Speltacular!

In my ongoing aim to eat healthier, less processed foods, I have been experimenting with new grains and flours (instead of plain, bleached white flour). My first dabble started when I bought a bag of organic spelt flour (locally grown too I might add).

My first attempt baking with spelt wasn't exactly a roaring success. Not a complete flop either, but it definitely needed some improvements. I wasn't going to share this initially, but why not share my mistakes? It is a learning process after all.

I found a spelt bread recipe online here, and adapted it slightly replacing the honey with agave syrup and doing the mixing and kneading in my thermomix. It was a long process, mainly because of the time needed to allow the dough to rise: two hours, then another hour in the bread tin, followed by 40 minutes baking in the oven. My dough seemed to be stickier than was described in the recipe, and as a result my bread stuck to the tin and kind of just fell apart.

It was lovely and crispy on the outside, but the inside was heavier than I think it was supposed to be. I'm thinking that I probably over-kneaded it - very, very easy to do in the thermomix!

However, despite it not being the light, fluffy loaf of bread I was hoping for, once it was covered in homemade butter and strawberry fruit spread it was delicious! Very filling too, though that may just be because I ate more than I should have...

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My other experimentation with spelt has been an ongoing one with my first ever sourdough. I've used spelt flour in my starter which was somewhat adventurous, as the only sourdough starters I've seen/read about have been made with wheat or rye flours. I'm still in the middle of getting my sourdough starter established - today is day six, which means in a day or two I should (hopefully) be able to make my first sourdough loaf.
These photos were taken yesterday (day five):

As you can see, there are lots of lovely bubbles beginning to form, and the smell has developed a slight tang, so we're well on the way.

Once I've made my first sourdough loaf, I'll write a post with all the gory details. I find sourdough fascinating - this living thing that you 'feed' and can 'put to sleep'. Fingers crossed I have a little more success with my spelt sourdough bread!