Baking Love

This recipe was inspired by one for sourdough bread by David Miller at Grow Youthful. I had planned to use Kefir that my husband Brian made. Well, things didn’t go entirely as planned, as is usual so often with baking, especially new recipes. I waited too long to use the Kefir for making bread and it began to ferment, becoming something like airag, which I won’t get into much here, but Brian and I had some on our trip to Mongolia in October 2005. We were hospitably offered airag as guests in the homes of Mongolian herders. It is customary to bring a gift as guests, in thanks for the hospitality, and we offered sweets in return. It was a wonderful experience for us and through the help of our guide/interpretor and driver we got to meet many kind people who let us stay in their homes, visit their land, and eat with their families.

This airag we made was more mainstream, not traditional, being made from cow’s milk. I used the airag in the bread and it had a wonderful yeasty taste, unlike other gluten-free, yeast-free breads I have made, due to the natural yeasts produced through fermentation. The cooking process removes the alcohol and it did not leave a strong taste of alcohol at all, only the pleasant taste of baked bread. The pitfall is having a nice warm spot for the dough to rest long enough undisturbed to raise nicely. This I was not able to provide, despite keeping it covered on the counter and even in a low oven preheated and turned off before the bread was put in over the course of 48 hours. It simply needed more warmth for a longer period of time. As a result my bread was flat, but tasted delicious.

The airag is gone, but we can make more and we have kefir whey saved from the second batch of kefir. I will definitely try this recipe again with the fermented kefir whey, airag, or plain kefir.

Airag Sourdough Bread

220g (2 cups) gluten-free flour blend (quinoa flour, arrowroot starch, sweet rice flour)

250 ml (1 cup) airag

2 tablespoons sunflower oil (use any oil you prefer)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

enough warm water to create a thick batter (about 250-350 ml (1-1 1/2 cups))

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, getting all the lumps out by squeezing them out with your hands. More lumps will prevent the formation of air bubbles, which gives this bread all its lift. Cover or wrap the bowl of bread with a rather large cloth or towel and place in a warm spot to rest as undisturbed as possible. The concern is not ruining the dough but not letting it have enough heat to make bubbles. Temperature control is key. Keep it there until it has risen somewhat, then transfer the dough to a greased baking tin. Cover the tin and keep it in a warm spot, the same one as before is ok, for at least 24 hours or longer if needed depending on how warm the spot is.

Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Bake bread for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

Notes: If you keep this bread longer and do not eat it all at once, the bread will continue to ferment and may have a stronger yeasty taste the longer you keep it.