Every time I've attempted 100% whole wheat tortillas in the past, I've ended up with whole wheat crackers instead. Tasty, but not exactly what I was aiming for. These tortillas were the first thing I've made with my new sourdough starter, which I've had so much fun raising. Is that the right term? Brewing? Cultivating? It is sort of like a pet; I do have to feed it twice a day after all, so I suppose raising is an appropriate term. Anyway, I built it up the night before and then started on my tortillas the next morning!
One thing that will take some getting used to is that you can't just whip something up when the mood strikes. I had to build up my starter the previous day, mix the ingredients in the morning and then let it sit all day so it would be ready to cook up by dinner time. But it was worth the wait.
The thing about whole wheat tortillas is that they make the meal so much heartier. I usually eat several burritos when we use store bought ones, but with these just one fills me right up. And the taste is so much more complex. Usually I hardly notice the wrapping; when you eat a burrito, it's all about the filling. But with these the tortilla carried its own against the tasty beans and salsa.
But the thing that really won me over was the wrapability! That's right, the ability to wrap. These tortillas are actually soft and pliable, unlike others I've made that crumble or crack when you try to roll anything up in them. They were best hot off the grill, but have even stayed quite tasty and soft after a couple days in the fridge. I'm completely sold and so happy to have found a recipe for tortillas that's worth repeating!
After the tortillas, encouraged by the smashing success, I tried a chocolate sourdough cake. Hooray! More culinary triumph! I'm not one to enjoy overly sweet desserts. Pretty much anything pre-made is too sweet for me. This cake was perfect. It only had 1/2 cup of sucanat in the cake and some maple syrup in the frosting. With only a modest amount of sweetener, the other flavors were able to shine through: the nutty wheat, the tang of the sourdough, the bite of the chocolate... Oh, and the chocolate coconut frosting!! Yum! It was just coconut cream, chocolate powder and maple syrup and it was so divine! I love simple frostings like this. Another favorite is cream cheese and honey. There's a recipe for spice cake on the site I haven't tried yet; it just might be the perfect vehicle for some cream cheese frosting...
