Jeffrey Hamelman

Normandy Apple Bread

Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Medium

  • Dough Yield: About

    24

    loaves at 1.5 lb each

Appears in

top 1000Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes

Bread

By Jeffrey Hamelman

Published 2004

  • About

It’s Quite Natural that an Apple-Growing Region such as Normandy, France, would develop a bread that incorporates apples. This dough has not only dried apples, but apple cider as well. It is a good way to use up cider that has gone slightly off. The apples should be dried in the oven at 250°F until they feel leathery. This intensifies their flavor and at the same time prevents them from releasing excess moisture into the dough. Use unpasteurized and unfiltered cider if available, for its superior flavor.

Pre-Fermented Flour: 18%

Ingredients

Overall Formula

U.S. Metric Home Baker’s %
Bread Flour 18 lb 9 kg 1 lb, 12.8 oz 90 %
Whole-Wheat Flour 2 lb 1 kg 3.2 oz 10 %
Water 6.8 lb 3.4 kg 10.9 oz 34 %
Apple Cider 6.8 lb 3.4 kg 10.9 oz 34 %
Salt .4 lb .2 kg .6 oz 2 %
Yeast .2 lb, fresh .1 kg, fresh .1 oz, instant dry 1 %
Apples, Dried 3 lb 1.5 kg 4.8 oz 15 %
Total Yield 37.2 lb 18.6 kg 3 lb, 11.3 oz 186 %

Stiff-Levain Build

Bread Flour 3.6 lb 1.8 kg 5.8 oz (1⅜ cups) 100 %
Water 2.16 lb 1.08 kg 3.5 oz (½ cup) 60 %
Mature Culture (Stiff) .72 lb .36 kg 1.2 oz (2 T + 1 tsp) 20 %
Total 6.48 lb 3.24 kg 10.5 oz

Final Dough

Bread Flour 14.4 lb 7.2 kg 1 lb, 7 oz (5¼ cups)
Whole-Wheat Flour 2 lb 1 kg 3.2 oz (¾ cup)
Water 4.64 lb 2.32 kg 7.4 oz (1 cup)
Apple Cider 6.8 lb 3.4 kg 10.9 oz (1¼ cups)
Salt .4 lb .2 kg .6 oz (1 T)
Yeast .2 lb, fresh .1 kg, fresh .1 oz, instant dry (1 tsp)
Levain 5.76 lb 2.88 kg 9.3 oz (all less 2 T + 1 tsp)
Apples, Peeled, Cored, Sliced Or Cubed, And Dried (See HeadNote) 3 lb 1.5 kg 4.8 oz (1⅝ cups)
Total 37.2 lb 18.6 kg 3 lb, 11.3 oz

Method

  1. Stiff Levain: Make the final build approximately 12 hours before the final mix and let stand in a covered container at about 70°F. During hot weather, or if the levain will ripen for longer than 12 hours, the flour in the levain build can be salted at 1.8 percent to slow its activity.
  2. Mixing: Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl, including the apple cider, but not the dried apples. In a spiral mixer, mix on first speed for 3 minutes, adjusting the hydration as necessary to achieve a dough of medium consistency. Mix on second speed for approximately 3 minutes more, to a moderate gluten development. Add the dried apples and mix on first speed just until they are evenly incorporated. Desired dough temperature: 76°F.
  3. Bulk Fermentation: 1 to 2 hours.
  4. Folding: If the bulk fermentation lasts 2 hours, fold after 1 hour. No folds are needed if the dough ferments for just 1 hour.
  5. Dividing and Shaping: Divide the dough into 1.5-pound pieces; shape round or oblong. Rolls can be made too.
  6. Final Fermentation: 1 to 1½ hours at 76°F.
  7. Baking: With normal steam, 450°F for about 40 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 420°F after 15 minutes to avoid excess darkening from the sugars in the apples and cider.

© 2004 All rights reserved. Published by Wiley.