The Sourdough School

BALM – Proven as one of the healthiest approaches to bread in the world.

Based in the walled gardens of Dr. Vanessa Kimbell's beautiful Victorian home in rural Northamptonshire, UK, we tutor individuals and train bakers and healthcare professionals in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM). Personalising bread to your lifestyle, gut microbiome, and unique genetics for optimal health—tailoring fermentation, fibre, and diversity so that your daily bread becomes the foundation of your health.

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Winter Roasted Hazelnut Dark Chocolate Orange Zest Celebration Loaf Boule

Recipe By:Libby Moon
Recipe Status:Untested
Kind of Bake:Ambient day – French style – mixed in the morning and baked in the evening
Makes:2 x 500 g Boule Loaves
Created Over:2 days
Recommended For:
  • mental health issues
Diversity Score:15
Increase Fibre:Increased fibre is present in the stone-ground flours, nuts, seeds, dried flowers and cocoa.
Probiotic Serving Suggestion:I made a cultured butter to which I added melted and cooled dark chocolate, 1 tsp cooled espresso coffee and orange zest. I also made a labneh and added maple syrup, honey, vanilla and orange zest
Antioxidants:Dark chocolate, orange, nuts, cocoa, coffee.
Suggested Botanical Blend:I created my own Botanical Blend

Ingredients

IngredientsQuantity
LEAVEN = Active starter 25g + 50g rye +50g wholegrain + 100g water@26C200g
Stone-ground White350 g
Stone-ground Whole-Wheat100 g
Stone-ground Spelt200g
Stone-ground Rye170g
Rolled oats (I milled them) or use oat flour100g
Premium Cocoa1 TBSP
Botanical Blend milled in a coffee grinder (see below) 85g
Water at 27 C850g
Salt24g
Whittakers Dark Ghana Chocolate 72%300g
Roasted Hazelnuts300g
Zest of orange5g
Butter80g
Brown Sugar60g

Botanical Blend by Libby Moon

IngredientsQuantity
This added up to 85g in the recipe: Poppy Seeds20g
Golden Flaxseed20g
Cacao Nibs20g
Coffee20g
Dried Hibiscus Flowers5g

Recipe Introduction

This loaf is specifically designed to evoke celebration, well being and to aid in those battling with anxiety, depression or grief. It can be eaten with friends and so this is good for connecting to others - a key part or the pillars of lifestyle medicine is in healthy relationships. You can eat this fresh, just sliced with no accompaniments, or toasted and spread lavishly with chocolate cultured butter, flavoured labneh or eaten with a lovely soft mellow unpasteurised cheese to encourage you to eat probiotics. It's the perfect everyday loaf to elevate your week or baked especially for a special celebration.

Primarily I designed this loaf because I love all the ingredients, and wanted to make a bread that was decadent and healthy and made those I shared it with happy and feel loved

This recipe is very connected to all my flour millers and many local organic suppliers, and it's the perfect representation of a symbiotic collection of ingredients which are both delicious and nutritious; and good for the body and the soul.

A slice of this loaf can be eaten simply as a piece of bread which already contains a number of symbiotic ingredients, and also eaten with various other options such as mentioned above. Through the fermentation process the sugars and starches in this loaf have been transformed, so that they are more compatible for gut health and more manageable to help regulate our blood sugar levels.

This was the favorite loaf of a friend of mine who went through a lot of grief and heartbreak this year. Also she used to be unable to eat bread with gluten but since meeting me in the last year and trying my bread, can now eat ALL my sourdough. It's made me very happy.

It is definitely a loaf full of diversity, nutrition, goodness, soul, love, decadence, hope, and healing.

Studies

StudyHow this study has been applied
Cardiovascular benefits of ancient grainsHealth and Wellbeing
Wheat varieties as functional foodsHealth and Wellbeing/Nutrition
The effects of probiotics on depressive symptomsProbiotics and Mental health
Diet influences the functions of the human intestinal microbiome Gut Health
Sourdough Breads more digestible than those made with bakers yeastIt's the total influence of why I make sourdough and why I designed this loaf
Citrus peel as a source functional ingredientSource of multiple beneficial nutrients for human beings
Dietary FibresModulating depression
Influences of ingredients on bacteria and fungiImportance of a healthy active well fed starter
Prebiotic effect of lycopeneEffects of dark chocolate on gut microbiome
Anxiety, depression, mental healthMental Health
coffee consumptionGut Microbiome
Phenolic compoundsFlowers

Equipment

  • Large Bakers Bowl
  • Digital Scales
  • Wooden spatula
  • Extra Bowls to mix leaven etc
  • Jug for water
  • Flour Scoops
  • Bannetons
  • Cast iron pots
  • Lame
  • Wire Cooling Rack
  • Baking Paper
  • Round Board
  • Cloths for wiping benches
  • A teapot, tea and a special cup for those cups of tea while prepping.
  • Tea Towels

Tin Size cm (HxWxD)

Cast Iron Pot 4.8 Litre x Cast Iron Pot 4.8 Litre x Cast Iron Pot 4.8 Litre

Starter Quantity

200g

Status of Starter

bubbly, lively second-build starter

DDT

26°C (79°F)


Flours

  • Stoneground Whole-Wheat and White @minchinsmilling
  • Stoneground Spelt and Rye @milmoredowns

Baking Temperature

230°C/210°C fan/450°F/gas mark 8

Baking Time

45 mins - 1 hour


Timings

StepDayTimings (hh:mm)
Refresh starterDay 19am
Mix up first build starterDay 19 pm
Mix up leaven (second build starter)Day 28 am
Measure 1 kg Botanical blend flour into mixing bowl. Chop hazelnuts and chocolate, add orange zest and add these to the softened butter and brown sugar and set aside for laterDay 21 pm
Measure 800 g 26 C water into separate bowlDay 21 15 pm
Mix active leaven into waterDay 21 20 pm
Add mixed leaven and water to 1 kg flour. Hand mix for 10 minDay 21 25 pm
Autolyse for half an hour. Measure 50 g 26 C water ready for bassinageDay 21 55 pm
Begin Bassinage with 20 g of 26 C water. Day 21 55 pm
Repeat bassinage with 20 g 26 C waterDay 22 10 pm
Conclude bassinage and salt inclusion with 10 g of 26 C water - check dough temp for approx 28 CDay 22 25 pm
Perform 6 stretch and folds over 2 hours - 3 per hour - check dough temperature for approx 28 CDay 22 30 pm
Begin to fold in the hazelnut, chocolate, butter and sugar paste over the next hour of stretch and foldsDay 23 30 pm
Leave to rise for the last 30-40 mins with no stretch and folds - check dough temperatureDay 24 30 pm
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board, and shape. With an ambient prove there is no need for this loaf to have a bench rest or floor time.Day 25 10 pm
Place dough into floured bannetons and leave on the bench for an ambient rise for approx 3 hoursDay 25 15 pm
Perform a finger press test to ascertain fermentation statusDay 28 15 pm
Place covered bannetons in the fridge for half an hour. Place cast iron pots in the oven and heat to oven temperature to 230 CDay 28 15 pm
Prepare your loaves for baking and score them- take pots from the oven with mitts and transfer loaves to the pots, place lids on and place in the ovenDay 28 45 pm
Bake loaves for 30 mins with the lids on and 15- 20 mins with the lids off. Keep an eye on them as loaves with nuts, sugar and chocolate can burn easily. Bake until goldenDay 29 30 ish pm
Leave to cool overnight on wire racks inside a large cupboard. Day 29 30 ish pm
Cut in the morning for breakfast!Day 38 am

How to Store

This loaf keeps well when wrapped in a tea-towel and stored inside a linen bread bag, inside a cool temperature cupboard. It can last for up to 7 days plus, and can be easily revived by lightly toasting or making into a bread and butter pudding. However I doubt it will last that long!

Top Tips

Be flexible with timings as it depends on seasonal temperatures. Maintain dough temperature and make sure water temperatures are accurate. Water was added by thoroughly mixing and bassinaging. Have all the equipment ready and close and keep your benches clean, tidy and orderly.

All reasonable care is taken when advising about health aspects of bread, but the information that we share is not intended to take the place of treatment by a qualified medical practitioner. You must seek professional advice if you are in any doubt about any medical condition. Any application of the ideas and information contained on this website is at the reader's sole discretion and risk.

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