No Knead Herman Raisin Brioche

 In my attempt to get softer bread, I decided to try a no knead method with the Herman starter. No-knead, as the name suggests do not require kneading of the bread but usually have a much higher water content.

Ingredients:
70g Herman Starter
150g Bread Flour
1 egg (approximately 50ml)
50ml Water
Handful of raisins soaked in water (Just put in a mug and pour enough water to cover the top of the raisins)
20g Unsalted Butter
A pinch of salt

1. Mix starter, flour and egg in a bowl. Add in water gradually until the dough comes together and add a little more. One way is also to drain off the excess water from the raisins (no need to squeeze them) and use that.

2. Then keep stirring and add the raisins, adding more water if the dough is too dry. The aim is to get a gloopy mass like below.

3. I left it to rest for about 30 mins before transferring it to a lined baking tin and leaving it to proof overnight (12-14 hours).

4. The next morning, the dough had quadrupled in size and due to the softness of the dough it overflowed from the baking tin. So I had to transfer to a large one.

the overflowed dough

5. So time to bake it at 180 degrees C for 30 mins. And here is the bread!

Yummy and soft raisin brioche!!

I hope this no-knead method will encourage more bakers to try making bread. Of course, a kneaded bread will have a better texture, less crumbly and softer. However, the fermentation of the Herman starter works better than instant yeast for the no-knead starter.