So last year, I tried making Sprouted Wheat Bread with whole wheat flour and it turned out like this:
[[image:bread125.jpg:Sprouted Wheat Bread, 1st Try:center:0]]
Remember this bread? The one that required me to be part gardener, part baker. I thought the first time that I made it, that the whole wheat flour hid the wheat berries and the sprouts. So I tried the bread again, this time with white whole wheat flour.
We begin with the ingredients:
[[image:bread177.jpg:Wheat Berries, cheesecloth, jar:center:0]]
So here we go with the gardening. Place a cup of the wheat berries in the jar, rinse with warm water and tie the cheesecloth over the top of the jar. This time I learned from before, and laid the jar on the side for optimal wheat berry sproutage. For the next three days, Vin had to remind me to water the berries twice a day. They were kept in a cabinet away from the sun (per the instructions). Here’s a progression of wheat berry sprouting:
[[image:bread178.jpg:Can’t really see the sprouts?:center:0]]
[[image:bread179.jpg:Some berry sproutage:center:0]]
[[image:bread180.jpg:More sprouting:center:0]]
[[image:bread181.jpg:Sprouting pretty good now:center:0]]
[[image:bread182.jpg:Woohooo! Am I a gardener or what?:center:0]]
[[image:bread183.jpg:Sprouts-R-Us:center:0]]
[[image:bread184.jpg:Holy Moly, a forest of wheat berry sprouts!:center:0]]
I tell you, if Vin hadn’t been there to remind me twice a day, those poor sprouts sure mati katak. Tak jadi apa pun. (translation: die like a frog, and nothing would happen). But because of his diligence, here we are, a veritable jungle of wheat berry sprouts added to the bread dough:
[[image:bread185.jpg:Add sprouts to dough:center:0]]
After a bunch of kneading and the first rising, it’s time to shape the loaf. Roll it out to a rectangle, and complete the steps:
[[image:bread186.jpg:Rolled out dough – see the berries?:center:0]]
[[image:bread187.jpg:Shape and place in loaf pan:center:0]]
[[image:bread188.jpg:After it rises:center:0]]
Then throw in the oven for some baking:
[[image:bread189.jpg:Baked:center:0]]
[[image:bread190.jpg:Take it out of the pan:center:0]]
And of course, my favorite shots, sliced:
[[image:bread191.jpg:Sliced sprouted wheat bread:center:0]]
[[image:bread192.jpg:Close up:center:0]]
[[image:bread193.jpg:Can you see the wheat berries?:center:0]]
I scrutinized this bread to compare aesthetically with the previous try. I think you can see the wheat berries a little clearer. I couldn’t say that the texture or the taste was vastly different. Vin really enjoyed this bread. And I am not done with my experiments. I may try it with a mixture of regular bread flour and white whole wheat flour, just to see. I think the little wheat berries are so pretty and I want to bring it out. Next time, I hope the difference will be stark. What do you guys think? Any difference between the first try with whole wheat flour and this second try with the white whole wheat flour?
