Now I’m not sure what makes this taste so unique. Did I get the ferment just right? Did some ingredient (*one in particular) add that little something extra? But everything went just right today and I’m very pleased with the result.
Overall Recipe
Buckwheat Flour: 510g
Psyllium Husks Powder: 15g
Water (? go by feel - I’ll describe my method)
Aquafaba (the water chickpeas have been cooked in): 6 tablespoons (*)
Salt: 10g
Olive Oil: 2 tablespoons
Ground Flaxseed: 14g
(*) normally I’d put eggs into this recipe as a binder however I had some aquafaba and sometimes like to add a little chickpea flour in a gluten free recipe in small quantities as it adds a nice flavour but too much is over powering. Aquafaba is also an egg replacement. No nutritional value in itself but as it’s just part of the liquid, the buckwheat itself is healthful and it’s a sourdough so why not see how it behaves in the loaf be it just for structure and/or flavour. I actually bought a can of chickpeas (just chickpeas in water nothing else added) and decided not to let the aquafaba go to waste.
Pre-ferment: overnight 10-12 hours
Buckwheat Flour: 180g
Water: 180g
Starter: 20g
Total = 380g of which 340g to be used in the recipe and 40g refrigerated as starter for next time.
Final Dough:
Buckwheat Flour: 340g
Psyllium Husks Powder: 15g
Water: (?)
Aquafaba: 6 tablespoons (replacement for 2 eggs)
Salt: 10g
Olive Oil: 2 tablespoons
Ground Flaxseed: 14g
Pre-Ferment: 340g
Method:
To the pre-ferment add the psyllium husks powder and ground flaxseed. Add the Olive Oil, Aquafaba and some water, enough to make a slurry, and mix till fully combined. Leave for a couple of minutes to set.
Then add the rest of the flour and salt. Start to combine and slowly add in water till you have a well hydrated dough that is like an 85-90% hydrated rye dough. Should hold itself together well and you will be able to pick it up with wet hands but not really kneadable. Mix and “knead” the best you can then mould it into a ball, pick it up and roughly shape it into a log and place in a prepared loaf pan. Use a spoon or spatula to even out any irregularities.
Final proof till ready. About 3-3.5 hours. Will rise by about 70-75% and will have a dome. But won’t reach more then that. Be careful not too overdo it.
Bake as usual in a preheated oven making sure it taps hollow to know it’s baked. It is quite a high hydrated dough so you’re looking at a good 50min - 1hr.
Allow to fully cool.
I’ve made many buckwheat sourdoughs before. This one is the best by far. Hope I can replicate it again.
I’m afraid not. Was a very good bake however out the recipe up as an after thought. All my gluten free recipes are a variation on a theme. I’ve found a formula which works very well and I make tweaks here and there using different flours and add ins. Works very well.
Always pre-ferment 1/3 of the flour.
Use psyllium husk powder as the main binder and 15g per loaf.
Sometimes I add in tapioca flour but unlike other gluten free recipes I keep it to a minimum as my main aim is to keep my recipes healthy. So swap out about 12% of the flour whereas many recipes out there can be in excess of 50%. But more often than not I keep it 100% wholegrain.
This recipe has aquafaba so kept the flour as 100% buckwheat and the aquafaba replaced the tapioca flour without compromising the wholegrain all the while having some extra binding.
What you will get is a close but not dense crumb. It’ll never be like a bread flour sourdough. Closer to a rye but still light. Gluten free without all the unnecessary fillers which spoil the nutrition of the bread.
It’ll resemble this but a 100% buckwheat loaf does tend to have slightly better rise with the crumb being just a little more open but very close to what you see here…
This is my old account and from a period where I was experimenting with non wheat flours. As for the original buckwheat and lentil bread I don’t have the recipe on me anymore. But if you try the 100% buckwheat recipe above and you like it then you can try swapping some of the buckwheat flour out for lentil flour. Hope this helps.
Thank you very much for your reply! I knew that your post dated back to 2016, but was just hoping that you might reply. Thank you! I will try to experiment as you suggest. Among other things, I was experimenting with Indian dosas (fermented lentils and grain pancakes) during last year. It works nicely. So must the bread! Thanks again.