Aromatic wheat bread
Ingredients
For the sourdough
- 10 g ready sourdough from the baker
- 100 g rye flour
- 80 g lukewarm water
Make the sourdough by mixing 100 g rye flour with 80 g lukewarm water and 10 g ripe sourdough in a bowl; cover and let rest in a warm place (about 24 degrees) for 18 hours. Let a little air reach the sourdough while it's resting so that it can breathe.
For the sponge dough
- 300 g wheat flour, Type 550
- 300 g cold water
- 3 g yeast
About 4 hours before making the dough, slowly combine all ingredients in a heavy-duty mixer until the mixture is free of lumps. Transfer to a sufficiently large bowl (it will significantly expand in volume), cover well with clingfilm, and store at room temperature.
For the bread dough
- 600 g wheat flour, Type 550
- 300 g ice cold water from the refrigerator
- 30 g olive oil
- 20 g salt
- 5 g yeast
Instructions
Knead the two sponges intensely with the remaining ingredients until the dough is smooth and a bit stretchy. After kneading, you should be able to pull it apart so finely that it's almost transparent. Note: the dough will warm up during kneading, however it should not rise above 26 degrees. You may well have to add ice cold water to the dough to keep the temperature down. Cover the finished dough and let rest for 15 minutes. Afterwards, press the dough flat and fold it several times like a sheet of paper. Then let it rest for another 15 minutes. Divide the dough into two parts, pressing and folding each part several times. Place both loaves sufficiently apart from one another on a slightly greased baking sheet (alternatively on baking parchment). Dust the tops with a bit of flour. Cover with clingfilm and let rest once more until the loaves double in volume (about 45 minutes). Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Make deep, diagonal cuts into the surfaces several times with a sharp knife (we recommend 3 equal, diagonal cuts), carefully sprinkle a good bit of water on all sides, and bake in a pre-heated oven for about 40-45 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 190 °C after 10 minutes.