Gourmet bread by Juan Manuel Moreno

From a village bakery with just one top-selling product — white bread — Juan Manuel Moreno has turned Pan Piña (Algatocín, Málaga) into a business that distributes a product portfolio of more than 170 types of bread throughout the Costa del Sol region.

Right from the start, Moreno knew that he wanted to take this bakery to a different level, with no price wars and a market beyond the village.

His desire to explore the new gastronomic possibilities of bread inspired him to create original products like this bread with Andalusian Victoria beer. “It contains four brewer's malts and hop oil. The dough becomes particularly moist because it is hydrated by the beer itself. Let’s not forget that baking and brewing are very closely connected skills, for example, in Germany they used to be done by the same craftsmen”, he explained.

Victoria Beer Bread

Dough

• 1 kg 200/220 wheat flour
• 100 g four brewers’ malts in equal parts (caramelised spelt malt, roasted rye malt, wheat malt and crushed spelt malt)
• 50 g hop oil
• 30 g salt
• 3 g fresh yeast
• 500 g sourdough
• 700 g Victoria beer

Mix and knead the ingredients into a smooth, stretchy dough.

Final dough temperature: between 24ºC and 26ºC.

Ferment in a block for one hour.

Divide into 500-gramme pieces.

Form balls and ferment for ten minutes on the worktable, covered.

Shape into rounds (country-bread style). Put the dough on a lightly floured surface. Spread gently, pressing with the hand, and fold the edges inwards (preshaping into a ball).

Place each piece into a banneton proofing basket with the crown face down.

Allow to ferment in a warm place for one hour or until double the size.

Turn over the banneton proofing basket so that the crown is face up. There is no need to slash the bread, the edges will open up.

Bake at 230ºC with a little steam for 40-45 minutes.