I love sourdough – making it, eating it, sharing it. It’s great. Here’s a loaf that may be a little different to your regular white or wholemeal sourdoughs, lovely though they are. It’s fruity, but not oversweet.- ideal for breakfast or a snack during the day.

NB This recipe is best suited to bakers already familiar with sourdough. Having said that, it can be adapted with the addition of yeast rather than a starter.

Makes: One medium/large loaf

Time: The whole process goes into two days, but much of that is waiting so you can do other things. The actual timing will depend very much on the room temperature.

Need: For the method below you need a good, active starter culture. You’ll also need a stand mixer (or strong forearms & patience), a dutch oven (or a lidded casserole dish) and a banneton (or a medium sized round bowl.)

Skill level: Once you’ve mastered the timing it’s straight forward. Before that, it may be a learning process – but well worth it.

Ingredients

300g/10oz sourdough starter (Use 250g/9oz in warm weather and increase flour and water.)
375g/13oz strong flour (125g/4½oz wholemeal, 250g/9oz white)
7g salt
190ml/7fl oz tepid liquid (I used 70ml milk, 80ml water, 20ml treacle, 20ml olive oil)
A little oil to grease the proving bowl.
100g/3½oz dried fruit

Day 1:

1. Feed the starter early.

2. Around 5pm, tip the starter into stand mixer bowl.

3. Mix the liquids, ensuring the oil is blended in. Warm briefly in the micro-wave then stir into the starter.

4. Tip in the flours and salt. Stir then mix.

5. Use the stand mixer with the dough hook attached to knead the dough for about 8 – 9 minutes.

6. Tip the dough ball into an oiled bowl and turn it over a few times, pulling the outer surface over itself. Cover the bowl and leave overnight in a cool environment. (If your kitchen is warm you will need to be an early riser, because the dough will be.)

Day 2:

7. Gently tip out the risen dough and stretch or roll it out. Sprinkle over the dried fruit and form the dough into a ball, pulling the outer surface taught.

8. Flour the dough ball well and place into a floured banneton. Place this inside a large proving bag or bin liner. Inflate the bag and tie or fasten the end. Leave to prove again – maybe 3 – 5 hours.

9. Gently ease the dough out of the banneton onto a piece of parchment. Using the parchment, lift the dough into a cold Dutch oven then cut slashes on the dough using a very sharp knife or razor blade.

10. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and place it in the main oven. Turn the oven on to Fan 230°C/450°F and leave it in there for 50 minutes. After this time, remove the lid, and bake for a further 10 minutes.

11. Carefully lift or tip the baked loaf out and leave on a wire rack to cool fully.

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:

Garlic Boxty Bread