Sofia says: “I loved experimenting with the new regenerative flour range. I started from my go-to sourdough recipe and then I adjusted the quantities of flour and water until I reached a consistency I was happy with, as well as the flavour profile.
“This loaf is incredibly nutritious and has the right amount of nuttiness for our taste, thanks to the inclusion of the seeds from the Regenerative Eight Grain flour.”
- Baker: Sofia Gallo
- Website: www.lamiacucina.co.uk
- Social Handles: @in_cucinacon_sofia
- Bake: 35-45 minutes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes + resting and folding
- Makes: 1 sourdough loaf suitable for a 750g banneton
Regen Eight Grain Sourdough Batard Method:
- Pour the water, salt and starter into a bowl, preferably shallow to allow dough handling. Use a dough whisk or your hands if preferred, to blend all together.
Add the flours and combine into a rough dough. Cover with a cloth, shower cup or cling film, and let rest. This rest is necessary for the gluten to start forming. Although an optional step, I found this to become essential to my bread, minimum 30min to 1 hour.
- After the first rest, perform the first 2 sets of stretch and fold, at 30 min intervals, followed by 2 additional coil folds, or as many as required until the dough feels firm, and if stretched a windowpane is present. This is also the stage when you would reintroduce the soaked seeds.
- Cover the dough and leave it to rise about 50-75%, it has bubbles on the surface and the edges look domed. This called ‘bulk fermentation’ or second rise, can take anything up to 5 hours depending on the temperature.
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Pre-shape - this step is optional, but I find it to be very useful when baking my loaves. It will help tighten the dough using the rigid scraper, on the workbench. Lightly dust the dough with rice flour or semolina, and also the surface. A well risen dough should detach from the bowl easily. Using the scraper, tighten the dough into a ball. Cover with the bowl and let it rest between 15 and 30 minutes.
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Final shape - once the dough has been tightened and rested, turn it upside down and perform the final envelope shape, before placing into the banneton, that was previously lined and covered in rice flour.
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Final stitching - Once the dough is placed into the banneton, let rest for 15 minutes, then perform the final stitching before covering and placing into the fridge overnight.
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Bake - The morning after, take your dough out of the fridge and flip onto parchment paper ready for scoring. Sprinkle some rice flour or semolina and score using a Boulanger lame.
- To begin with, a straight cut is advised, the more you practice, the better your score will be.
- Place the dough once scored into the preferred baking tin, I use an enamel roasting tin, then bake for 35 min to 45 min with the lid on or until your preferred colour has been reached.
- Patience - I don’t often have much of this, but if you can, the bread will need to cool for at least 2 hrs, but a minimum of 1 hour, before cutting into it.
