Cassava Sourdough (Paleo, AIP, Keto Cycling)
I love artisan sourdough. I was able to tolerate Einkorn over all others until I developed Hashimoto’s and needed to go completely grain free. I have done keto, paleo, whole30 and even full carnivore to heal my gut when my health has dipped to its lowest. But I miss bread terribly. I have a couple keto sourdough recipes I have used, one that is an almond keto sourdough and the other a coconut keto sourdough, but I have developed sensitivities to both those flours at differing levels so I have begun to rotate cassava in more. These are very obviously “carb ups” but it is not difficult for me to slip back into ketosis afterward as long as I haven’t triggered inflammation. Food rotation is key for me to keep from developing new sensitivities… so it was time to find a new way to sourdough. At first I tried this based on my previous recipes but the loaf was drier and denser than I wished, so I tried incorporating Japanese Sweet Potatoes (white insides, purple skins), as they have a particularly tolerable resistant starch and retain their stiffness better than others. I also find I can tolerate quite a bit more than other sweet potatoes. You can sub the tigernut flour for cassava if you aren’t concerned about carbs, but I like the sweetness it brings and I find my body likes this combo.
Equipment
- Pizza stone or cast iron pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup filtered or well water I keep the sweet potato water for this
- 1 tsp maple syrup or raw honey
- 1 tsp dry active yeast
- 2 tbsp psyllium husk
- 1/2 cup cassava sourdough starter
- 2/3-3/4 cup Japanese Purple Sweet Potato mashed (purple skins, white inside)
- 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp pink salt
- 1 tsp baking soda optional, but adds rise
- 3/4 cup Otto’s Cassava Flour
- 3/4 cup arrowroot
- 1 cup Tigernut flour
Instructions
- Peel & dice the Japanese or white sweet potato and put in a small saucepan. Cover with water and simmer for 15 minutes until soft (if you can easily press a fork into it and break it it is done)
- Drain the sweet potato through a sieve, reserving the water for later. Mash the sweet potato in the saucepan and set both aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of the water, sprinkle with yeast and add maple syrup or honey. Set aside for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate and consume all the sugars.
- In a large bowl, add the cassava flour, arrowroot, tigernut flour, salt and baking soda and mix together.
- Add the olive oil, work it into the flour and then make a well in the center to start adding the wet ingredients.
- Add the mashed Japanese sweet potato and the cassava sourdough starter to the center and gently fold together without mixing in too much of the flour.
- In the small bowl, add the rest of the water, the apple cider vinegar and the psyllium husk and whisk. Let set for 2 minutes.
- Add apple cider vinegar/yeast/psyllium husk mixture into the well and begin to stir into the sweet potato & cassava sourdough starter until it looks like a foamy sponge.
- Begin folding the flour into the sponge until it is biscuit consistency. Then press together, knead it gently and form it into a boulé or baguette shape to rise.
- Oil a bowl and set in the boulé to sourdough for 12-24 hours.
- Alternatively, I like to roll a couple tea towels into a 6x9 pan and lay the third towel inset into it, dust it with arrowroot flour and lay the dough in the middle to rise in a sort of baguette shape. Then I dust the top with arrowroot again and fold the tea towel over the top to rise/ferment for 12-24 hours.
- The next day, preheat a cast iron pan or pizza stone in the oven to 450°F
- Transfer the boulé or baguette to the oven, score the top with a knife and close the door.
- Turn the oven down to 375°F and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on your oven)
- At 45 minutes, if the loaf has browned, check the bottom by tapping. If it sounds hollow then it is done, if not, put it in for another 10-15 minutes.
- Let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.
Notes
*Paleo and keto loaves are often best toasted or grilled as they can taste a wee bit damp.