This is a terrific sourdough loaf. It’s sweet without being sickly and it has a really good flavour. The texture is firm, but not heavy or stodgy. And the crust is ….. very, very crusty!

The instructions below assume you have a sourdough starter, a Dutch oven and a banneton. I also recommend the “cold start” method. This is where the risen dough is placed in a sealed container such as a Dutch oven/cast iron casserole dish and then placed in a cold oven which is then turned on.

If you don’t have a sourdough starter it’s still possible to make a similar loaf. Use 7g instant yeast and add 125ml water and 125g flour to the recipe to replace the sourdough elements.

It’s also possible to replace the items mentioned above as follows:

Rather than a Dutch oven, a lidded metal casserole dish will give a reasonable result. Likewise, a banneton can be replaced with a medium sized bowl. And, if you don’t have a stand mixer it will require more effort and more time when kneading.

Ingredients

50ml water
50ml milk
50ml syrup from a jar of stem ginger
100g – 125g Ricotta
15g – 25g caster sugar
250ml sourdough starter
400g strong white flour
7g fine salt
150g – 175g glace cherries, chopped
75g – 100g stem ginger, chopped

Method

1. Mix together the water, milk, syrup, Ricotta and sugar. Warm slightly.

2. Pour the starter and warm liquid mixture into a (stand mixer) bowl and mix well.

3. Add in the flour and salt. Mix well to form a dough.

4. Knead in the stand mixer using a dough hook for 7 – 9 minutes or 10 – 12 minutes by hand.

5. Tip into a lightly oiled bowl. Stretch and fold the dough over itself a few times, cover and leave overnight to prove.

6. When it has risen to twice the original volume (the next morning, hopefully) knock it back, roll or stretch it out then add cherries and ginger. Roll it up, shape into a ball and place upside-down into a floured banneton. Cover and leave for the second prove. I like to put mine inside an inflated then sealed bin liner. (A clean one of course!)

7. When it has risen again, ease it out onto a circle of baking parchment. Lift it all into the Dutch oven. Cut slashes with a razor blade then put the lid on.

8. Cold start: Put the Dutch oven into a cold main oven then turn it on to 210C fan. Bake for 50 minutes with the lid on then remove the lid and bake for a further 10 minutes. Take it out and cool on a wire rack.

Gallery 1

Gallery 2

A long slow prove gives flavour, but sometimes we need to “encourage” the dough to rise. Recently I’ve been using a bead filled neck warmer (at least that’s what I think it’s called) It only needs a minute in the micro wave to become hot and it’s not a fierce, direct heat, so it’s a good option when necessary.

I wish you every success with your bread making. I hope you have a go at this one and enjoy making and eating a lovely loaf. If you want to see more of my bread recipes click this link.

Here are some quite different breads that you might want to try:

Chocolate, Orange and Cranberry Soda Bread