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The quest for the perfect loaf. And summer focaccia!

Apparently, I did not have enough focaccia in Italy.

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Though, can one ever really have too much focaccia? I daresay not.

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This week, I've been playing with grain in the kitchen with my sourdough focaccia dough, swapping in a hefty portion of blue beard durum, adjusting the hydration, and loving the results.

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I used my mini focaccia pans to divide my focaccia into four and played with various toppings on each:

• Sliced tomato, oregano, salt
• Thinly sliced and macerated white onion, caper, Kalamata olives
• Just olive oil and salt
• Olive oil, salt, oregano, and cracked pepper

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I mean, you can't go wrong with any of those choices. The durum brought exactly what I wanted: toothsomeness and a crispy crust.

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If you want to follow my lead, use my focaccia recipe and swap out any portion of the white flour for durum (you could even go 100% with it).

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In this week's newsletter:

• Essay: A Baker's Quest for the Perfect Loaf
• Recipes: Bagels, pizza, scones, and tortillas
• Baking Question: Can I scale up/down pizza dough?
• Links: An ode to bread—especially sourdough.

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✍🏼 A Baker's Quest for the Perfect Loaf

In 2018, I was fortunate enough to be invited by Graison Gill to co-teach a baking class at his bakery Bellegarde in New Orleans. I saw—and felt—firsthand their dedication to using freshly milled flour, whole grains, and sourdough. We had an incredible group of bakers and baked a huge amount of delicious bread!

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In this guest post, Graison shares part of the story behind starting Bellegarde and his response to what the perfect loaf means to him.

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READ HIS STORY →

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A few other things I think would be great this week...

🥯 Sourdough Bagels

Sourdough bagel time is perfect anytime.

GET BAGEL RECIPE →

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🍕 Outdoor Oven Sourdough Pizza

This sourdough pizza dough is specifically geared for an outdoor oven, whether wood or gas-fired (like an Ooni or Gozney). The hydration is a tad and cooks up with a super crispy crust.

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GET PIZZA RECIPE →

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🍞 Sourdough Discard Scones

I've been craving scones all week, and these tender cream scones are on the docket for this weekend. They come together so easily and are perfect for a lazy Sunday morning.

GET SCONE RECIPE →

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🍞 Sourdough Discard Tortillas

These tortillas use a hefty portion of sourdough starter discard and are just so fun to make. The dough is super flexible and can stay in the fridge until you're ready to press out and cook the tortillas.

GET TORTILLA RECIPE →

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👐🏼 Join the Group

Joining the TPL Membership for my best baking tools and spreadsheets, a huge recipe archive (with modifiable recipes), chat in realtime with me and other bakers in the community, and view the website completely ad-free.

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COME JOIN US! →

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💬 Member Discussion of the Week

I've been using my Sourdough Home to keep my starter at a cool 74°F during the hot summer days. But you can also do a few things to slow ripening. When feeding:

• Use cooler water (from the fridge!)
• Leave less sourdough starter in the jar
• Use fewer whole grain flour (I'd first make temperature changes, then this)
• Feed it more frequently

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🛟 2 Ways I Can Help You Today

• Need help with your pizza game? Check out my guide to everything sourdough pizza for the best way to manage your dough, shape pizza of all kinds, and pick the right combination of toppings.
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• New to sourdough? See my 8-step breakdown of the bread-making process.

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📙 What I'm Reading and Watching

• ​For The Love of Bread (The New Yorker). I watched this a few years ago and recently stumbled on it again. A lovely ode to sourdough and its history. "Bread is the foundation of our daily meals"—it certainly is for mine!

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• ​How Una Pizza Napoletana Became the No. 1 Ranked Pizza in the World (YouTube). Still firmly in "pizza mode," I was reviewing some pizza videos I have saved and still am in awe at Anthony Mangieri's dedication to the craft.

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Stay cool, and happy baking!

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Maurizio Leo

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