Every couple weeks or so, we send out a little roundup of new recipes, techniques, and tutorials that we’ve recently posted on the site. Occasionally we announce exclusive giveaways to newsletter subscribers as well. We won’t spam you with ads or share or sell your email address. Every email we send has a 1-click unsubscribe link if you decide it’s not for you.
White Sonora and Blue Corn Sourdough Bread
Here’s a tasty and uniquely lavender-colored sourdough bread that combines fresh-milled landrace wheat and corn. White Sonora is a soft winter wheat from Ramona American Indian Farms in Arizona and Heirloom Blue Bolita is a corn variety from the central valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico, and both are crops adapted to their growing conditions over many centuries. Heirloom Blue Mushito corn from the Michoacán region in the Western part of Mexico and Heirloom Blue Cónico corn from the highlands northwest of Mexico City will also work well to produce this beautiful color and delicious corn flavors.
20% Blue Bolita, 20% White Sonora, 40% Bread Flour
For the color and flavor of the corn to stand out, I used a large amount of it and paired it with the soft flavor of white sonora wheat. I added bread flour to the equation because corn flour is gluten free and I wanted some loft and to bake it as a freestanding artisan-style loaf. You can, of course, bake this dough in a loaf pan and/or substitute more white sonora wheat or a different whole grain wheat flour for the bread flour. If you make a 100% whole grain dough, the crumb will be a little tighter and you’ll likely need 10-30 grams more water.
Toasted aromatic slice of blue corn and white sonora wheat bread
I milled the corn twice — first coarse, then fine — and to make this whole grain corn flour as amenable as possible to gluten development in the final dough, I soaked it in boiling hot water. If you’re using pre-ground corn flour, you may need less water to hydrate it. Drop the boiling water amount by 20 grams or so.
Hydrating the corn flour to soften the colorful pericarp or corn “bran”
While the corn porridge cools, you can mill the white sonora wheat and mix it with the bread flour, starter, salt, and additional water for a short autolyse.
White sonora wheat in the hopper of a Mockmill
Add the corn porridge to the dough once it has cooled to below 115F. This will result in significant weakening of the dough’s gluten. If you transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or bucket, you should be able to stretch and fold it a couple of times, although it will remain fairly sticky.
In the video after the recipe, you can see how much flour I used to tame the dough while shaping it. I gently de-gassed it and let it re-aerate during the final proof rather than try to preserve the bubbles from the bulk fermentation.
White Sonora and Blue Corn Sourdough Bread
Blue corn flour gives this sourdough bread a lovely purple color and delicious flavor. Paired with soft white whole grain wheat and strong bread flour, the dough is a bit of a challenge to handle but it bakes up beautifully with good aeration and pliability.
Ingredients
Instructions
Corn Prep, Mixing, and Bulk Fermentation
Shaping and Final Proof
Baking
Shaping this Wheat and Corn Dough
Photo Gallery
Shopping List
High Protein Bread Flour
White Sonora Wheat Berries
White Sonora Whole Grain Flour
$11.75 – $102.70Heirloom Blue Cónico Corn
$16.00Sourdough Starter (Dry)
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Danish Dough Whisk — Large
Dough and Storage Bucket w/Lid – 2 qt. Square
Oval Rattan Proofing Basket
Breadtopia Hearth Baker
Expandable Cooling Rack
Bread Lame
White Sonora and Blue Corn Sourdough Bread