What type of yeast do you use for baking bread? My favourite is wild yeast. It creates tasty bread; wild yeast comes in handy if you want to bake bread but have no yeast. It's impressive how we can capture the naturally present yeast around us. Harnessing it for baking is a fascinating process. I learned this through my little experiment and would love to share it with you. It's fun to do!
I first collect flowers, leaves, fruits, and berries!
You don't need much; a handful is enough!
Here, I have young blackberries and flowers, a linden flower and a linden leaf, elderflower, and meadowsweet. You can use herbs like mint and any berries. The sweet ones with a powdery surface have lots of yeast.
I put them all in a jar.
I added a cup of filtered water and a teaspoon of sugar.
Then, I shook them to mix and submerged the plant matter in the water.
I set it aside for 2 days.
After 2 days, the water turned cloudy. This means the yeast is active.
I strained it.
I measured 100 ml of water and added 100 ml of flour. I used organic, unbleached flour.
I mixed it thoroughly, placed it back in the jar with a lid, and left it overnight.
The next day, the flour was bubbly and had doubled in size. This means the yeast was very active and could be used to leaven your bread!
I used it to leaven this bread.
You can keep the yeast active by feeding it, and over time, it will turn into a sourdough starter with a complex flavour.
Have a wonderful day!
Mariah 💚🍃