Walnut & date sourdough bread
Servings: 2 medium sized loaves
Ingredients
Dough
- 489 g bread flour I did 205g T65 spelt and 284g T65 wheat
- 62 g dark rye flour
- 60 g T110 spelt flour
- 122 g sourdough starter
- 444 g water or whey (73% hydration) or whithhold back 100g of the water and add the liquid where the inclusions (rasins, dates, cranberries) were soaked, e.g. orange juice, bourbon etc.
- 95 g walnuts, raw, soaked or toasted I used raw, but preferably try pre-soaked nuts
- 23 g walnut oil
- 13 g salt
Soaker
- 75 g dates or raisins or dried sweet cranberries
- 80 g bourbon or orange juice or boiling water for soaking the inclusions. Remember to weigh the liquid and withhold from total amount of water the recipe calls for
- 1 orange (zest) if making an orange walnut cranberry version of this bread
- 1 orange (juice) to soak the dried inclusions.
Instructions
Prepare the inclusions
- Add cranberries and soaking liquid of choice to a small bowl and leave them to infuse until you need them.
- If using toasted walnuts, heat the oven to 180°C/350°F using fan assist and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Toast the walnuts in the oven until fragrant and a bit brown, about 7-12 minutes
- If using raw nuts, soak them overnight.
- Chop the walnuts coarsely.
Mix dough
- Add everything for the dough, not including the walnuts and dates, into a bowl.Don't forget to add the soaking liquid of the dried fruit (not the nuts!) if desired. Adjust the remaining liquid accordingly to achieve 76% hydration.
- Mix everything until no dry flour remains. If using a stand mixer run it on speed 2.
- Leave the dough covered for an hour to develop the gluten.
Bulk fermentation
- Over the next 1½ hours, stretch and fold the dough every 30 minutes.
- During the second set of stretch and folds, include a quarter of the mix-ins for every stretch and fold. After this second set, you can do a bit of Rubaud mixing to make sure they're properly mixed in.
- After the third set, check the gluten development using the windowpane test. If the dough fails, add another set after 30 minutes and then go on.
Alternative method for adding mix-ins:
- After a couple of stretch and folds spaced 30 mins apart, and after the dough has developed good strength, do a lamination round.
- Lightly spritz the countertop with water and gently drop the dough. Laminate by stretching gently to a thin layer. Use bench scraper to assist if dough is sticky. Careful not to tear the dough.
- After the dough is laminated, spread some of the mix-ins in the middle, and begin folding to a rectangle. Keep adding mix-ins evenly on all the folds.
- This is the stage where you would spread the orange zest, if using.
- Bring the dough into a ball.
Bulk fermantation (continued)
- Then add the entire dough to a see-through container with straight sides.
- Level the top of the dough.
- Mark the top of the dough on the outside of the container using a whiteboard marker.
- Then mark where the dough will have increased by 25%.
- Let the dough grow by 25% (at 30°C/86°F).
Divide and shape
- When the dough has grown, divide the dough into two equally sized pieces.
- Shape the balls. Bench rest for 20-30 mins uncovered.
- Put the shaped bread in each of their bannetons. If using a banneton liner or a dishtowel in the basket, you don't need to do anything special.
- If you use the proofing basket, spritz the banneton lightly with water, then flour it with rice flour.
- Then put them into the fridge for at least 8 hours, but up 48 hours (set to 2°C/36°F).
Baking
- When ready to bake, turn your oven to 260°C/500°F with a dutch oven inside. You should heat your steel and dutch oven for an hour to ensure complete heat saturation.
- Grab the first dough from the fridge. Flip the dough onto the dutch oven and score.
- Put the lid back on the dutch oven, close the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Then take the lid off the dutch oven and turn down the oven to 230°C/450°F.
- Bake for another 25 minutes until the bread is golden and crispy.
- Then take the bread out of the oven to cool off on a wire rack. Let it cool for a couple of hours until the inside of the bread has reached room temperature.
- Bake the other bread the same way.
Notes
Inspired by:
https://foodgeek.dk/en/walnut-cranberry-sourdough-bread-recipe-super-easy-and-delicious/?expand_article=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i-4KiOZN-A
Simpel Sourdough recipe for 2 loaves (1000g dough):
900g strong white flour
100 g purple wheat
750 g water
200 g sourdough
22 g salt
100 g walnuts
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