Scoring Tutorial for Leafy Boules
“Leaves growing together on different branches. In the old days it was seen as an auspicious sign.” I’m not actually that artsy and poetic, that’s what Baidu said. 😬 But I do think it suits this pattern quite well. Most of my existing scoring patterns are pretty complex. With very high hydration doughs they’re hard to score, and beginners can’t control them easily. This pattern is relatively simple and not easy to mess up. You’ll get to practice straight lines and curves, plus how to handle the edge areas. It works for all hydration levels of sourdough boules, including high hydration. This pattern naturally creates a big ear and won’t prevent the crumb from opening up. I especially made this tutorial for everyone to play with for the New Year. 🙃 With any handcraft, there’s no need to rush. Start with simple things, build solid fundamentals, and later everything will fall into place naturally. First you need a good dough before scoring. For sourdough boule dough, see here: http://www.xiachufang.com/recipe/103641141/ For my scoring video collection, click here: http://www.xiachufang.com/recipe/103504429/
Ingredients
Steps
If you don’t have a scoring lame, you can tape a razor blade with masking tape like this. It works great. Don’t hold the bare blade directly in your hand, you’ll end up cutting yourself sooner or later. If you have a scoring lame, just use your own. Long handles aren’t really recommended for this type of pattern, and curved lames aren’t very suitable either. I’m not a big fan of Gillette blades; maybe they’re too good so they feel thicker, or maybe it’s just in my head. I actually find the cheap ones easier to use. 😶 Those 20 yuan per 100 blades work just fine; use each corner a few times, and when it dulls, change it. This brand is also sold on Taobao, I think it’s just over 20 yuan for 100 blades.
First, dust with flour. I strongly recommend this kind of tea strainer. It works way better than any flour sifter. I use rice flour as the dusting flour—the glutinous rice flour we use to steam cakes for the New Year. It’s whiter, very fine, and doesn’t brown easily in the oven. Dust one layer of flour, smooth it out with your hand, then dust another layer, tap lightly and smooth again. The tactile feel is really nice. 😉 I keep thinking using a powder puff (like for face powder) to dust flour would work great… Someone try it and tell me. 🤣
Sketch the outline first, basically mapping out where each leaf will go. Then cut along the outline. Score a little deeper along the central line; that’s where it will burst open.
Then score the leaf veins. For the central vein, I just lightly drag the blade across to draw a line without cutting through. If you’re not good at controlling the pressure, use a toothpick, or flip the blade over and use the taped side to draw the line—that’s very convenient and actually works better than a toothpick. Then lightly score the side veins. * Do NOT cut through the central vein, do not cut it, do not cut it! * Try to keep the side veins as close to the central line as possible. * Try not to cut into the leaf outline when making the side veins.
All the leaves are scored in basically the same way—I could have finished explaining it already. Here are a few extra little tips: Look carefully at this video: near the edge of the loaf there are wrinkles and it’s loose there; that area is harder to score. When you run into this situation, don’t force it. Pause immediately. It’s like riding your bike down some steps. 🤣 Brake a bit, adjust your speed and angle of entry, then continue. Be ready to repeat this anytime.
Now the big leaf on the side. The veins on the left side are scored as usual, but the right side is awkward because it’s close to the edge, right? Turn the loaf so the area you need to score sits at about a 45-degree angle from your body, and score from your body outward with a backhand motion. It will feel much more natural this way, give it a try. 😜
And… done! Looking at this picture and the finished loaf below, you’ll notice that even though the bread has expanded, the smoothness of every cut you made and the way you handled the details all show up in the final result. If you want the leaves to look alive, you need to give them some of the details that real leaves have.
I really like asymmetrical patterns like this—they feel so full of life and just look good no matter how you look at them. 🤣 For example, the pointed tips of the leaves, and how the veins are handled. I let the leaf lines flow and flare out a bit, because this is meant to be a “bursting” pattern; if it’s too rigid and neat, it’s actually less interesting. Earlier I said not to cut through the central vein for this reason too. It’s not that you can’t, but it turns into another style. What we’re going for here is a casually detailed style. 😬
Then take photos from different angles—it doesn’t even look like the same loaf anymore. You might be able to “cheat” a few likes this way. 😬
See how the openings aren’t restricted at all? 😜 This loaf uses my basic dough at 75% hydration. Doesn’t it show that you don’t need crazy high hydration to get a pretty open crumb? 😋
This pattern also works great for those snowflake boules that look good with sweaters—it’s not very hard either, and there’s a video for it. Click here: http://www.xiachufang.com/recipe/103524260/