Miele DGC 6000 XL Cookbook page 38

Sourdough
Sourdough is an agent for aerating dough and
is mostly used for heavy wholemeal rye or grist
dough.
It is very easy to make by mixing 250 g rye fl our
with 200 ml lukewarm water. Leave to stand for
48 hours then use it as instructed the recipe. The
ideal temperature for developing sour dough
is between 30 – 40°C. At lower temperatures it
takes longer to develop and sometimes it does
not develop at all. At higher temperatures fewer
acids are produced and the resulting taste can be
rather bland. Sourdough is ready to use when it
fulfi ls three criteria:
• It has a strong sour smell
• Foam has formed on the surface
• A spoonful of dough has many tiny visible
bubbles.
Sourdough can be kept in the refrigerator in a
screw-top jar for a few days and can be frozen
for 2 – 3 months.
Before baking the bread place the dough in the
oven for approx. 4 hours using Combination
mode / Fan plus at 40°C, 100% moisture.
Sweet pastry
Sweet pastry is very successful in the steam
combi oven because the steam makes the pastry
particularly light and crumbly.
Always use well-chilled butter or margarine.
To make pastry in a food processor, process all
the ingredients together in the machine and only
knead the dough briefl y by hand at the end.
To make pastry by hand, put the fl our and bak-
ing powder in a bowl, and make a well in the
centre. Pour the beaten eggs into the well and
scatter the sugar and diced fat round the edge.
Stir the eggs into the fl our in the centre with a
wooden spoon; work in the fat and more of the
fl our, then knead to a smooth dough by hand. If
the dough is sticky, add some more fl our.
Wrap in clingfi lm and put in the fridge to chill,
then proceed according to the recipe. Dust the
work surface and rolling pin with fl our before
rolling out. If the pastry is very delicate or sticky,
or needs to be rolled out especially thinly, it can
be rolled between two sheets of baking parch-
ment or clingfi lm.
Any pieces of pastry left over from cutting out
shapes can be kneaded together. If the pastry is
crumbly, add a little egg yolk. Sweet pastry can
be prepared well in advance. Well wrapped up, it
will keep in the fridge for two or three days.
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