The sponge and dough method is a two-step

breadmaking Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

process: in the first step a ''sponge'' is made and allowed to ferment for a period of time, and in the second step the ''sponge'' is added to the ''final dough's'' ingredients, creating the ''total formula''. In this usage, synonyms for ''sponge'' are ''yeast starter'' or ''yeast

pre-ferment A pre-ferment (also known as bread starter) is a fermentation starter used in ''indirect'' methods of bread making. It may also be called mother dough. A pre-ferment and a longer fermentation in the bread-making process have several benefits: t ...

''.The phrases "yeast starter" and "yeast pre-ferment" may be considered oxymoronic when the context of "starter" and "pre-ferment" are referring to natural yeast or sourdough leavens which include relatively large populations of lactic acid bacteria. In French baking the ''sponge and dough'' method is known as ''levain-levure''. The method is reminiscent of the

sourdough Sourdough is a type of bread that uses the fermentation by naturally occurring yeast and lactobacillus bacteria to raise the dough. In addition to leavening the bread, the fermentation process produces lactic acid, which gives the bread its dis ...

or ''levain'' methods; however, the sponge is made from all fresh ingredients prior to being used in the final dough.

Method

A sponge ferment is usually a sticky process that uses part of the

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

, part or all of the

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

, and part or all of the

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

of a total- or straight-dough formula. Highly liquid sponges of batter consistencies are mixed with a whip, spoon, or fork. Lower hydration, stiffer sponges are lightly mixed or kneaded just until the dough begins to develop. The sponge is allowed to rest and ferment for a period of time in an environment of a desired temperature and humidity. When the sponge's fermentation time has elapsed or it has reached a desired volumetric growth characteristic, the ''final dough's'' ingredients are added. The ''gluten is developed'' in the mixing or kneading process, and it may then be processed through further ''work'' and ''rest'' cycles before being ''proofed'' then baked. The sum of the sponge and final dough's ingredients represents the total formula.The total formula could be conceived as equivalent to a straight-dough formula, with the separate sponge & dough formulas representing the additional process. A generic 65% pre-fermented flour sponge-and-dough formula using bakers' percentages follows: : The sponge's fermentation time depends on its

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

and that of the surrounding area, the ingredients used, and the percentage amount of yeast. It ferments in a humid environment at , where it may ''rise'' and expand to 4-5 times its original volume, when it ''falls'' it has reached 66-70% of its allotted time. One significant decision the baker must make when designing such a formula, or adapting a ''direct'' or ''straight-dough'' formula or recipe, is to decide the sponge-to-dough flour ratio. While the relative amounts of ingredients used may vary, the method remains the same.

Purpose

The sponge method is used for 3 different reasons:

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Image texture, the spatial arrangement of color or intensities in an image * Surface texture, the smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface c ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. The flavour that is created is dependent on the ingredients used and the fermenting yeast. Just like sourdough, the longer the ferment, the greater the taste difference. Sponge doughs were used before bread improvers were invented. Texture is partly a byproduct of the chemistry going on in the fermentation, which does several important things such as activate the different

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

s (

protease A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalysis, catalyzes proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the formation of new protein products ...

and

amylase An amylase () is an enzyme that catalysis, catalyses the hydrolysis of starch (Latin ') into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large ...

) needed to leaven bread. Modern grain-harvesting practices have reduced the naturally occurring enzymes that grains had in former times, a result of no-longer-used grain-storage processes, so today small amounts of enzymes are routinely added to flour by manufacturers, often in the form of

malted barley Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as " malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar ...

or sprouted grain. Proteases, dependent on their time of action and concentration levels, soften the

gluten Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain Cereal, cereal grains. The term ''gluten'' usually refers to the elastic network of a wheat grain's proteins, gliadin and glutenin primarily, that forms readily with the addition of water ...

in the dough, hydrolyzing peptide bonds, increasing dough ''extensibility'' which allows the protein matrix to stretch out as the mix expands, thus leading to increased baked volumes and better structure.

Products

Many bread recipes call for a sponge method, especially traditional French breads. Some examples of breads that use the sponge method: *

Brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and e ...

Portuguese sweet bread Portuguese sweet bread refers to an enriched sweet bread or yeasted cake originating from Portugal. Historically, these sweet breads were generally reserved for festive occasions such as Easter or Pentecost and were typically given as gifts. Howe ...

Stollen Stollen ( or ) is a fruit bread of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar and often containing marzipan. It is a traditional German Christmas bread. During the Christmas season the cake-like loave ...

Notes

References

{{Bread Leavening agents Breads Doughs

Method

Purpose

Products

See also

Notes

References