Sourdough Boule

Crusty on the outside, with a beautiful interior crumb, this rustic sourdough never fails to deliver.

A slowly leavened bread made with a mixture of flours for depth of flavour - this sourdough boule ALWAYS brings the magic to the table.

I love to bake one to go with Sunday dinner and any leftovers get promptly put to work in the shape of sandwiches, bruschetta or croutons. The crusty ends make delectable toast that’s beautiful served with lashings of peanut butter, honey and seeds. Throw some plump blueberries or figs on the top and it’s an all out food party. So simple, yet so good!

There is something seriously gratifying about making - and eating - this grade of loaf. Sourdough takes time and effort (and a whole lot of patience and practice) but I think this recipe is a good place to start. The high protein white flour does a lot of the hard work for you and by introducing 100g mixed whole grain flours, you get an extra nutritional boost too. You’ll get even better results by looking at temperature (and heating or cooling your mixing water accordingly) but that’s a whole other blog post. We’ll get to that later…

INGREDIENTS: 

• 400g strong white bread flour 

• 100g wholegrain flour (spelt/rye/ancient grain)) 

• 340g water

• 12g fine sea salt

• 100g starter

METHOD:

1) Add the water to a bowl, then add your 500g flour mix. Mix with a spoon and then finish by hand, incorporating all of the flour until no dry bits are left. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to autolyse for 1 hour.

2) Add the starter and using the tips of your fingers, pushing and pinching it into the the flour until fully combined (the mix will be really shaggy at this point). 30 minutes later, add the salt, pressing it in with your fingers until combined. Leave for 1 hour.

3) Start your first set of folds. You do this by pulling up one side of the dough and folding it across to the other. Repeat on all four sides of the dough, then lift the ball of dough up and slap it back down into the bowl, tucking the corners under. This activates the gluten.

4) Repeat the above process x 3 times more at 45 minute intervals, leaving to rest between each set of folds with the cloth over the bowl. 

5) After the last fold, leave for another hour and prep the bench. Get a dough scraper and flour your surface lightly. Flour your hands and turn the dough out onto the surface. Using your wet hands and a dough scraper, gradually pull and turn the dough down towards you to form a round.

6) Using your scraper, flip the dough upside down (so the top is facing down) and place it carefully into a lined (or heavily floured banneton). Seal in a plastic bag and leave in a warm spot to prove for another 1.5 hours (it should have visibly risen in the banneton. If not, leave it for another half an hour and check again). Place in the fridge overnight. 

7) The next day, heat your oven to 230C (or as hot as it will go) and put your Dutch oven inside to heat up.

8) Remove the bread from the fridge and turn it out onto a piece of parchment paper or a bread mat. Use a bread lame to score the bread from the top to the bottom - about half an inch deep. 

10) Put the bread into the hot dutch oven and place the lid on top. Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes on 230C, then reduce the heat to 215C. Remove the lid and continue to bake for a further 15 minutes. 

11) Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.