Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Happy New Year! Wishing you all a joyous 2019!

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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.

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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…

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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! ♥