Tartine's Danish Rye |
|
|
Ingredients:
(Makes 2 loaves) 310 g leaven (see below for how it's made) 315 g dark ale 475 g water 20 g dark malt syrup 525 g sprouted rye kernels (Approx. 320 g when dry. Check out this post on how to sprout your own grains.) 400 g dark spelt flour 100 g rye flour 45 g pumpkin seeds 45 g sunflower seeds 105 g sesame seeds 70 g flax seed, coarsely ground 135 g flax seed, whole 17 g sea salt |
Day 1: If using an old starter stored in the fridge, refresh it
|
Morning. Get your sourdough starter out of hibernation from the fridge. If you don't have one available, you can easily make a new one. Note that this will require a few days, but when it's ready, you can skip straight to Day 2: Strengthen the starter.
In a large bowl, mix 300 g sifted whole wheat flour with 300 g whole white flour (or "bread flour"). You'll use this 50/50 flour mix to refresh the starter over the next couple of days and to make the leaven. Refresh the sourdough by transferring a tablespoon of the starter to a clean bowl and mixing with 150 g of 50/50 flour mix and 150 g water. |
Scooping out a tablespoon of old starter. Mixed with flour until chalky, any starter can be stored in the fridge, covered, indefinitely.
|
One tablespoon starter mixed with 50/50 flour mix and water by hand.
|
Day 2: Strengthen the starter
|
Morning. The refreshed starter should be a little bubbly and nicely fragrant. Increase its strength by transferring 75 g of the starter to a clean bowl and mixing it with another 150 g of organic white flour / whole wheat 50/50 mix and water.
Evening. Repeat the sourdough strengthening process above. Feeding it twice in one day will increase its strength, visible by the bubbles and evidenced by its stronger fragrance. |
Morning: refreshing the starter.
|
Evening: refreshing the starter again. A shorter feeding interval will increase activity.
|
Day 3: Make leaven, mix ingredients, and shape loaves
|
Morning. Your starter should now be bubbly and fragrant. If it’s not, start over, this time paying attention to good quality ingredients, accurate measurements, and, most importantly, the rhythm of daily feedings. (Don’t be discouraged if this happens, especially if it’s your first starter!)
Transfer 1 tablespoon of the starter into a clean bowl and add 150 g of organic white flour / whole wheat 50/50 mix and 150 g of water. (Yes, just 1 tablespoon. Trust me on this.) Leave covered with a clean kitchen towel for 4-6 hours in a warm room, or longer in a cool room. This is your leaven. As for your remaining starter, you can preserve it for a later baking day by pouring in enough flour and mixing it to make a thick, dry, and stodgy paste. Cover a store in the fridge, where it will last indefinitely. When you want to use it again, just refresh it again using the instructions above. Afternoon. Mix your flours in a large bowl. In a separate large bowl, mix leaven and all liquid ingredients to combine, then add this mixture to the flour. Mix by hand or with a wooden spoon until all the lumps are gone, about 3 minutes. Set this mixture aside for 30 minutes to autolyse. (This allows time for the liquid to “wake up” the enzymes hiding in the flour so fermentation can proceed later with the maximum amount of available sugars, which are otherwise inhibited by the addition of the remaining ingredients and especailly salt.) Next add all remaining dry ingredients and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine evenly. Add this to the liquid mixture and combine with you hands until no dry clumps remain. It will have the consistency of wet concrete. Next, give the mixture a fold and stretch every 30 to 60 minutes for 3 hours in total. Do this simply by dipping your hands in water, reaching down along the inside of the bowl, and pulling the mixture on bottom and folding it on the top. Repeat for all four sides and cover with a clean kitchen towel while it’s resting. It is tempting to skip this step but from my experience strengthening this dough this way gives the loaf an exceptional structure. Pour out the mixture into buttered loaf tins, smoothing them out with your hands. Cover and leave them out for a 2-3 hours at room temperature, then place in fridge overnight. |
An active starter is bubbly and fragrant.
All you need for the leaven is one tablespon of starter. To store the starter, add enough flour to make a chalky mix, then store covered in fridge indefinitely.
|
Freshly mixed leaven.
|
Leaven after approx. 3 hours.
|
Leaven after approx. 6 hours.
|
Autolyzed dough.
|
Mixing all grains and adding salt.
|
Shaping loaves in buttered tins.
|
Day 4: Bake
Morning. Preheat the oven to 420 F.
When the oven is hot, take the loaves out of the fridge and then use scissors or a knife to cut a half-inch deep incision down the center of the loaf (this is called “scoring” in baking lingo). Wet the top of the loaf with some water with your hands or a brush. This will keep it from from drying out in the oven
Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and you reach an internal temperature of 98C.
When ready, remove from tins and set aside on a wire rack to cool. Wait at least 1 whole day before cutting into it. This will give enough time for the internal structure to crystallize into the thick, dense, loaf that you want. Cut it too early and it will risk crumbling too easily.
When the oven is hot, take the loaves out of the fridge and then use scissors or a knife to cut a half-inch deep incision down the center of the loaf (this is called “scoring” in baking lingo). Wet the top of the loaf with some water with your hands or a brush. This will keep it from from drying out in the oven
Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and you reach an internal temperature of 98C.
When ready, remove from tins and set aside on a wire rack to cool. Wait at least 1 whole day before cutting into it. This will give enough time for the internal structure to crystallize into the thick, dense, loaf that you want. Cut it too early and it will risk crumbling too easily.
|
|
