A handsome sourdough bloomer studded with toasted walnut chunks, made in a leisurely way over four days. A thickly buttered slice of it is a delight!
Garden wars
Squirrels have dug holes in my lawn, which is a sure sign that winter is coming. I don’t blame them much: they manage just about to scuff the grass and topsoil, puny diggers that they are.
It’s badgers I’m much more concerned about: the mindless, disinterested vandals bulldozing all in their path. The other week we truly stepped on a war path with one (or many?) of the brutes. He would dig up an entrance under our back gate, we would fill it back. Pepper dust selected from the arsenal of weapons finally did the trick, or as I suspect the badger got bored.
A busy time for squirrels
Back to squirrels. It puzzles me a little what they collect: there are no hazelnut shrubs in the vicinity, let alone walnut trees. There are some oaks further up the hill, but that’s a bit of a way off, especially for a very small furry animal.
But the most intriguing is how they can ever remember where their acorns are buried, come winter?
They are funny things, squirrels. In my last London job my office came out to a big old park. A squirrel (at least I like to think it was always the same one) would run onto the outside window ledge and peek into my office standing up on his hind paws. I never had any nuts with me to give him, and it turned out he didn’t like smarties.
He would probably have liked this bread.
Bread over four days
I love making bread this way because it’s completely laid back: the whole process is spread over four days, which means there is very little to be done on each day or night.
The first stage is of course making the starter, unless you’re a seasoned baker and have yours living in the fridge and lively after a refresh or two. Tartine starter is 100% hydration which means using the same amounts of flour and water. Make yours from scratch, using Tartine country bread recipe, or use your own, recently fed.
Day 1 (night of)
The strongest sourdough for production will be made with very little starter so only a tablespoon of lively culture is needed. Feed it with 100g of warm water and 100g of white-wholemeal mix of flours in equal quantities. It should sit in the kitchen overnight and at least double in volume.
Day 2
To test whether the starter is mature, check if a small blob of it floats in a bowl of water. If it sinks, it will have to ferment longer. But if your original starter was lively and the kitchen not too cold, it should be bobbing about happily.
Mix up the main dough ingredients minus the salt roughly, with your hands or in a standing mixer and let it rest for about forty minutes.
Next add the salt with a little water and do the proper mixing, by hand or with a dough hook of the standing mixer. You should aim at smooth, elastic dough that has gone past the sticky stage.
Over the next three hours the stretching and folding is required, every half an hour, and that’s the most involved stage.
Toasted walnuts chunks go in at the second or third stretch and fold. They might colour the dough with dark streaks but that won’t affect the taste.
Once the dough is bouncy and pillowy, and appreciably expanded, pack it away into the fridge overnight, covered tightly.
Day 3
Day 3 is shaping the loaf, with the dough out of the fridge for an hour or so. Pre-shape a round, rest it for thirty minutes, then shape a round or oblong loaf and place it in a well-floured proving basket, banneton or a bowl lined with floured cloth. Cower it with towel or plastic wrap and return to the fridge for another night.
Day 4
It will finally see the bread baking, and it can be done on a stone, steel or a heavy baking tray, well preheated. I usually use a sheet of parchment to turn the bread out onto before it goes into the oven, to avoid the risk of it sticking and getting mauled in transfer. The parchment won’t affect the crust baking in the slightest.
Moisture in the oven is favourable, be it a squirt from a spray bottle when the bread goes in or a very wet towel placed in a tray at the bottom. If the latter, remove it after twenty minutes of baking.
Baking will take about fifty minutes, and I like to turn the oven down halfway through, to stop the crust burning.
Timing variations
If you want the bread baked within three days, let it rise for a couple of hours after shaping, while the oven is preheating, then bake. It won’t make much difference; except I think the flavour is better after that extra cold fermentation.
It can also be all done in one day, apart from the starter preparation on the previous night. Again, the flavour will slightly suffer in my view but the bread will still be gorgeous. Tailor it to your needs, is all I’ll advise.
More sourdough recipes
Seelen means souls in German, and in Schwabia it means fantastically tasty spelt sourdough bread rolls, rustic and completely artisan.
Pumpkin and sunflower seeded rye sourdough, German style blonde Pumpernickel. Sourdough on rye starter with only a small addition of wheat flour which can be swapped for spelt.
Seeded sourdough batons, recipe adapted from the classic Tartine country bread. Seeded batons are perfect for bruschetta or even for rustic panini. Seeded bread with barley, oats and millet grain made at leisurely pace over four days.
More walnut baking recipes
Cranberry and walnut bread made with fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped walnuts and orange juice and zest. It has intense flavour, gorgeous cranberry tang and crunchy sugar topping.
Dan Lepard’s orange and walnut loaf cake with cinnamon and fresh ginger, a wonderful combination of flavours. One saucepan, a loaf tin and zest from five oranges!
Honey and apricot brack, inspired by traditional Irish bread with raisins and currants aka barmbrack, this one is full of dried apricots, sultanas and walnut chunks.