worked! And yes, the lizards get into everything…:o
All looks fab!
Happy New Year x x
Wow I’m impressed a gorgeous wedding and bread baking.
Something funny…..have you seen the movie “Crazy Rich Asians”? The couple in it are Nick and Rachel who get engaged in Singapore! It’s great fun. Very impressed that you baked over there. Buon anno Celia.
Humidity… even here 500 kms north of you. I’ve just had to restart Polly from a batch of starter I dehydrated in August. Two years without -including being left for a month unattended in Feb/March (humid months) 2016- an issue and she went mouldy in the fridge. Lesson… always back up your sourdough starter. I had a dehydrated back up of my back up in the freezer.
You never cease to amaze me! Happy New Year my lovely xx
I’m amazed that you had space for your wedding outfit Celia!😂
Happy New Year! How did you manage the weight of the cast iron dutch oven? We spent a month in Arizona and I took a container of all my spices and some kichen tools but nothing as heavy as cast iron!
Eva, my roasters are not cast iron. They’re lightweight enamel. If you look back on the bread posts, you can read all about them – I think they’re much better than cast iron for bread. And sore hands! 😂
Ah yes…. humidity. I use the fridge a lot to manage proving during the summer.
I’m just chuckling picture you getting through airports with Priscilla in your little pouch, Celia. There must have been a few raised eyebrows? But I can also imagine your family being thrilled that you arrived prepared to share some of your fabulous sourdough. Again, thanks to you and Priscilla, I baked so many gift loaves of sourdough for friends and family this holiday season, and I made my first effort at sourdough focaccia and loved it! My goal this year is to expand my baking schedule a little, and also, to begin making those wonderful beeswax wraps! I’m really eager to get started on those.
Congratulations to the happy newlyweds!
You inspired me to get Maggie out of the fridge and feed the poor girl up. It’s been a long time between bakes and I dearly miss it! Thank you.
Wow Celia – so very helpful for tropical baking! Did you keep the flours in the fridge or at room temp – I’ve just moved to Far North Qld and. changing stoves from a fan forced gas tiny one in the caravan to a full size electric fan forced – my first bake was a pancake! Try again tomorrow with your blog in mind!
Thanks for your article. Living in the tropics my self so I know everything about lizards and some about baking with sourdough, but still struggle with my dough when my kitchen is 30c+ and humidity close to 90%