"The honey butter added to the loaf came from one of my pregnancy cravings for honey and salted butter on toast - why not put it into a loaf!"
- Baker: Sophie Carey
- Makes: 1 Large Loaf
- Prep time: 30 Minutes (plus proving time)
- Bake time: 45 Minutes
- Flours used: Matthews Regenerative T65 Artisan Bread Flour
Regen Honey Butter Toast Loaf Method:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ingredients listed for the biga. Mix these by hand just until a dough forms. Scrape the bowl down and cover before leaving it for 14 hours on the counter at room temperature.
- Once 14 hours have passed, you should see your biga has some nice bubbles and a strong smell! At this point you should scrape all of the biga into a mixing bowl for a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients for the final dough, and set the mixer going on its slowest speed for 5 minutes. Once 5 minutes is up, turn the speed up to medium and let the mixer run for a further 7 minutes.
- Once the dough is mixed, it should be very elastic and shiny. Scrape the bowl down and cover it with cling film or a tea towel.
- The dough now needs to be left to bulk ferment on the counter for the next 4 hours, but in the first 2.5 hours you should complete a set of stretch and folds every 30 minutes.
- After each set of stretch and folds, you should notice that your dough tightens up a lot and gets more puffy. Once the bulk ferment time is up, you can begin shaping!
- To make the honey butter, beat all the ingredients together until really smooth and creamy - this is best done at room temperature to make it easier to spread!
- Tip your dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gently shape it into a rectangle by stretching it out. Spread about 4 tablespoons of the honey butter across the dough.
- Fold one third of the rectangle into the centre, then the other third over the top of that. Spread a further 2 tablespoons of the honey butter on the top of the thirds you fold over - so you should have honey butter in layers!
- You will now have a narrow rectangle. Starting from the top, roll the rectangle down towards you to create a tight roll. Place this into a floured banneton with the seam on top. Leave for 15 minutes.
- You now need to ‘stitch’ your loaf which will give it some extra tension so it doesn’t collapse when you turn it out. There are lots of videos on this on YouTube, but basically you want to first gently pull the two ends in and stick them down, then pull the dough into the centre from the edges and stick them together. I like to do this a couple of times while the loaf is proving.
- Leave the loaf to prove for 1.5 hours, while you preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius. I like to bake this loaf in a Dutch oven so put this into the oven while it’s preheating.
- Turn the loaf out onto a strip of greaseproof baking paper and use a sharp knife or a lame to score the loaf using one smooth motion going from the top of the loaf to the bottom, then gently lower the loaf into the preheated Dutch oven using the baking paper.
- Bake with the lid on for 30 minutes, then 15 minutes with the lid off or until the loaf has reached the desired colour.
- Cool on a wire rack completely before slicing!
