Herman Focaccia

Still exploring various ways of using my herman starter which I need to harvest it weekly. Guess is time for me to take a break with this herman starter for the coming weeks as I will be busier with new school term starting! Besides this herman focaccia I'm sharing today, I've attempted several recipes using herman starter which turned out well. I will slowly share it on my blog if time permits. Meanwhile let's enjoy these two lovely herman focaccia : Rosemary & Garlic Focaccia and Cheese & Onion Focaccia!  

Soft & fluffy crumbs!

Hearty focaccia served along with creamy mushroom soup!

Proofing overnight till double in bulk

Ingredient

• 1 cup herman starter
• 1.5 cups water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• 500gm bread flour

toppings for Rosemary & Garlic Focaccia :

• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt 

toppings for Onion & Cheese Focaccia :

• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• black pepper
• salt

Method

1. Combine herman starter, water, salt and olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Add flour and mix with a spatula until a soft dough is formed. Fold the soft dough for a few minutes. The dough will be sticky. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and allow it to ferment for at least 12 hours or until doubled in bulk.
2. Lined 2 baking sheet. Carefully divide the dough into 2 portions. Turn the dough out onto each baking sheet. Spread out the dough gently by pressing the dough. Floured your hands for eased of handling as the dough may be sticky. Use your fingers to create indentations on top of the dough.
3. Drizzle tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle the toppings over. Let the dough rest for 30 mins.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 220 deg cel for 25-30 mins until golden brown. Serve warm.

Overnight Herman Waffles

Above pic : combine herman starter, sugar, fresh milk, butter and flour and ferment overnight

Below pic : after resting overnight the batter bloomed 

Ingredient

• 125gm unsalted butter
• 250ml fresh milk
• 250ml herman starter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 180gm plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Method

1. Melt butter over low heat. Add in fresh milk and mix well.
2. Stir in herman starter, salt, brown sugar and plain flour till smooth.
3. Cover and rest for 8 hours or overnight. When ready to cook on the next day, add in eggs and baking soda. 
4. Cook the batter immediately according to your waffles machine. 

Chocolate Sauce : 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, 4 tbsp unsalted butter, 2/3 cup fine sugar, 2/3 cup evaporated milk, pinch of salt. Dissolve butter and chocolate chips in a saucepan. Add in sugar and milk. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 8 mins, stirring often to prevent the base from scorching. Remove from heat and store in a glass container for several weeks in fridge.

Blueberry Compote : 3 cups frozen blueberries,  1/4 cup fine sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 lemon zest. Combine blueberries and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 6 mins until thickens. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Remove from heat. Serve warm or chilled.

How to feed and maintain Herman starter :

Pizza (Herman Starter)

My kids always brighten up when they see pizza being serve on the dining table! I don't think they will get sick of eating it weekly. ^0^ My Herman starter is bubbling very well. Each week I've will have ample of the starter use for baking. For the coming batch, I may bake some muffins or cookies with it and some pizza base (for freezing). 

Proof overnight (covered) at room temperature

Ingredient (knead by Kenwood BM250)

• 220gm Herman starter
• 120ml warm water
• 300gm plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Place Herman starter, warm water, plain flour and salt into bread maker pan. Select 'pasta dough' function. 
2. Transfer kneaded dough into a greased bowl. Cover with damp cloth and allow the dough to proof in room temperature until double in bulk. 
3. Place the proofed dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead lightly and divide into 2 portions. 
4. Place one portion dough onto a greased baking sheet. Press out the dough thinly. Use a fork to prick all over the surface. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg for 8 mins. 
5. Remove baking sheet from oven. Spread over your favourite sauce base, cheese and fillings. Return the baking sheet to oven and continue to bake at 200 deg cel for 15-20 mins until cheese  melted and edges all lightly brown. 

2 flavours pizza : (top pic) marinara sauce base, mozzarella & cheddar, ham, pineapple and cherry tomato (bottom pic) pesto base, mozzarella & cheddar, zucchini, white mushroom and grilled chicken 

Herman (Friendship) Cake

Besides using the Herman starter (sweet sourdough) for bread making, it can be incorporated into cakes or muffins! Love this fruit cake which is packed with fresh apples, dried fruits and cinnamon. The texture is moist and tender with sugar crunch toppings! I'm having fun exploring recipes using Herman starter. ^0^ Stay tune for the next coming post! 

Ingredient

• 220gm Herman starter
• 100gm cake flour
• 200gm plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 200gm fine sugar
• 2/3 cup rice bran oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 red apple, peeled and cut into chunks
• 100gm raisins
• 100gm dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together till sugar is well dissolved. Stir in oil and vanilla. Stir in Herman starter till well combined.
2. Add in both flour, salt, cinnamon powder and baking powder and fold till just combined.
3. Add in apples, raisins and cranberries and fold till well incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into a lined 8" round pan. Sprinkle brown sugar and melted butter over.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 160 deg cel for 90 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Tent the pan at the last 10-15 mins to prevent over browning. 
6. Cool in pan for 10 mins before unmoulding onto a wire rack to cool down completely. 

Natural Yeast Wholemeal Bread

My first attempt of bread making using Herman starter (sweet sourdough) which turns out very well! This time I allow the dough to knead (x3) in the bread maker to reach window pane stage. Follow then the dough is divided, shaped and proofed in a pullman tin for 3 hours. Yes only one proofing needed! The bread texture remains soft on the second day. Simple healthy wholemeal bread which I can bake anytime to get rid of my excess Herman starter :P 

Ingredient

• 200gm Herman starter
• 300gm bread flour
• 50gm wholemeal flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 150gm cold water
• rolled oats

Method (knead by Kenwood BM250)

1. Place Herman starter and half of the water into bread maker pan. Add in flour and salt. Turn on bread maker and let the machine knead the dough (x2) until window pane stage. While the dough is kneading, slowly add in remaining water till the dough is smooth and not dry. 
2. Remove dough from bread maker and place onto a well floured working surface. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Roll out each portion into rectangle. Fold in and roll up like swiss roll. Place the rolled up dough into a pullman tin. 
3. Cover the pan lightly with a damp cloth and allow to proof in a warm area until 90% full. My loaf took about 3 hours to reach the height of the pan. Spray the surface with some water and sprinkle some rolled oats over. 
4. Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 40 mins until golden brown. Remove the loaf from the pullman tin and cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Natural Yeast (Herman Starter) Pancakes

Thanks XL for introducing to me this natural yeast called Herman Starter. I've always curious with sourdough starter which seems rather complex to me. She assured me that this Herman Starter is much more user friendly and only require feeding it every 5 days to maintain its activeness. The top picture is the starter blessed by XL and after feeding 1:1:1:1 starter : milk: flour: sugar, it bubbled very well! After 5 days of fermentation, its ready for use! A portion was set aside, feed and maintain for another 5 days....the cycle goes go...hopefully it will stay active!

The first recipe I've tried using the Herman Starter is this fluffy natural yeast pancake! Soft and tender crumbs with lovely yeast fragrant. 

Ingredient

• 100gm Herman starter
• 200gm cake flour
• 20gm sugar
• 30gm melted butter
• 230ml fresh milk

Method

1. Sift cake flour into a mixing bowl. Add in sugar and stir well to combine.
2. Add in Herman starter, fresh milk and melted butter. Whisk to combine everything into a smooth thick batter.
3. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and allow it to proof in a warm area for 2-3 hours until double in bulk.
4. Lightly grease a non stick pan. Drop about 1/4 cup batter into hot pan and pan fry over low heat till golden brown at the base. Flip over and cook the other side. Repeat till batter is completed.
5. Serve warm with maple syrup and butter.