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Corn Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Breads
I’m on a “fall harvest” bread kick these days. A clear choice for this theme was apples (last week’s babka) and I soon plan to try @Benito’s gorgeous pumpkin-shaped bread recipe.
For this fall recipe, I decided to use corn, another crop typically harvested in the fall and available in so many colors and varieties. And jalapeño peppers, which maybe aren’t on everyone’s list of fall foods, but personally I harvest mountains of peppers from my garden in September and October. Then I ferment, pickle, dry, and freeze them; and make some breads with them too.
This year, I added a hefty amount of corn porridge to my usual cheddar jalapeño sourdough recipe, and I made a bread flour version and a 100% whole grain version. Both breads came out delicious: slightly spicy, moderately cheesy, with hints of corn flavor and corn aroma. The bread flour version has a bit more corn flavor and chew, which isn’t surprising. Fresh whole grain wheat flour brings more flavor to the equation and less gluten. Of course, corn flour is also whole grain, with plenty of bran or “pericarp” if you mill it at home. It doesn’t have gluten either, so both of these doughs are more delicate than elastic.
Nice aeration to the crumb
The doughs are manageable with a bench knife and a cold final proof. Plus I picked a high protein whole wheat flour, rouge de bordeaux, to try to best offset the weakness in the dough. I’ll also admit I liked the idea of using rouge (red) wheat with red corn. Yecora rojo and turkey red would also fit the bill in terms of gluten strength (and “red” in the name).
Fermenting red and yellow doughs
I didn’t just want extra corn flavor though, I also wanted plenty of of jalapeño and cheese. The trade-off is that these additions weigh down the dough, making it expand less than usual despite fermentation proceeding nicely. I gauge the dough’s readiness through feel and seeing bubbles though the side of the bowl and because I have a lot of experience making this bread and cranberry-walnut sourdoughs too.
If you’re somewhat new to sourdough bread baking though, you might want to add the cheese and jalapeños at the end of the first rise by laminating the dough during the pre-shape (see this FAQ). That way the dough will expand normally before you add additions. The downside to that approach is that your additions may not be well distributed through the final loaf, and the extensive stretching of the dough may de-gas it a little.
The approach I chose is aimed at balancing the goals of gluten development and distribution of additions. First the corn flour is hydrated and softened with boiling water. Then in another bowl, the wheat flour and water are mixed to autolyse. After about an hour, the slightly warm corn porridge, sourdough starter, jalapeños, and salt are added to the autolysing dough. Finally at the second or third round of gluten development, the cheese is added via lamination (same FAQ as above).
All the flours hydrating, from left to right: red corn, rouge de bordeaux, bread flour, yellow corn
Tips
With cheese bread, I like to coat the top of my dough with bran flakes before placing it top down in the proofing basket. While baking, oil leaks from the cheese on or near the crust, and bran flakes absorb this oil in a yummy crispy way, whereas if the dough is floured, it can bake up with an orange oil-and-flour paste on the crust, a roux of sorts.
I also recommend using parchment paper between the dough and your baking vessel, especially if it is unglazed ceramic. The oil from the cheese can seep into the clay and stain it. My clay bakers are all well-loved with my baking history, but I still use parchment paper to minimize the oil issue. These How To Score Dough videos show an easy way to get your dough out of the proofing basket and centered on a piece of parchment paper.
I used heirloom corn varieties for these breads: bloody butcher and yellow chalqueño. Every corn variety is different in flavor, color, starchiness, protein content and more. I think all field corn, stone-millable options will work well and the main variable to adjust is water. Your goal for the porridge is to fully hydrate the corn flour, but not to add more water than what’s necessary to do that. Commercial stoneground corn flour and masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour) will work as well, but the latter tends to be more thirsty.
Check out this brief video of fresh-baked corn cheddar jalapeño sourdough breads with crispy bran-covered crusts.
Corn Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Breads
To make this tasty corn cheddar jalapeño sourdough bread, you can pick any color corn and choose bread flour or whole grain rouge de bordeaux flour. The resulting breads have hints of spicy and cheesy cornbread overlaying the artisan-style sourdough bread flavor and pliable bread texture.
Ingredients
Corn Porridge
Final Dough
Optional for the Crust
Instructions
Mixing & Bulk Fermentation
Pre-shape, Bench Rest & Shaping
Final Proofing & Baking
Shopping List
Bloody Butcher Corn
$8.50 – $57.75Yellow Dent Corn
Heirloom Rouge de Bordeaux Wheat Berries
Rouge de Bordeaux Whole Grain Flour
High Protein Bread Flour
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Sourdough Starter (Live)
Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Ankarsrum Mixer and Universal Kitchen Appliance
Bosch Universal Plus Mixer with Stainless Steel Bowl — Black
$469.00Dough and Storage Bucket w/Lid – 2 qt. Square
Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00Bench Knife by Dexter — Resin Handle
$14.50Bowl Covers (5 pcs)
Oval Rattan Proofing Basket
Oval Proofing Basket Liner
Breadtopia Clay Baker — Batard
Bread Lame
ThermoPop® 2
Expandable Cooling Rack
Corn Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Breads