No-Knead Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Bread

What a mouthful of a title! On my quest to increase the ratio of whole wheat to white flour without it textured like rocks, it suddenly struck me to incorporate sweet potato. My previous sweet potato yogurt bread was so soft that it was limp, I think potato must be a good tenderiser. So onto Mr Google I went again and found one at this wonderful blog, with clear instructions and her bake looks so good!

I tweaked it slightly as I wanted it to be no-knead and prefers a crusty boule rather than a loaf. Here goes the result:

Recipe:
2 midsized sweet potato, skin removed, boil until soft and mash while hot and leave to cool.
(I added 2 tablespoon olive oil when mashing it, to add some liquid and fragrance)
9g instant yeast
2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole meal flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1.25 cup room temperature water

Preparation on day before baking:
Have a lidded container ready, mix all dry ingredients into the container except salt. Stir everything up and add the salt. Pour the water and add the cooled sweet potato mash into the mixture. Knead together for couple of minutes just to have the dough come together.

Place the lid back on but not capped tightly, to enable air release/circulation. Leave overnight for at least 12 hours up to 72 hours.

Baking day
1 Slice the portion that you want to bake out of the container and place onto a well-floured surface.  Dough will be sticky.
2. Press the air out of the dough, form into a ball or shape of your choice and place onto a well-floured pastry paper.

3. Make a couple of cuts on the surface, dap with water and sprinkle topping (I used a multi-grain mix) or skip the water and sift a layer of flour for that rustic look.
4. Let it proof for 2 hours until indentation stays in place when pressed.

5. Before baking, pre-heat oven with dutch oven pot inside for 15 minutes, at 200C. Once ready to bake, carefully slide the dutch oven out, remove the cap, slide the dough with the paper into the pot. Place the lid back on and slide into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 5 minutes to brown the surface.

Alternative - Bake into rolls or buns

1. Slice the bread dough into equal portions (I used 50g dough balls and it later became the size of a big fist)
2. Form into balls and let dough relax for 15 minutes.
3. Prepare your filling (I used cooked and cooled Emborg frozen spinach and President cheddar cheese slices)
4. Flatten each ball and roll filling into it. Form back into balls.
5. Dap surface with water and sprinkle topping. Let dough proof for 1 hour.

6. Before baking, pre-heat oven with dutch oven pot inside for 15 minutes, at 180C. Once ready to bake, carefully slide the dutch oven out, remove the cap, slide the dough with the paper into the pot. Place the lid back on and slide into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 3-5 minutes to brown the surface. Watch it carefully to prevent charring. (Note: I used a lower temperature to get a softer crust)

Always cool the bread before slicing / eating.

Verdict:


Both the dough turned out well. I made the boule on 2nd day and the buns on 3rd day, thought the flavor develop slightly better on 3rd day and the dough was a little softer and stickier. I like that the boule was crusty and chewy, definitely much softer than if I has done just 5050 ratio on whole wheat without adding the potato. Bread is still abit on the heavy side though and one slice of it for breakfast fills me up very nicely. However, it's on the bland side, not something that you would eat on it own, have to be used as a sandwich bread.

As for the buns, I find them delicious! The cheese melted and somehow the bun is very moist and soft inside and the crust was thin enough. The flavor of the cheese went very well with the bread and my little hint of spices inside up the oomph factor, definitely marked as to be repeated.

Loving the simplicity of the prep!

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BYOB at Roxana's Home Baking