By Nadia Arumugam |

Forget Fruit Cake, Make a Gift of Homemade Sourdough Bread

By now I imagine your sourdough starter is alive and thriving in the refrigerator, emitting bubbles of carbon dioxide and filling out its container as the yeast greedily consumes the weekly feedings of flour and water. It’s time to think about the next step, the next delicious step.

I’ve already extolled the virtues of homemade sourdough bread, at length. In short it really is one of life’s little miracles, and little devils. If we have a loaf at home, rest assured my day will be punctuated with frequent trips to the kitchen for “toast breaks.” I really think that my final meal request, should it ever come to that, would be for an ample slice of homemade sourdough, toasted in a skillet until crisp and just charred on the edges, and spread thickly with luscious, real butter.

It’s not difficult to make sourdough at home, especially if you follow the recipe below, but it takes time. I’m not talking about setting aside a morning or afternoon, I’m talking about committing 22 hours of your life to the endeavor. But this isn’t to say that you need to spend all that time staring at your dough while it rises or anything. In fact, within those 22 hours, you probably spend 15 minutes actually in attendance of the dough, and in contact with it. You simply have to plan your day around your loaves so that you can be home when you have to perform a few crucial steps.

The recipe below produces two loaves. I use traditional German artisanal proofing baskets made from  rings of bamboo or natural cane, called Brotform, to sit the dough in during its final rise to give the loaves a distinctive ringed appearance. Of course, you don’t need these baskets, you could simply use bowls and the end result would be just as phenomenal. I also bake my loaves inside a cast iron pot as this creates a wonderful moist environment which produces a deeply browned, crispy crust. If this appeals, just make sure your pot can withstand a temperature of 500 degrees fahrenheit.

But there’s no need for the pot if it seems like too much of a hassle, or you just don’t have one – you can bake the bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and semolina and spray the inside of the oven with a little water. The crust won’t be quite as professional looking and the loaf won’t have that same level of crispness, but trust me, it won’t fail to impress if you wrap it in some cellophane, tie a ribbon around it and give  to someone special this Christmas!

So, without further ado, click ahead for the recipe for homemade sourdough bread.

Sourdough Bread
Makes 2 loaves

Sourdough Starter Mix
1 tablespoon sourdough starter
2/3 cup (non-chlorinated) or bottled water
1/3 cup wholewheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose white flour

Bread Dough
3/4 cup sourdough starter mix
3 cups warm water – divided in 2 3/4 cups and 1/4 cup
3 1/3 cup all-purpose white flour
1 cup wholewheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoon salt
Semolina

1. Make the Sourdough Starter Mix: In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients well, cover with cling wrap and leave in a slightly warm place for 8 to 12 hours – it should increase in volume considerably and be a little bubbly.

2. Test the sourdough starter mix: spoon a small amount of the starter, about half a tablespoon, into a bowl of water. If the starter floats then you can go ahead and make your bread. If it doesn’t leave the starter mix for another couple of hours and test again.

3. Make the bread dough: Measure out 3/4 cup of the sourdough starter mix and combine with the  2 3/4 cups warm water in a large bowl. Add both the flours and mix with your hands to combine thoroughly. Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a towel and leave to rest of 30 minutes.

4.  Combine the remaining 1/4 cup warm water with the salt in a small bowl, and mix to dissolve. Add the salt solution to the bread dough and mix to combine thoroughly with your hands. Transfer to a large pot or a large bowl, and cover.

5. Every 20 minutes for 2 hours, “turn” or “fold” the dough twice by stretching the dough up into the air with your hand and folding it over itself. By the end of this 2 hour period, the dough should have been turned or stretched and folded 12 times.

6. Leave the dough to rise for another 3 -4 hours, covered and untouched. It should double in size.

7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Cut into 2 equal sized pieces. Lightly prod one piece with your fingers to form a rectangular shape, then bring all four corners in towards the middle and flip it over. Use your hands to cup the dough and shape it into a round boule shape. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

8. Preheat the oven to  500 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have two brotform baskets flour them extremely well and flip the dough boules into them so that the rounded surface face  the inside of the baskets. Alternatively, line 2 bowls with towels, flour the towels well and flip the dough into them them so that the rounded surface face  the inside of the bowls.

9. Cover the with floured towels. If baking in a cast iron pot, leave one basket/ bowl out at room temperature for 2 hours, and put the other in the fridge for 1 hour, then remove from the fridge and leave out at room temperature for 2 hours.

10. Put a large round cast iron pot with a lid in the oven to preheat for at least 45 minutes. Make sure the pot and lid can withstand the oven temperature. Alternatively, place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat.

11. If using a cast iron pot, remove from the oven extremely carefully, uncover, and sprinkle the bottom of the pot liberally with semolina. Turn out the dough that has been left out at room temperature for 2 hours into the pot carefully. Using a razor or very sharp knife, make about 3 or 4 slits on the top. Cover the pot with the lid and place in the oven. Reduce the temperature to 450 degrees. Cook for 30 minutes, then reduce uncover the pot and cook for another 20 minutes until deeply browned on the top. Remove from the oven and transfer the loaf to a cooling rack. Repeat with the second loaf.

13. If using a baking sheet, remove from the oven extremely carefully, line with parchment paper and sprinkle liberally with semolina. Turn out the dough that has been left out at room temperature for 2 hours onto the baking sheet. Using a razor or very sharp knife, make about 3 or 4 slits on the top. Put in the oven and spray the inside of the oven with water or pour some water into a roasting pan set at the bottom of the oven. Reduce the temperature to 450 degrees. Cook for 45 -50 minutes until  the loaf is deeply browned on the top. Remove from the oven and transfer the loaf to a cooling rack. Repeat with the second loaf.

13. Leave the bread to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

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2 Comments

  1. thewobblingoblins | December 13th, 2011

    after numerous failed attempts at making starters, i had almost given up hope, but i’m going to give this one a go! never thought about toasting bread in a skillet instead of the oven but love the sound of it.

  2. Emily | January 5th, 2013

    I just finished making two loaves yesterday evening. It feels wonderful to have made bread from nothing but water, flour, salt, and a little bit of grape juice. I do have a few questions about the bread-making specifically. Is it supposed to be super wet at the stretching and folding stage? I’ve never made or eaten sourdough before, but I’ve made quite a variety of other yeast-based breads, so I know what “normal” dough is supposed to feel like. I used towel-lined bowls to form my bread, and then a baking sheet with wax paper and oats sprinkled on it (can’t find any semolina). When I transferred the dough to the baking sheet it kinda just spread out. My loaves are more like pancakes (but still tasty). And my last question: is the inside of the dough supposed to be spongy and moist when its finished? Thanks so much for posting.

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