Tortano is also known as an Italian Wedding bread or a Royal Crown bread.
Please note - we are actively working on this recipe. Whatever you see here is the latest iteration.
June 18, 2024
Ingredients:
The Levain (Leaven):
83 grams King Arthur (KA) all-purpose flour
83 grams water
60 grams sourdough culture
The Dough:
300 grams KA bread flour
243 grams KA all-purpose flour
70 grams high gluten flour
30 grams spelt
450 grams warm water
20 grams salt (RealSalt, sea salt, Kosher salt)
8 grams diastatic malt
70 grams potato puree (see notes) or 20 grams dehydrated potato flakes.
22 grams honey
Like the other sourdoughs on this site, this is a multi-day process. We create the levain in the evening, assemble the dough first thing the next morning, refrigerate overnight, pre-shape & form, room temperature proofing/rising, baking
The method below is what we do. Feel free to adjust it to your schedule & lifestyle.
Day 1 - Create the levain (8 hour fermentation)
Mix together the flour, water, and starter culture
Cover for the night, leave out at cool temperature. Make sure the levain at least doubles in size.
Day 2 - Assemble the dough
Mix together the flours and the diastatic malt
Mix the honey in with the warm water
Mix the flours, [potato puree] and water together. Cover and set aside for about 60 minutes.
By hand, mix in the levain.
Sprinkle the salt on top of the dough but don't mix it in. Cover and set aside for about 20 minutes.
Again by hand, blend in the salt. As the salt settles in, expect to feel the dough relax and get a little silky. Cover and set aside for about 20 minutes.
From here, you will turn and fold the dough a total of four times with a 45 minute rest between each. Cover between each folding.
Let the dough rise, covered, at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
Place in the refrigerator overnight.
Day 3 - pre-shaping and shaping
Scrape the dough onto a well-floured work surface then fold & roll into a ball.
Cover with a cloth and let rest for 20-30 minutes
Heavily flour a couche, peel, or cookie sheet then place the dough ball onto it.
Put some flour into the center of the dough ball. Run your fingers through the dough all the way to your work surface to make a hole. Open the hole to about 4" in diameter with the overall bread 10-12" in diameter.
Place a round spacer - cup, ramekin, biscuit cutter - into the hole to keep it open. Consider oiling the outside of the spacer to prevent it from sticking when you remove it later.
Dust the top of the dough with a little flour then cover with plastic wrap.
Let rise for 2-3 hours.
Flip (see notes) the dough onto parchment paper or a pizza peel then slide into an oven preheated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake a for 40-50 minutes. Rotate it at the halfway make.
Let the bread fully cool on a baking rack before cutting into it.
Notes:
Potato puree - boil a Russet potato until tender. Mash, fork, or blend the potato into a puree. You're only using 70 grams so store the rest in your fridge.
Just before baking, remove the plastic wrap and dust the surface of the dough with a little semolina or cornmeal. Lay parchment or the pizza peel on top of the dough, put one hand on top, one hand beneath, then flip the whole thing over. A future update will have some pictures showing this.
If using parchment paper, the Kirkland brand available at Costco runs circles around what you'll find in a local grocery store.
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