Hello lovelies!
Lately, I feel really motivated to bake bread again, but I don’t like to follow recipes. Instead, I tend to experiment a lot in the kitchen. Due to that fact, last week’s loaf was a bit dry, but it wasn’t too bad. So this week, I wanted a bread that’s moister and it came out great. I try to always be flexible when baking bread. This means that if I don’t want to go on or it’s just too late in the evening, I put my dough in the fridge overnight. That usually works out great and it staggers the whole process. It is also a great way to make time for bread baking in everyday life.
For one big loaf you need:
Scald
- 100g instant oats
- 10g salt
- 250ml boiling water
Pre-ferment
- 10g fresh yeast
- 150ml lukewarm water
- 50g white spelt flour
Main Dough
- scald
- pre-ferment
- 500g whole spelt flour
- 200g buckwheat flour
- 300ml lukewarm water
Preparation:
First, you prepare the scald. Therefor, mix the instant oats with salt and douse them with boiling water. Stir until the oats have soaked up all the liquid. Then you cover the scald and let it cool to room temperature.
When the scald is cool, prepare the pre-ferment. Thereto you have to dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water and stir in the flour. I always use a fork to get it all together. The pre-ferment has to rest until it starts to bubble. This will take about half an hour.
Next, you can prepare the main dough. Therefor, add the whole spelt and buckwheat flour to the bowl of your stand mixer. Then you pour in the pre-ferment, scald and water. Work everything with the dough hook until the dough starts to separate from the bowl.
Now you have to knead the dough by hand on a heavily floured counter top. Afterwards, you put it back in the bowl and close it with a lid or beeswax wrap. Then you put the dough in the fridge for a slow, cold proving. It can stay there for 12 to 24 hours.
The next day, take the dough out and shape it into an oval loaf on a heavily floured counter top. Cover the loaf in flour and put it in a fermentation basket to prove for one and a half hours at room temperature. Don’t forget to cover it with a clean kitchen towel.
Remember to preheat your oven, pizza stone and bowl for steaming to 220°C (430°F) early. When the loaf has proved, turn it over on the hot pizza stone and give it one deep cut to help control the breaking of the crust. Then pour boiling water in the bowl for steaming and close the oven door.
The bread is now baked for ten minutes at 220°C (430°F) with lots of steam. After that you reduce the temperature to 200°C (390°F) and open the oven door for 30 seconds to let the steam escape. Then you bake the bread for another 30 minutes at 200°C (390°F). Afterwards it should completely cool on a rack, before you cut into it. But let’s be honest, who can resist some freshly baked loaf that’s still warm? 😉
Have fun!
XOXO, Stef