This wonderful recipe makes the kind of bread you want to toast, smother in cold butter and sweet honey and eat quietly with a glass of milk.
I highly recommend using an Oblong baker for this recipe, but if not then make sure you pop a pan of hot water at the bottom of the oven to get a good lot of stream in the oven to bake a good crust.
Makes: 2 loaves
Ingredients:
300g milk, 35C
2 large tbsp dark honey
100g sourdough leaven (‘starter’)*
500g organic strong white flour
10g fine sea salt
A small amount of rapeseed oil for oiling the work surface
Semolina, to dust
Equipment: 2 x Oblong covered baker
Method:
Early evening
Mix (6:00pm)
In a large bowl whisk your milk, honey and starter. Add the flour and salt, and mix until all the ingredients come together into a large ball.
Cover with a clean damp cloth and let the dough rest in a cool environment for 2 hours, this is what bakers call Autolyse.
Fold (8:30pm)
Lift and fold your dough over, do a quarter turn of your bowl and repeat three more times. Repeat 3 times at 15 minute intervals, with a final 15 minute rest at the end.
Shape (9:30pm)
Shape the dough, then cover with a damp tea-towel.
Prove
Leave your dough overnight in the fridge.
The next morning turn your dough out gently on to a lightly oiled work surface and dust the base of your oblong bakers with semolina. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and shape each one to fit into the oblong covered bakers. Leave to prove in the bakers for an hour, until risen again.
Bake
Preheat your oven to 220°C.
When ready to bake, turn the heat down to 180°C. Slash the top of each loaf and bake, covered for 40 minutes or until cooked through. You need to choose just how dark you like your crust but I suggest that you bake until it is a light brown – it tastes much better.
Storage
Sourdough is really best left to cool completely. The flavour is even better if left for a day to let the full flavour develop. Once your sourdough has cooled, store in a linen or cotton bread bag, or wrapped in a clean tea towel.
* To make 100g of leaven, use 2 tablespoons of sourdough starter, 50g of filtered water and 50g of strong white flour, mix well and leave, covered on the side in the kitchen in the morning. It will be lively and bubbly and ready to bake with in the evening.
More advanced recipes and tips are available to members of the sourdough club, and a very in depth explanation is covered on our sourdough courses.