By Angela Denstad
Time and again a new year dawns and we’re urged to identify areas in which we might improve ourselves. And just as quickly, we’re presented with grim statistics of how few of us reach our goals. “Quitter’s Day” was last Friday and, if you failed to observe it, good for you! But are the majority of us just lazy and uninspired? I choose to believe differently.
It seems to me that the trouble with resolutions is their — well, resoluteness. It’s the rigidity of them that undermines our best intentions and robs us of incremental improvement. By expecting infallibility, we ignore our humanity. And as soon as we see the dam has sprung one little leak, we give ourselves permission to open the floodgates rather than mending the leak and moving on.
It’s not the initial discomfort of trying something new that causes New Year’s resolutions to fail. Humans are hardwired for novelty. What’s hard is the adjustment to a new, sustained reality. As soon as routine sets in, the new resolution becomes part of just another humdrum day. And cold, bleak winter, with all the holidays now gone, seems to me a time for giving and accepting a little more grace. Dry toast and calisthenics for breakfast? Sure. But how about a little something sweet with that cup of coffee afterward? So I ask you — what if we resolve to eat better, be healthier, and save money through the most quotidian of culinary staples: our daily bread?
I maintained a sourdough starter for nearly 20 years (long before the COVID craze) and ate better for it. But having neglected my starter over the past couple of years, I’m ready for a fresh start. Sure, the bread is good. But also, I’m craving cake. Specifically, I miss having on hand a nice snack cake that gets its flavor from sourdough discard and which can be customized with all kinds of add-ins. Plus, it feels positively virtuous, making something lovely from what’s left over. I mean, we wouldn’t want to waste, would we?
If you’d like to embark on this culinary commitment, it takes a bit of work but yields ample rewards. Here’s how to make a fresh starter:
Day 1: Start
Diligently mix 1 cup whole wheat flour with 1/2 cup cool water in a one-quart glass or ceramic container, making sure all the parched flour is sated. Cover the container loosely, leave it on the counter, and congratulate yourself on a good, solid start.
Day 2: Something New
Nothing happened. But you can’t expect things to change overnight, can you? After 24 hours, toss out half of the starter (this is not quitting!) and feed what remains with a scant cup of all-purpose flour washed down with half a cup of cool water, which will become its regular nourishment. Mix, cover, and let it rest another day.
Day 3: Evidence of Change
Your baby starter is growing up right before your eyes! Stir it down thoroughly, measure out and admire a generous half cup of it while discreetly sending the rest to the discard bin. Declare that, if it keeps growing this way, you’ll have to feed it twice as often! Follow through by instituting twice-a-day feedings, about 12 hours apart. Each time, stir in the usual flour-and-water meal to the portion you’ve retained.
Day 4: More of the Same
This good-for-nothing starter is just hanging out on your counter waiting for you to stir it, measure out the half-cup worth keeping, clean up after it (by tossing the discard), and feed it flour and water. Every 12 hours! Just remember that soon you’ll be grateful for all the dough this lazy starter will make.
Day 5: and Beyond!
Stir, discard, feed, wait; stir, discard, feed, wait — retaining your hefty half-cup of starter each time and stirring in the usual rations, every 12 hours like clockwork for as long as it takes, probably a couple more days. When your starter is mature, you should clearly notice it’s bubbly, fully doubled in volume, and smells like sourdough! Give it one last discard-and-feeding for old time’s sake and let it do its thing. In 6-8 hours, take out your first full cup of “ripe” starter to use in a recipe. Then treat that hard-working starter to another feeding and let it sit uncovered for a couple hours, just so you can make sure it’s really all grown up.
That’s it! Store it covered in the refrigerator and plan to use and feed it once a week. If you skip a week, that’s ok. Resolve to embrace as many satisfying, home-baked sourdough meals as you wish through the foreseeable future. When needing sourdough advice and recipes, I like to consult the experts at King Arthur Baking Company.
As for resolutions, I’m going to revert to something my dad has often said: The only person you need to be better than is the person you were yesterday. And when my sourdough starter is ready, I’ll be better than before — with cake.
About the author: Angela works as a copywriter in the education sector and has dabbled in various culinary pursuits. She was the author of The Caledonia Argus’s long-standing weekly food column Thyme Out with Angela and is happy to now join the rotation of food writers with the Fillmore County Journal.
Sourdough Almond Crumb Cake
Crumb Topping
1 cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped, sliced, or slivered almonds
Batter
½ cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup sourdough starter discard
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon potato flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup milk
Preheat the oven to 350º F. with a rack positioned in the middle. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan and use a tablespoon of it to grease a 9×13 cake pan and set aside.
Make the topping by combining the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Off the heat, stir the vanilla and almond flavorings into the remaining melted butter, then combine the two mixtures in the saucepan. Stir in the almonds and set aside.
To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar in the work bowl of a standing mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla, and sourdough starter, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
In your medium-sized mixing bowl (no need to wash first), combine the flour, potato flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the batter until combined, then add in the milk, stirring until smooth. Add in any desired fruits or flavorings.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the top. Bake for about 30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool to just-warm before serving. The covered cake will keep well at room temperature for several days and freezes well.
Baker’s notes: This is my more modest rendition of the King Arthur sourdough cinnamon crumb cake recipe. You can easily alter the flavorings, change the topping, and mix in blueberries, dried fruits, or chocolate chips to change it up. The potato flour is worth finding as it does great things for the texture of this and other baked goods. If you’d like to try out just the cake without getting involved in making sourdough starter, simply swap in an additional cup of flour and an extra half cup of milk or water. The cake won’t have the same complexity or depth of flavor, but it will still taste very good when warm from the oven on a cold day.
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