Lievito madre · Crust & Crumb Academy

Donna Angelo

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3h (edited) • 💬 General Discussion

Lievito madre

I just wanted to update you all about what

@Candi Brown-McGriff

and I have been up to the last few weeks. We researched Lievito madre, which is just a sweet stiff starter, and started them together. We tried them in several different recipes. I did several loaves of bread, and the Lievito madre gives you a loaf with no sour tang, a great crumb and a very thin crisp top crust. I made a couple of dessert focaccias, ciabatta buns, cheddar jalapeño loaves, blueberry bread. I was going to make a few enriched doughs, because that is usually what this is used for, but I hurt my hand, so I will have to wait to bake them. We both absolutely love our new starters, and will be keeping them indefinitely. If anyone is interested, or has a family member who hates the tang, and I do, this is the answer.

Lievito Madre Starter

100g sourdough starter, at peak

50g water

100g flour

4g olive oil

7g honey

Mix, together, and knead all of the dry bits of flour in. Knead for a couple of minutes. Roll out into a smooth dough. Either roll into a snail, or into a tight ball, and cut a deep X into it, then place it in your starter jar.

I fed her twice a day during the first week, and she has been tripling consistently. Keep your LM at room temperature for the first 7 days to strengthen it. Then you can place it into the fridge, a couple of hours after feeding, and bake with it when you are ready, taking it out to feed it, every 5-7 days.

If you make a levain out of it, and I do regularly, add the appropriate amounts of olive oil and honey when you build your levain.

Adding a few pictures of my LM, her name is Myrtle, and a just a few of the bakes that she has helped me with.

@Candi Brown-McGriff

Will also be posting about her bakes with her Lievito madre

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