18 February 2021

Chocolate Tapioca Pudding - Made with Cocoa

Chocolate Tapioca Pudding - Made with Cocoa / www.delightfulrepast.com


Thought of making a cake this week in celebration of the 11th blogiversary of Delightful Repast, but Mr Delightful requested tapioca pudding, vanilla or chocolate, so I decided to make chocolate since I had already posted my Vanilla Tapioca Pudding.

Tapioca pudding was one of the delicious treats my grandmother made for all her grandchildren. My cousin Denise reminded me several years ago about Ma (that's what we all called her) having mixed results with her tapioca. One time it would be heavenly, and the next time gluey. I thought it odd that Ma would have had difficulty with something so simple, but then I figured it out.

Reading. My grandmother (like her daughters and granddaughters who followed) was addicted to reading. Growing up in a very large family in the Lake District (northwest England), her favorite task was making all the beds. Not because she especially liked making beds, but that chore gave her the opportunity to be alone upstairs and get a lot of reading done. Can't do much harm there, but ... stuff happens when you're cooking and you can't put your book down.

So I imagine on those gluey pudding days, the plot was thickening and so was the tapioca!

Now I'm not touting tapioca pudding as a health food, but I would like to point out for those of you who are watching out for such things that it is grain-free and gluten-free and can easily be made dairy-free. 

Also, since we live in an increasingly carb-wary culture, I should add that, though pure starch, tapioca is a natural source of resistant starch, the good starch that is resistant to digestion and feeds the friendly bacteria in the gut and can improve insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control. All of which I am no expert on, but this is simply by way of letting you know there is information out there.

Anyway ... tapioca pudding, chocolate or vanilla, is classic comfort food. And don't we all need a little comfort right now! Are you a tapioca pudding fan?


Chocolate Tapioca Pudding - Made with Cocoa / www.delightfulrepast.com

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Chocolate Tapioca Pudding


(Makes a little over 5 cups, 8 to 10 servings)

1/2 cup (3.25 ounces/92 grams) small pearl tapioca (not instant tapioca)
1 cup (8 fluid ounces/237 ml) very warm water
1/2 to 3/4 cup* (3.5 ounces/99 grams to 5.25 ounces/149 grams) sugar
1/4 cup (0.75 ounces/21 grams) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 1/4 cups (26 fluid ounces/769 ml) organic milk
3 large organic eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish: Whipped cream

* We use the lower amount of sugar and think that's perfect, but you might like a bit more.

1 In heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan, soak small pearl tapioca in very warm water for 30 minutes. In small bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa, and salt. 

2 Stir the cocoa mixture and the milk into the soaked tapioca. Cook over medium* heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring frequently (and then constantly as it gets thicker) for 12 to 15 minutes.

* And I do mean medium. No matter how heavy your saucepan, if you try to hurry it along by cranking up the heat you'll scorch it. Then as you stir, the scorched patch will come off in shreds and be all mixed in with the pudding. Not good. (You may ask, Hmm ... wonder how she knows that? I'll tell you--the same way I know that stuff happens when you're cooking and you can't put your book down!)

3 In 1-quart bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Gradually stir about a cup of the hot mixture into the lightly beaten eggs, then pour back into the saucepan. The eggs will thin out the pudding. Cook, stirring, over low heat (do not boil) until the pudding thickens, several minutes. Remove from heat, then stir in vanilla extract.

4 Pour into 1.5-quart bowl; cover with lid. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, give it a stir, then place in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days. 

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support.

Jean

04 February 2021

Sourdough Simplified - A Tutorial

Sourdough Simplified - A Tutorial (this photo, first rise in 2-quart Pyrex measure) / www.delightfulrepast.com


Sourdough bread is something I made once or twice a week for years, then got out of the habit of for about a year (yes, the same year, the pandemic year, masses of other people were taking it up for the first time!). 

Then I decided to make another starter and get back into it. This time I was going to simplify it even more than I already had and experiment with not feeding the starter other than when the starter was nearly gone and needed replenishing.

So I started my starter, as always with a view to wasting as little flour as possible in the discards that are part of the process of building a starter. Since I only plan to bake one loaf at a time, I only need to keep enough starter to make a loaf with a little left to replenish. 

So I decided to keep about 3/4 cup (6.75 ounces/192 grams) of the stirred-down starter in a pint canning jar and placed it in the refrigerator for the next baking day.

I use grams and a digital scale myself, but I've given the directions in ounces as well for those with analog scales and in cups and tablespoons for those who measure. 

The measures are not exact equivalents to the weights, so don't mix methods. For those interested in such things, this is a 100% hydration starter, meaning it has equal weights of flour (I use organic) and water.

And the idea (which I won't be able to report on for several months) is to be able to leave the starter, once it has matured for three months, in the refrigerator for two months or more without any attention and then take it out, stir it up, and use it as is (unfed) to make a loaf. Simplified! 

Update 04/19/21: I just left the starter in the refrigerator untouched for 3 weeks, and used it unfed like always, and it worked beautifully, just like when I was using it every week. In fact, the final rise, which was taking 3 hours, took just 2 hours.

Starting the Sourdough Starter


When starting a sourdough starter, the starter can pass one or both of the typical "tests" (doubling and floating) to determine whether the starter is ready to use but still not be ready to use, leading to a failed loaf, so I decided to give it 23 days to develop. It will continue to "mature" for 3 months. 

By making up your mind at the outset to let your starter develop over that time instead of getting in a hurry to bake a loaf, you won't risk wasting an entire batch of dough on a loaf that fails because the starter was not really ready despite indications to the contrary.

Using just minimal quantities of flour for the 23 days means the discarding will only amount to about two cups of flour. And not feeding the starter after that, simply adding more flour and water when replenishing the starter, means no discarding ever. Here's the simple plan, given in measures as well as ounces and grams:

Sourdough Simplified - A Tutorial (this photo, starter in pint canning jar) / www.delightfulrepast.com



Days 1 to 21 - In glass or ceramic 1-pint container, stir 2 level tablespoons unbleached flour and 1 1/2 tablespoons water (or 0.5 ounce/14 grams of each) until smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a slightly ajar lid. Each day, stir vigorously and then discard all but 1 tablespoon (or 0.5 ounce/14 grams) of the starter and add 2 tablespoons unbleached flour and 1 1/2 tablespoons water (or 0.5 ounce/14 grams of each); stir vigorously until smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or slightly ajar lid and let stand at room temperature.

Day 22 - Stir vigorously and then discard all but 2 tablespoons (or 1 ounce/28 grams) of the starter and add 1/4 cup unbleached flour and 3 tablespoons water (or 1 ounce/28 grams of each); stir vigorously until smooth. Cover loosely. 

Day 23 - Stir vigorously and then discard all but 1/4 cup (or 2.25 ounces/64 grams) of the starter add 1/2 cup unbleached flour and 1/3 cup water (or 2.25 ounces/64 grams of each); stir vigorously until smooth. Cover loosely. 

Day 24 - Use 1/2 cup (4.5 ounces/128 grams) for a loaf. Replenish the remaining 1/4 cup (or 2.25 ounces/64 grams) of the starter with 1/2 cup unbleached flour and 1/3 cup water (or 2.25 ounces/64 grams of each); stir vigorously until smooth. Cover loosely and let stand at room temperature for 1 to 4 hours (as soon as some bubbles are forming, then put it in the refrigerator until next week.

If you've had difficulty in the past with a young starter not performing well and don't want to chance it, you can use a small amount of instant yeast (1/2 teaspoon)—in your dough only, never in your starter—until your starter has matured.

Now let's bake a loaf! You can use the same recipe to make a round boule, but I most often make a sandwich loaf. For a round boule, follow the shaping directions for Sourdough Artisan Bread.

Sourdough Simplified - A Tutorial (this photo, sandwich loaf rising) / www.delightfulrepast.com

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Sourdough Sandwich Loaf


(Makes one large loaf)

1/2 cup (4.5 ounces/128 grams) stirred-down 100% hydration starter
1 5/8 cups (13 fluid ounces/384 ml or grams) room temperature water
1 3/4 teaspoons (0.35 ounce/10 grams) salt
4 dip-and-sweep cups (20 ounces/567 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour (I use organic)

1 Stir down the starter and weigh or measure it into 2-quart glass measure. With a dough whisk or a large dinner knife, stir in water, then salt and flour. The dough will be fairly stiff, but still sticky. With one hand, knead the dough right in the bowl, just enough to incorporate all the flour, maybe about 10 to 20 times in all. Cover loosely with lid or lightly oiled plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature about 12 to 24 hours. At any point that the dough has doubled, it's good to go. It all depends on variables like your starter and the temperature of your kitchen. As the starter matures, the rise time shortens.

At some point, the first rise might take only 5 hours and the second, 2 hours. If longer rise times better suit your schedule, you can reduce the amount of starter used in the dough.  

Maintaining Starter: Unless you're baking bread every day or two, keep the starter in the refrigerator and feed only when you don't have enough starter left to make another loaf. I keep about 3/4 cup (6.75 ounces/192 grams) of starter in a pint canning jar. Though I won't be feeding the starter, after taking out 1/2 cup (4.5 ounces/128 grams) for the loaf, I need to replenish the starter in the jar and so feed it with 2.25 ounces (64 grams) each flour and water, stir it vigorously and let stand at room temperature for about 1 to 4 hours (you should see some bubbles, but not too many), then refrigerate until the next bake.

2 Grease bread pan. I use a 9x4x4-inch (1.5-pound) pullman pan. It's about the same capacity as a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan

3 Using no more than 1/8 cup altogether, sprinkle countertop with some flour. Gently scrape the dough onto the floured countertop. Sprinkle with flour. Press gently into a roughly 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Using a bench scraper, fold one third of the rectangle toward the center, then fold the other end to the center, like a letter. With the bench scraper, place folded dough in the pan, pressing it into the corners. Brush on a little water. Cover it loosely with an oiled or cooking-sprayed piece of plastic wrap. 

4 Let rise until doubled. If using 9x5x3-inch loaf pan, it should rise an inch or two above the rim of the pan. If using the 9x4x4-inch pullman pan, the dough should rise to below or just even with the top of pan. This can take anywhere from 2 to 5 hours. The dough needs to rise until the dough doesn't quickly spring back when poked with a floured finger or knuckle.

Tip: Check on the dough's progress regularly. After making it a few times, you'll have a better idea of how long it will take. And that will change as the weather changes. I keep my house rather cool in winter, so sourdough bread takes much longer to rise now than it does in summer.

5 Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 450F/230C/Gas8. Just before baking, brush the loaf with a little water. If you add 1/8 teaspoon baking soda to 2 tablespoons water and brush the loaf with it, it will aid in browning.

6 Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400F/205C/Gas6 and continue baking for about 30 minutes or until crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf registers 210F/99C on instant-read thermometer.

7 Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack for 1 1/2 to 2 hours before slicing.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean