Baking a Western Cape Loaf With A Sourdough Starter

Today's loaf is a lovely White Bread Loaf that is good on its own. However, I add a twist to the loaf when I add some leftover goodies from my trip to the Western Cape to the dough. We all have things like these around the house, though they may differ from the ones I used. I'll walk you through some options when we get to it in the recipe.

I will start you with an enticing photo of the region I have been visiting.

These lush valleys are home to some of the world's top vineyards for olives and grapes. It produces great cheeses, wines, fruit, etc. Anyone who loves food has to make a point of visiting the Western Cape at least once in their lives for a culinary adventure.

I start the dough by adding 6 cups (6 x 250 ml) White Bread Flour and 10 ml salt to a mixing bowl.

If you really don't have anything else, you can add 2 tablespoons (25 ml)sunflower oil, or canola oil and 3 tablespoons (37,5 ml) sugar, but I suggest you read on and replace these ingredients with something else you have in the house.

I had the syrup of a bottle of Makataan jam left over from the trip. I replaced the sugar in equal quantities with this syrup. You can do the same for your recipe and swap the sugar out for syrup, honey, jam, or the leftover syrup of a favorite jam. I then replaced the cooking oil with olive oil that was leftover from a bottle of cheese that was finished. This olive oil had been seasoned with black pepper, chilies, garlic, etc., giving it a distinct flavour. I used it regardless, as 2 tablespoons on that amount of flour could never be adversely affected by the flavoured oil. You will probably have something similar to use in the house, or you could make your own.

I then added 2 cups (500 ml) sourdough starter to the dough.

Lastly, I added 2 cups (500 ml) lukewarm water.

I then brought the dough together.

Knead the dough for a good 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until it turns into an elastic-like ball.

Return to a clean bowl and cover with plastic. Allow to rise in a warm dry place.

Knock the risen dough back and place in a large bread pan. Cover with plastic and allow to rise.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30-45 minutes at 190°C. Brush a mixture of milk and sugar on the crust to make it shiny and slightly sweet.

Eat with farm butter and whatever is left from your trip to the Western Cape. In my case that was Moskonfyt. Cheese is good too :-).

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

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