Fall Sourdoughs

Leaves are changing colors and frost is highlighting the lawn in the morning.  It is time to start baking.  Love the smell of sourdough bread cooking.  So many options for this time of the year.  Crackers, breadsticks, bread, pancakes, and the list goes on.  Check out our website for wonderful recipes and hints on sourdough.  www.sourdo.com

Dill Batter Bread

Dill Batter Bread

Makes 1 loaf

 

Sourdough batter from recipe below

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup chopped onions

2 teaspoons dill seed

 

Proof and Baking

Complete steps 1 and 2 to prepare sourdough batter.  Add cheese, onions, and dill seed to the batter and mix well.

Spoon the batter into a 4 ½ x 8 ½ inch loaf pan.

Proof, covered, at 85° for 1 to 2 hours, or until dough rises ½ inch above the edge of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350°.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove loaf from pan and cool on a wire rack.

 

 

 

 

Basic Sourdough Batter Bread

Makes 1 loaf

 

2 cups culture

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

3 cups white bread flour

 

Proof and Baking

Measure the culture into a large mixing bowl.  Melt the butter over moderate heat, add the milk to the butter and warm (to 75° to 85°).  Add the salt and sugar and stir until dissolved.  Add this mixture to the culture and mix well.

Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing vigorously for 1 minute or so between cups.  The yield is approximately 3 ½ cups of basic sourdough batter.

Grease a 4 ½ x 8 ½ inch loaf pan if not nonstick.  Spoon batter into the prepared pan.

Proof, covered, at 85° for 1 to 2 hours, or until dough rises ½ inch above the edge of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350°.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove loaf from pan and cool on a wire rack.

 

 

Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Summer is in full swing.  Picnics, BBQs, outdoor gaming events…  Perfect time to start making your own hamburger buns.  What a great surprise it will be for your family and friends when you place those perfect hamburgers straight off the grill onto a homemade sourdough hamburger bun. 

We are in a period that we want to know what goes into what we are putting into our mouths.  Making our own bread is a perfect solution.  We decide the flours and what kind we want to make.

I can’t wait to try these out on my guests.  I am wanting to try them with our wheat culture (Sourdoughs International South African) and our rye culture (Sourdoughs International Polish).  What a great variety of hamburger buns!

 

Hamburger Buns

Makes 8 Buns

2 cups sourdough culture

3 tablespoons butter

½ cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

 

Pour the culture into a mixing bowl.  Melt the butter and add the milk, eggs, salt, and sugar.  Beat with a fork to mix and add to the culture.  Add the flour a cup at a time until the dough is too stiff to mix by hand.  Turn out onto a floured board and knead in the remaining flour until the dough is smooth and satiny.

Roll the dough out to a ½ -inch thickness and cut with a 4-inch round cutter (a can with the top cut out works well).

Place the buns on a baking sheet and proof at 85°F in a proofing box for 2 to 4 hours, or until doubled in bulk.  Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 15 to 18 minutes, or until browned.  Let cool on a wire rack.

 

You could top with sesame seeds, or onion bits, whatever your taste buds might find desirable.  That is the wonderful thing about baking your own items, you can be as creative as you want to be.  Kids would love to help you with these also.  Happy baking.

A Simple Dessert Recipe

I don’t know about you, but when I am feeding and discarding my sourdough culture, I hate not using it. Here is a simple way to use up that little bit of culture instead of dumping it down the drain.

½ cup of sourdough starter
½ cup water, plus more when needed
½ tsp salt
1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
Goat cheese of your choice
Dark chocolate of your choice
1 egg
...
Mix (knead) all the ingredients for a maximum of 20-25 minutes in the bread machine, until the dough is smooth and satiny. Watch the dough form for the first 3 or 4 minutes and adjust the consistency as needed with additional water or flour, added 1 tablespoon at a time.
Proof dough overnight (8 to 12 hours) at room temperature, about 70°F.
Roll dough out on a cutting board until it is about ¼ inch thick. Cut into squares of 5x5 (or bigger if you want. Put a spoonful of goat cheese in center of square and add a piece of dark chocolate. Fold over so that you make a triangle. Seal edges and cover edges with a little egg white.
Drop into a deep fryer and flip over several times until dough takes on a light brown color. Remove and let cool.

This is a quick and easy dessert that will surprise your friends. The combination with the cheese and chocolate is amazing. The fun thing with this is that you can go crazy with experimenting. Or if you just have a little dough left over this is where you can use it.

Happy Baking!

BBQ Sourdough Pizzas

This is the time of year that BBQs are fired up and ready to go. I know that I can't wait to try out some pizzas on the BBQ. Here are some hints that we have found that might come in handy for those first time pizza BBQers.

~prepare your pizza crust
~have your toppings on one plate and your cheeses on another
~heat your BBQ up as hot as you can
~when you are ready, oil your pizza pan generously..., spread out your dough, cover and let stand for around 10 minutes
~now we are ready to cook
~turn your burners down to low, place the pizza pan with dough on grill and lower lid
~cook for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom is starting to turn golden in color
~pull pizza pan with dough from grill and quickly generously oil the top of crust then flip crust over
~put on your favorite cheeses and toppings
~return pizza pan to BBQ and continue to cook until chees is bubbling and crust is golden brown, this may take 5 minutes give or take a few
~remove from BBQ and let stand for about 5 minutes

Enjoy BBQ pizzas!!!

Whole-Wheat Sourdough Bread

Whole-Wheat Sourdough Bread

Makes two 1 ½ pound loaves

Bob Linville, a good friend, calls this loaf one of his favorites. It has great flavor and texture. He uses our fast Russian culture to leaven this moderately heavy dough.

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 ¾ cups white flour
2 cups sourdough culture
¾ cup water...
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1.Combine the flours and mix well. Mix the sourdough culture with 1 cup of the flour and ¼ cup of the water in a large mixing bowl. This is the working culture. Proof 12 hours at room temperature (68° to 72°) or 6 hours in a proofing box at 85°.

2.Add 1 cup of the flour mixture and ½ cup of the water. Mix and knead until smooth. Proof 8 hours at room temperature or 4 hours in the proofing box. After proofing, this is the fully active culture.

3.Punch down. Dissolve the salt in the milk and mix in the sugar and butter. Add to the dough and mix well. Reserve 1 cup of the flour for flouring the board. Mix and spoon knead the remaining 1 ¾ cups flour into the dough 1 cup at a time. When too stiff to mix by hand, transfer to the floured board and knead in the remaining flour.

4.Form 2 pan loaves, and proof at the same temperature used above until the dough rises about 1 inch above the pan tops (2 ½ to 3 hours).

5.Start in a cold oven at 375° for 70 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks.

He used Sourdough International's South African culture. This culture loves and thrives on whole wheat. In fact it is started with whole wheat. If you do your own whole wheat grains or anything along that line, you need this culture! In fact, I headed right home to start mine. All I could think on the way home is; I could add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and the list could be endless!
Here is his recipe.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Happy baking.

Blackberry Sourdough Scones with Lemony Glaze

Blackberry Sourdough Scones with Lemony Glaze

By Sylvia Fountaine

 

Ingredients:

 

Scones:

2 ½ cups flour

2 cups fresh or frozen Blackberries

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup sugar

½ cup cold butter- sliced into 8 pieces

1 cup sourdough starter or sour cream or plain greek yogurt (or soy yogurt)

1/3 cup milk or cream (plus more if necessary)

Lemon zest of one lemon

1 beaten egg, for brushing, optional

 

Glaze:

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter (optional)

 

Instructions:

 

Line a 8 inch cake pan with plastic wrap and fill with 2 cups blackberries.  If you berries are very tender, freeze beforehand, this way they will hold their shape a little better.

 

In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar and lemon zest.  Pulse in cold butter until mix resembles coarse sand.  In a small bowl mix milk and sourdough starter (or sour cream or yogurt) together.  Add starter mixture to the food processor and pulse until it just forms a ball (just a few times) adding a little more milk (only if necessary).  Dough should be heavy and thick.  Don’t over work.

 

Spread the dough over the blackberries and press down gently, into all the corners.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer overnight, or for 4 hours.

 

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Remove from freezer, remove saran, invert on cutting board.  Let sit 15-20 minutes or longer until thawed enough to cut.  Cut into 8 equal size pie shape wedges.  Brush with beaten egg (optional).  Place on parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown.

 

While baking, make glaze.  Stir sugar into lemon juice in a small pot on the stove until dissolved.  Whisk in butter (optional).  Set aside.  Drizzle over warm scones.

 

 

Sourdough Pretzel Bites with Honey Mustard

Sourdough Pretzel Bites with Honey Mustard

From Whole Food Family Favorites

 

Makes 120-150 pretzel bites

 

1 ½ cups sourdough starter, active and recently fed

1 cup hot water

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons unrefined cane sugar or honey

2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt

5 cups all purpose, whole wheat, or spelt flour

coarse unrefined sea salt

 

Method:

Add the butter, sugar, and salt to the cup of hot water and stir to dissolve.  Cool to lukewarm.

Put the starter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Add the lukewarm water mixture.  Add flour, ½ cup at a time.  The dough will be very, very stiff.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn to coat, and cover.  Let sit for 2-4 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, bring a pot of salted water to a rapid boil, then reduce to a steady simmer.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Bread off pieces of the dough about the size of a large egg.  Roll each piece into a rope about 1 inch in diameter, then cut the rope into 1-inch sections.  Drop as many pretzel bites as will fit without touching into the water and cook about 30 seconds after they have risen to the top. (Or longer for a chewier pretzel.)

Remove with a slotted spoon to a baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt.  When the baking sheet is full, bake for 15-17 minutes until golden brown.  Remove and cool on wire racks.

 

Honey Mustard

 5 tablespoons raw honey

3 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon kombucha

OR

5 tablespoons raw honey

3 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons fresh whey

 

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine.  Enjoy immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

If you’re using whey instead of apple cider vinegar and kombucha, whisk all ingredients together and set aside at room temperature for 2-3 days before serving.

 

Happy Baking!!!

Tortilla

Original recipe from Gnowfglins

 

3 cups of organic whole wheat flour (I used soft white wheat-aka-pastry flour), freshly ground is best!

¾ cup water

¾ cup sourdough starter

¼ cup olive oil

Pinch of salt

 

Step One:  Combine the water, flour, salt, and sourdough starter in your mixer or food processor.  Keep adding flour, slowly, until the dough forms a nice ball without sticking too much to the sides of the mixer.  Once you get the dough to a soft ball form, allow the mixer to knead the dough for 2-3 minutes (if you don’t have a mixer, just do this by hand!).  Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let this hang out on your counter for 12-24 hours.

 

Step Two:  When you’re ready to cook up your tortillas, heat up a griddle, cast iron skillet, or cooking pan of choice to medium-high heat.  I don’t bother with greasing or spraying my griddle.  I like to use my large griddle so that I can have multiple tortillas going at the same time-it helps to speed up the process.

 

Step Three:  Remove the dough from the bowl and transfer onto a greased surface.  Gently divide the dough into walnut sized balls (this recipe will yield a dozen or so, depending on size).

 

Step Four:  Grease your hands with a little olive oil and working with one ball of dough at a time, use your fingers to smooth the dough out into a tortilla.  I suppose you could use a greased rolling pin, but I find that using my fingers alone works fine.  Sure, the shape isn’t a perfect circle-but that’s okay!  It’s homemade, remember?

 

Step Five:  After rolling out the tortilla, gently and carefully move it to the hot skillet.  Cook it for about 30 seconds per side, until a little golden and bubbly.

 

Step Six:  You can either eat these immediately, or cool them off and store them in the fridge or freezer for later use.  I have found that they reheat very easily and even stay soft.  Yay!

Sourdough Grissini

 

Sourdough Grissini (yields 3 x 16)

Dough:

2 ½ cups bread flour (350 g)

1 cup water (225 g)

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup (250 g) active sourdough starter

Seasoning:

Mix of coarsely ground salt, black pepper, and chopped fennel seeds or rosemary

Method:

1.      Combine dough ingredients in a bowl and briefly mix by hand or with mixer.

2.      Turn dough onto counter (if kneading by hand), add water or flour to create a medium-soft dough; continue kneading or mixing for about 5 minutes.

3.      Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 2 hours.

4.      Divide dough into three equal pieces.

5.      On a well-floured counter or wooden pizza board, pat dough into a rectangle about 12 x 4 inches (30 x 10 cm).

6.      Brush dough with olive oil, sprinkle with seasoning, lightly press seasoning into dough.

7.      Cut the dough into 16 strips (pizza cutter works well).

8.      Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

9.      Pick up each dough strip at its ends and slowly stretch it to the width of the baking sheet.

10.  Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).

11.  Bake 25-30 minutes until nicely brown and very crisp.

12.  Cool on a wire rack.

Rustic Sourdough Pasta

Rustic Sourdough Pasta (adapted from Mummy, I Can Cook)

Yields: 6 servings

1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs

Pour the starter into your mixing bowl.
Add the flour and egg, and mix until it forms a ball (this takes forever)....
Allow the dough to sit on the counter for a few hours, up to overnight. It won't rise much, if at all.
Dump the ball out onto a floured counter.
Roll it out as thin as you can possibly make it.
Slice the noodles into whatever shape you like (and fill it , too, if you want).
You can now either boil them immediately to eat, or allow them to dry on the counter.

Hope you like this one. Happy Baking.

Sourdough Orange Cake

Sourdough Orange Cake
From Trick or Treat

1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 melted butter/oil
1/2 cup fresh orange slices
1/4 cup orange juice...
1 tsp baking soda

Method

Preheat oven @ 180° C. Grease 7 inch round pan. Cut orange segments out of their connective membranes and place them in a bowl.

In a small bowl, combine orange juice, butter, sourdough starter, soda and salt.

Pour in orange juice mixture to the flour, mix until well incorporated. Add in orange slices, stir until just combined.

Transfer batter onto prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean in a preheated oven.

Cool in pan 5 minutes, unmold and transfer onto rack to cool.

Might be a good vitamin C boost too! Happy baking!

Winter has set in for us in Idaho and it seems like the perfect time to have a cup of coffee and a piece of Sourdough Coffee Cake and curl up in front of the fire. We found this recipe on Food.com by AlaskaStephanie. We hope you like it.

Sourdough Coffee Cake

About This Recipe
"One more way to use your starter! Sometimes I skip the topping and just drizzle white frosting over the top."

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 cup sourdough starter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon flour

Directions:
1. Combine sourdough starter, oil and egg
2. Stir together dry ingredients and add to sourdough mixture.
3. Put dough into greased 9 inch square pan.
4. Crumble topping ingredients together (I use a pastry blender) and sprinkle topping on top of batter.
5. Bake for 35 minutes at 350°.
6. Enjoy

Hope this warms you up in these cold winter months. Happy Baking!

We get so many calls about our cultures, what do I do when I get it, what do I use, it isn't doing what you say in the time or it is doing this too fast...

Our best advice when it comes to sourdough is to play with it, experiment with it, try things.

Sourdoughs are amazing things. Each has it's own personality and traits. I have to laugh at mine sometimes because they react so different to the same treatment. I had 3 out at one time and working with them. One took off like a race horse out of the gate. Quick activation. Fast leavening. Just wow. One was average. Just took the suggested time and amount of flour and water. Was happy to be going along at an average speed. My third one was being slow and moody. It was stubborn to activate. It wanted more attention. Didn't rise as fast. But it was well worth the wait.

When customers call with all these questions, our best advice is to play with your culture. Try new things. Try different flours. The seasons can affect sourdoughs. Some like more flour and water than others. You don't need to be precise. Just try and see what works best for you. This is why we suggest that when you first activate your culture that you split it and keep a back up, in case you do something that can't be reversed.

By trying and experimenting, you might come across that amazing bread that no one else has ever come up with. That is the fun in baking with sourdough. The possibilities are endless.

Let us know what your favorite "experiment" with sourdoughs have been....happy baking.

Oh-So-Fluffy Cast Iron Sourdough Pancakes

This recipe is included in Sourdough A to Z eBook and/or demonstrated on video on Sourdough eCourse.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons melted butter, coconut oil, or olive oil (not too hot)
1/2 teaspoon salt (if using refined salt, might want to use a bit less)
1 egg
2 tablespoons sweetener (honey, maple syrup, sucanat)...
1 teaspoon pure vanilla or vanilla/almond combo (more or less or none at all)
a generous sprinkle of spice (I use a self created spice blend-see below)
2 cups of sourdough starter (fed the night before-I feed mine an equal amount of water and flour, but it shouldn't really matter)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water
fresh or frozen fruit (optional)
yogurt and maple syrup for serving (optional)

Directions:

Begin by heating your cast iron skillet. I turn my electric burner to level 3 (of 11). I want my pan hot, but not too hot or the bottom of the pancake will burn. If you don't get a perfect golden brown the first time you try this method, take note of what you did and make a change the next time. A golden fluffy-beyond-your-wildest-dreams pancake is worth every effort!

While the skillet is heating, take a medium size bowl and whisk together melted coconut oil/butter or olive oil, egg, salt, sweetener of choice, extract of choice, and spices of choice. Pour in two cups of sourdough starter that has been fed the night before you want to make the pancakes. Stir well with whisk. Set aside.

In a small cup combine 1 tablespoon of water with 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Set aside.

Take a bit of butter or coconut oil and grease the bottom and sides of your hot cast iron skillet.

Pour the water/soda mixture into your waiting pancake batter. Quickly stir to incorporate.

Pour the batter into your waiting skillet. How much? Oh, I don't know for sure. Maybe an inch thick...maybe a touch more? Out of my batter, I make one large and one small cast iron pancake and two griddle pancakes.

I would not recommend letting unused batter sit while you wait for your skillet pancake to finish. You might want to make one skillet pancake and finish the rest of the batter off as regular pancakes. (Or give the wait a try and let me know how it turns out!)

Now, watch for bubbles. I let mine cook for 4-5 minutes on the stove.

If you choose, now is the time to add fresh or frozen fruit. Give the fruit a little push to sink them down into the batter.

Toward the end of this initial cook time, I turn on the broiler. "Finish your pancake off by placing it in the oven. Do not use the very top shelf; the second or third shelf will work best. Remember, your pancake bottom will continue to cook while the top cooks and browns.

This looks like a great recipe to us. Can't wait to hear your results with it. We have been getting so many questions about pancakes we thought you would like this. Happy baking!

Cheesy Sourdough Spelt Popovers from Bread Experience

Note: These popovers are made with sourdough and spelt so they have a different texture than popovers made with regular white bread flour. They are yummy nonetheless.

Makes 6 Popovers

Ingredients:

1 cup milk (can use almond milk)
3 large eggs...
1/2 cup sourdough Spelt starter, fed or unfed
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper or to taste
1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup All-Purpose White Spelt Flour

Directions:

Warm the milk until it feels just slightly warm to the touch.

Combine the warm milk with the eggs, sourdough starter and salt, crushed pepper and parmesan, then mix in the flour. Don't over-mix; a few small lumps will be fine. The batter should be thinner than a pancake batter, about the consistency of heavy cream.

Heat a muffin or popover pan in the oven while it's preheating to 450° F.

Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven, and spray it thoroughly with non-stick pan spray, or brush it generously with oil or melted butter. Quickly pour the batter into the cups, filling them almost to the top. If you're using a muffin tin, fill cups all the way to the top. Space the popovers around so there are empty cups among the full ones; this leaves more room for expansion.

Bake the popovers for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven heat to 375° F and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until popovers are golden brown.

Remove the popovers from the oven and serve immediately.

Happy baking!!!

Maple Oat Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Maple syrup, oat flour, and sourdough starter unite to form a nutritious, unique, and delicious dinner roll.

Author: Kristen @ Smithspirations

Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs, beaten...
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup sourdough starter
2 cups oat flour
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
Additional butter or oil
2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 cup rolled oats

Instructions:

In a medium mixing bowl with pouring spout, combine butter, eggs, syrup, milk, and starter and mix well.

In the mixing bowl for a large stand mixer, add oat flour, 2 cups wheat flour, and salt.

With the dough hook attached to the mixer, turn on to the speed for mixing bread doughs, and allow the flours and slat to combine. Slowly pour in the liquid ingredients until a wet batter forms.

Gradually add additional wheat flour, 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms, allowing the dough to remain moist but not sticky.

Allow the dough to rise, covered, in a buttered or oiled bowl on the counter for 12-18 hours or in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours, or until doubled.

Punch down the dough and place on to a lightly buttered or oiled counter. Divide into 24 equal pieces. Butter a 9x13 glass baking dish.

With buttered or oiled hands, gently shape each dough piece into a round roll and place in the buttered baking dish. You will have six rows of four rolls.

Allow the rolls to rise until doubled in a warm (and turned off) oven for 3-6 hours, on the counter for 12-18 hours, or in the refrigerator for 24 or more hours.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Gently brush the risen rolls with milk and sprinkle each with rolled oats, gently pressing the oats onto the rolls.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm and with butter.

Dark Chocolate Sourdough Cupcakes with Raspberry or Rhubarb Buttercream by Kresha Faber

For the cupcakes:

makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

1 cup sourdough starter, active and bubbly
1 cup of milk, preferably raw
1 3/4 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
1 cup unrefined cane sugar OR 3/4 cup date syrup...
1 1/4 cup unrefined, virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled but still liquid
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, preferably pastured
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons finely ground coffee, preferably dark or espresso roast
100 grams (3-4 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup cocoa nibs or other chocolate pieces

For the buttercream:

Makes about 4 cups

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
2 1/2 sticks butter (10 ounces), softened but still cool, cubed
1 generous pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup pure rhubarb OR raspberry juice
1 teaspoon pure beet juice, more as desired

For the Cupcakes:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sourdough starter, the milk and the flour. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 8-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line muffin tins with parchment muffin papers and set aside.

Scrape the sourdough mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer (or grab your favorite wooden spoon to mix by hand). Add the cane sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla and mix on low speed. Increase the speed to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time.

Reduce speed to low and add sea salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, ground coffee, and melted unsweetened chocolate. Mix just until homogeneous, but no more, scraping the sides of the bowl if needed. If the mixture is very thick, add a few tablespoons of milk to thin it. Stir in the cocoa nibs by hand.

Spoon the batter into the prepared paper cups and bake for 15-20 minutes or just until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack.

For the buttercream:

Start by making sure the mixing bowl of your electric mixer is completely clean and completely dry.

Next, prepare your juices: for raspberry juice, place 1 cup of raspberries in a blender, food processor, or mortar. Puree the berries and pour into a cheesecloth, then let the berry juice drip out until you've got 1/2 cup juice. For the rhubarb juice, either follow the same method as the raspberries, allowing much more time for the juice to drip to obtain sufficient juice, or run the rhubarb stalks through a juicer. For beet juice, coarsely dice 1 small beet, then run it through a juicer. Set juices aside.

Bring 1 inch of water to a steady simmer (not boiling) in a wide, shallow saucepan, then place the sugar and egg whites into the bowl and place over the simmering water. Whisk gently until temperature reaches 140° F, or if you don't have a candy thermometer, until the liquid is hot and you can't feel any granules when you rub a drop between your fingers.

Remove the bowl from the water and place the bowl back on the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on medium-high speed until the mixture is white, glossy, and about doubled in volume. The temperature of the outside of the bowl at this point should be neither warm nor cool.

Add the butter one cube at a time until incorporated, and whip until it has reached a thick, silky smooth texture. (This is the point of panic, so don't be alarmed. If the mixture deflates or curdles, just keep whipping and whipping and whipping-it will become thick and smooth again, even though it might take several minutes.)

Toss in the salt, then drizzle in the juices.

Enjoy and happy baking!