Jofish & Jim Eat

(I will try not to write about sourdough for a while, but i just nailed it).

And we have a winner. It warm. It's sweet. You should be crying because you're not having some with me.

It's the recently-discovered molasses-sourdough plus cinnamon and ginger-coated raisins, and some process improvement.

proof starter overnight, >= 11-1/2 hours (details elsewhere)

then, combine with love:
2 1/2 c. proofed starter
1 T canola oil
2 T honey
2 t salt
just under 1/2 c molasses

next, mix in:
1 c rye flour
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
up to 1c unbleached general purpose flour (always last, only as much as needed, and never more than 1 c)

if more flour is needed after 1c general purpose flour has been added, use the rye flour.

the dough will be, and should be, sticky, but don't be shy about sifting 1-2 T of rye flour at a time over it to tame it when you're kneading it

knead 5-7 minutes until it's homogeneous and well-worked...

FIRST RISE: 6 hours
Place in a large bowl, and cover the bowl with a towel soaked in hot water. Put away in a warm place for 6 hours

PREP WORK JUST BEFORE 2nd RISE
at about the 5.75 hour mark, soak 1c golden raisins in hot water in a small bowl
before starting the 2nd rise work, drain the water from the raisins
into the raisin-bowl add 2T cinnamon and about 1/2 dried ground ginger
shake the everloving hell out of it to coat the raisins with cinnamon and ginger

SECOND RISE: 6 1/2 hours
shake some rye flour over the risen dough
pour the cinnamon/ginger-coated raisins into the bowl with the dough
knead it all together for 5 mins, adding rye flour as needed to keep it from becoming too sticky
move it around quite a bit to get the raisins evenly distributed
form the kneaded dough into a round loaf
place the loaf on a cornmeal-covered pan
cover with a cloth soaked in very hot water and then wrung out
put the cloth, dough and pan in a warm place (90-100 degree oven)
periodically refresh the hot cloth and re-warm the oven (with the dough NOT in it), maybe 2-3 times, your schedule permitting

BAKE
350 degrees, 32 minutes (small convection oven)

eat

- jim

Well, not exactly. I'm still trying to get the sourdough sorted out.

Still not enough 'lift' from the yeast. I need to coddle them a bit more, and maybe increase the rise times  again (this time around it was a 7 hour overnight proof, 5 hour first rise, 8 hour 2nd rise) - but i had some pastry flour that i really needed to use, so I know i did handicap the process a bit. details below.

but let's talk about flavor

This made an interesting (to me), dense bread that picks up all kinds of crisp, carmelized goodness when toasted:
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (as i said, i had to use it up somewhere)
poppy seeds (on top)
1/3 cup molasses

The result has all the notes of an excellent beer, but in a more portable form. I think it'd be great with a smoky, dark beer. Looking for suggestions about a bright and light small nibble to serve with it, to cut the heaviness of the solid and liquid beers.