Last week I really got the itch for baking something but wasn't sure what I wanted to make. I was googling some bread recipes and I found one that had the following ingredient
1 teaspoon diastatic malted barley powder (optional)
Bells went off in my head... diastatic was a term I was familiar with from my beer brewing... and malted barley, well... duh. I wondered if the dry malt extract I used to make yeast starters would be the same powder they were talking about here.I headed over to my favorite beer brewing forum and started my research.
It turns out they are not the same. The malt extract is made after the mashing process, the wort is reduced and evaporated and turned into powder. With the malted barley powder, the malted barley is ground into powder BEFORE mashing. Which means... it contains the same enzymes that convert the starches into sugars in your mash.
What does this mean for bread? Used in small quantities it will lead to a sweeter, more flavorful loaf. The crust will have a gorgeous brown color due to the carmelization of the sugars and for some reason it helps improve the shelf life of the bread.
After all my research I ran out to buy some, but it turns out that most supermarkets don't carry it. You get some wonderfully blank stares when you ask where the diastatic malted barley powder is. So I turned to the internet. Amazon had something that could have been it... but it was four 20 ounce bags. Considering I would only use a teaspoon at a time, I thought five pounds would be a little much. Although I did get a chuckle from reading some of the reviews where people tried to use the powder as flour and ended up with a goopy mess.
I ended up at King Arthur Flour where I could buy a one pound bag. Shipping was as much as the powder but I figured a pound would last me a year or two so I wasn't too concerned. It arrived Saturday and I was excited to bake with it. I was too busy on Sunday to bake so I figured if I started as soon as I got home on Monday (4pm) I could have it ready by 7 or so.
The recipe:
Ethereal air bread II
1 teaspoon diastatic malted barley powder (optional)
Bells went off in my head... diastatic was a term I was familiar with from my beer brewing... and malted barley, well... duh. I wondered if the dry malt extract I used to make yeast starters would be the same powder they were talking about here.I headed over to my favorite beer brewing forum and started my research.
It turns out they are not the same. The malt extract is made after the mashing process, the wort is reduced and evaporated and turned into powder. With the malted barley powder, the malted barley is ground into powder BEFORE mashing. Which means... it contains the same enzymes that convert the starches into sugars in your mash.
What does this mean for bread? Used in small quantities it will lead to a sweeter, more flavorful loaf. The crust will have a gorgeous brown color due to the carmelization of the sugars and for some reason it helps improve the shelf life of the bread.
After all my research I ran out to buy some, but it turns out that most supermarkets don't carry it. You get some wonderfully blank stares when you ask where the diastatic malted barley powder is. So I turned to the internet. Amazon had something that could have been it... but it was four 20 ounce bags. Considering I would only use a teaspoon at a time, I thought five pounds would be a little much. Although I did get a chuckle from reading some of the reviews where people tried to use the powder as flour and ended up with a goopy mess.
I ended up at King Arthur Flour where I could buy a one pound bag. Shipping was as much as the powder but I figured a pound would last me a year or two so I wasn't too concerned. It arrived Saturday and I was excited to bake with it. I was too busy on Sunday to bake so I figured if I started as soon as I got home on Monday (4pm) I could have it ready by 7 or so.
The recipe:
Ethereal air bread II
2 tablespoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon diastatic malt powder
7 to 8 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
Mix together the yeast, malt, 7 cups flour, and salt in a large bowl. Pour the milk, oil, and honey into the dry ingredients, along with the egg whites. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour as necessary, until a soft, smooth ball forms. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
Punch the dough down and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a thick rectangle, then roll each piece into a log, starting with a long edge; place in two greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans. Cover them and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the loaves have crowned 1"over the top of the pans.
Bake the loaves in a preheated 375°F oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until well-browned.
An hour and a half later, not much of anything happened. I hydrated another packet of yeast and attempted to add it to my non-risen dough. Yeah, that was a mess. About the time my hands were caked with a doughy, yeasty mess I realized I needed a bit more flour to soak up the little bit of water that had hydrated the yeast. Thankfully my wife was able to help me with the flour and after about 10 minutes of stubborn kneading it was back in dough form. I covered it again and let it sit for an hour. This time it had risen so much that it had pushed the lid off the bowl. Good sign. I rolled it out and got it into the loaf pans for another rise.
By this point we had already eaten dinner.
The loaves looked great after the second rise (third rise?) and into the oven they went. Nothing beats the smell of baking bread. At 9pm they came out of the oven and they looked wonderful. They tasted even better. I must say that it's probably some of the best bread I've ever made... despite the challenges. I plan on making this frequently!
