Abe: when you say fine corn flour, I assume you know that corn flour in the UK is what we call cornstarch here, and is very different from our cornmeal which is gritty.
Hi @oaklandpat. Yes, iām aware that cornflour in the UK is corn starch, a very fine white powder, but this was yellow corn flour. Finely milled cornmeal. I once bought cornflour and saw the error straight away. Chose this one as I could see it was actual corn flour through the packet and it was in the flour section of the store. Cornflour is usually kept with other baking ingredients like bicarbonate of soda etc. Wonāt make that mistake again and whenever I buy corn flour iāll triple check itās not starch. You are correct that in the UK the wording can be confusing but to make it more so some companies do sell fine cornmeal as corn flour. I think it should be standardised!
So true. I am married to a Brit, and as the saying goes, at times we are separated by a common language. I have never seen the finely milled corn that you have. Seems like our āfineā cornmeal still has a gritty texture. I am going for round two of the Pain du Soliel as I was the lucky recipient of a large amount of locally grown heirloom rye.
Just checked on the back of the packet and it says milled from wholegrain corn so it is the flour how we understand it. Iām thinking theyāve done it very much like rimacinata vs. semolina. Done a good job with it too. Although of the many broa de milho videos iāve seen itās commonly done with something closer to fine polenta. Fine(er) but still grit like. Next time iāll try it using cornmeal. Like the idea of locally grown heirloom rye. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it. And of course that uses cornmeal too.
@Fermentada @Abe @Benito
It has taken me a bit to complete my assignment (self inflicted) of making two BdM with regular corn meal or Masa Harina. As a new to SD bread baker, my first attempt with corn meal fell flat (quite literally). That I determined was because Nicky wasnāt strong enough. It is heavy load to carry. Yesterday I tried the Masa variant. I used half corn meal and half Masa along with the rye flour. Processing: 60ED6AEC-D441-4161-ABCF-A825FE53FFC2.jpegā¦
Processing: BBB77DB5-EA58-456B-9A0C-EBDBA48AE70B.jpegā¦
It got up to 202F and set overnight. It cracked well but the crumb was VERY dense. To its right in the pics is my SD sandwich bread which my chief editor and wife loved. She was not a fan at all of the Broa (she liked the look). I loved the crust and flavor but wonder if a stronger levain might be what I need?
1 Like
I think your Broa de Milho density looks typical/true to style, and youād maybe get only a little more aeration if you fermented the dough more. Your SD sandwich bread looks great too. Iām sure many can relate to your wifeās bread preferences; Broa de Milho is probably not for everyone.
Hereās a blog post I was just reading (looking for the Portuguese bread that everyone in my family loves: basically puffy white rolls with chewy crust, made with lard or shortening I believe). I got sidetracked and read here that some bakers bake the Broa de Milho on a cabbage leaf.
2 Likes
@Fermentada Thanks for this recipe. I just made it and itās very close to what I grew up eating! BTW, this bread is used on a very popular cod fish recipe: Bacalhau com Broa. Thatās what weāll be having tomorrow for New Yearās Eve.
1 Like
Iām glad the broa de milho recipe worked well for you and you liked it. Your new yearās meal plan sounds delicious.
Iāve tried this a couple of times and Iām curious why my dough doesnāt crack open like this, Too wet? not active enough? Did I work it too much?
I think your ideas make sense. Either youāre shaping the dough in a way removes the seams on the dough surface or youāve got a super steamy oven that is dissolving/melding the dough surface early on ā or both things.