Schnittbrötchen mit Sauerteig (German sourdough bread rolls)

This is a recipe for making great sourdough based bread rolls. The crust is perfect, and so is the taste. I am using diastatic malt in this recipe, which I made myself by sprouting wheat grain, drying and grounding it. Ed and Marieke explained how to do this on their great site Weekend Bakery. But if you don't have any diastatic malt just leave it out (perhaps you can add some more flour to your dough preventing it getting too wet). But never leave out the sourdough based starter, because it brings a wonderful taste to your buns!

The evening before baking the buns you can prepare your starter:

- 100 g wheat flour (I use biological flour type 550 from Germany)
- 100 g lukewarm water
- 35 g sourdough culture (again, check Weekend Bakery for making your own sourdough)

Mix the flour and the sourdough in a small bowl with the water and leave it at room temperature (covered with some plastic). The next morning the starter should be active, forming bulbs).
Now make your final dough:

- 400 g wheat flour
- 15 g diastatic malt
- 4 g dry yeast
- 11 g salt
- 5 g soft butter
- 200 g lukewarm water
- 235 g starter

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix them well (I use a whisk for this) and add the butter, the water and the starter. Form a dough and knead well for about 15 minutes. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Now divide the dough into 9 equal parts (weighing 95 grams each) and make boule shapes. Cover them and let them rest a few minutes. Roll the boules into a more rectangular form using the palm of your hand and the tips of your fingers. Slash the top with a lame or bread scoring knife and transfer them upside down to a cloth which has been floured well (see below).

Cover with a cloth and let them proof for a least 45 minutes.
For baking I use a perforated aluminum (baguette)form. It works great.

Now they are ready for the oven, The 'Snitten' should be up now. Transfer them to the roasting oven and for getting a nice crust, create some steam by putting a small metal baking tray on a rack high in the oven and pour in half a cup of hot water immediately after putting the bread in the oven. Besides this, spray the rolls after 2 minutes of baking with water. Bake them for 25 tot 30 minutes.
Take them out an d let them cool on a rack.

Thanks to Der Hobbybrotbäcker for the original recipe!

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Buttery Sourdough Buns

I explained before that in my opinion bread consists of only four ingredients: flour, water, salt and (some) yeast. But these soft dinner rolls are so tasteful that I sometimes abandon my principles. This American recipe I found on the website of King Arthur Flour and I adjusted it to make it Aga-proof (and changed the cups and spoons into grams). Thanks to my artistic friends Ellen van Eldik and Dorian Hiethaar for photographing my bread on the colorful arranged dinner table above.

Ingredients:
- 400 g flour
- 40 g sourdough starter
- 6 g dry yeast
- 15 g sugar
- 1 large egg
- 70 g soft butter
- 6 g salt
- 160 g lukewarm water
- 50 g soft butter for topping

Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl and mix and knead to make a soft, smooth dough. It takes 15 minutes kneading at least. Cover the bowl (I use a transparent plastic dust bin liner for this) and let the dough rise on a warm place until doubled in size (this takes 1 1/2 tot 2 hours). The best place for proofing dough is on a rack on the warming plate of an Aga!
Gently deflate the dough and transfer it to a lightly floured work surface.
Roll and pat the dough into a rough rectangle approximately 30 x 40 cms. Spread half of the soft butter over the dough and roll it into a log, starting with a long side.
Cut the log in 16 slices (2,5 cms), using a sharp knife. Lightly grease two 20 to 24 cms round cake pans and arange 8 buns in each pan.

Cover the pans and let the buns rise for an hour, until they are noticeably puffy.

Uncover the pans and brush each bun with some butter (use half of the remaining butter for this).
Bake the buns for about half an hour on a rack high in the baking oven (spray some water on the flour of the oven after 2 minutes baking).
Remove the buns from the oven and turn them out of the pan onto a rack. Brush with the remaining soft butter. Serve hot or warm.

Pain de Campagne

Last year I posted about baking a Pain Rustique (a rustic bread from France): a delicious farmer style bread that I bake very often. But last week I found a recipe on the net (the blog owned by Levine: Uit de keuken van Levine), which is called Pain de Campagne, which recipe is only slightly different. In the poolish there is also rye flour used and some honey is added to the final dough. In this recipe a little less water is used (60% hydration instead of 65%) and the poolish makes only 30% of the final dough, compared to almost 50% in Pain Rustique.
The result: the 'Campagne' has a softer crust and the the crumb is finer than the 'Rustiqe'. But they both taste great!

Poolish:
- 130 g flour
- 15 g full wheat flour
- 15 g rye flour
- 160 g water
- a teaspoon sourdough

The evening before baking the bread the poolish is made: mix the ingredients well and let it develop during the night in a mixing bowl, covered with plastic, at room temperature.
The next morning the final dough can be made.

Dough:
- the poolish 
- 325 g flour
- 130 g water
- 9 g salt
- 2 g dry yeast
- a teaspoon honey

Dissolve the honey in the hand warm water and mix the flour with the salt and the dry yeast. Add the water and the poolish to the flour and mix until the flour has absorbed all the fluid. Now take the 'dough to be' out the mixing bowl and put in on the working place for kneading. I use the Bertinet-method, only using my fingertips. I explained this technique in one of my previous posts: Sourdough Bread with Spelt. When the dough is ready (the kneading takes about 15 minutes), form a ball and transfer it to the mixing bowl for the first proofing. I use a plastic pedal bin liner for covering. Let it proof for about half an hour in a warm place (e.g. on a rack on the warming plate of the Aga). Take the dough out and do a full stretch-and-fold: check this instruction video on YouTube for this technique. Put the dough back in the mixing bowl for further proofing. After half an hour the dough should be doubled in size. If not, leave it to develop some more. Take the dough out, put in your working surface and flatten it to get the air out. Form a nice boule or batard, depending on the form of your proofing basket. I use a wicker proofing basket for this, as you can see on the photo. Put the dough upside down in the basket, with the 'ugly' side up.

Cover and let it proof for another hour, until doubled in size.

 Bake the bread (after scoring it with a razor blade) on a baking stone on the floor of the roasting oven, with a tin filled with hot water to create steam. After 2 or 3 minutes open the oven and spray water over the bread. Close the oven again quickly.
After about 25 minutes transfer the bread to the baking oven for about 15 minutes. Take it out and let it cool on a rack.
A detailled despcription about baking bread in an Aga, including the forming of a boule or a batard and scoring the dough you can find on my post about making Spelt Bread.

Bauernbrot mit Sauerteig (Farmer's Bread with Sourdough)

I have blogged about making bread from Italy, from France, from the Netherlands but I never posted about baking a bread where our neighbours should be proud of: a typical German farmer's bread, made with sourdough and almost no yeast. To make this wonderful tasting bread takes some time, but it doesn't need much work: most of the time the dough is developing in the refrigerator. I used my own rye-based sourdough, which I keep alive now for more than two years. You can find information about starting a rye-based sourdough culture in one of my previous posts. Two days before baking I've made a poolish in the evening:

Poolish:
- 100 g flour
- 15 g rye flour
- 115 g water
- a teaspoon sourdough

Mix the ingredients in a mixing bowl until a slurry mass forms. Cover the bowl (I use a transparent plastic pedal bin liner for this) and let it develop at room temperature during the night. The next morning the poolish is ready for preparing the final dough.

Dough:
- 300 g flour
- 40 g rye flour
- 150 g water
- 8 g salt
- 1 g dry yeast
- a teaspoon honey

Mix the flour with the salt and the dry yeast and add it to the poolish. Dissolve the honey in the water and add it to the dough. Mix it with a rubber spatula and take it out for kneading. This dough needs a lot of kneading! At least 15 or 20 minutes. In my post about making Sourdough Bread with Spelt you can find a detailed explanation of my favourite way of kneading.
When the dough is smooth and not sticking anymore to the working surface, transfer it to the mixing bowl, cover it with plastic and put the bowl in the fridge for 24 hours.
The next morning the dough must have almost doubled in volume. Take it out of the fridge and let it come to temperature in the kitchen for about two hours or longer (until it has doubled in size). Take the dough out, knead and fold it a few times and form a nice batard (or another shape, depending on the form of your banneton). Let the dough proof until doubled in size. This may take a few hours (I put the dough on a rack on the warming plate of my Aga and it takes 3 to 4 hours before it is ready for baking). Score the bread with a razor blade.
Create steam in your oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes on the floor of the roasting oven (240°C). I posted several times how to bake a bread in an Aga: I use a tile of Chinese hard stone for it on the oven floor. When the bread is brown enough to your wishes, place it on a rack high in the baking oven (180°C) for another 20 to 25 minutes.
Guten Appetit!

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Allinson Bread with Sourdough

The late Thomas Allinson, who was a British doctor and a dietetic reformer, left us a very tasteful and healthy bread, bearing his name. This Allinson bread is a whole grain bread and contains no additions, so just (full wheat) flour, (much) water, (not so much) yeast and salt. I tried to bake an Allinson using a poolish, based on my own rye-based sourdough and just very little yeast. I posted about making a sourdough starter before (Sourdough Bread with Spelt). Because I have never seen an Allinson 'free-form' bread, and because the dough is very wet, 75% hydration, I use a loaf pan for baking.
I think that the result is very satisfying; the bread tastes great and has a nice crumb!
The evening before baking the bread I make my poolish:

poolish:
- 150 g full wheat flour
- 150 g water
- 1 tsp sourdough

In a medium bowl, whisk together the water and a teaspoon of sourdough. Add the flour and mix it until a smooth dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic and let it develop during the night at room temperature.

The next morning the poolish will be ready for use: some air bubbles are visible at the surface and they are proof that the sourdough has developed well. Now you can make your dough.

dough:
- 350 g full wheat flour
- 225 g warm water
- 9 g salt
- 3 g dry yeast

Add the water and the flour to the poolish and stir until the flour has absorbed the fluid. Now leave it to rest for half an hour, covered with plastic wrap and allow the flour to hydrate. After this 'autolyse' add the salt and the yeast. Knead the dough in the bowl, using a rubber spatula and after a few minutes you can transfer the dough to the working surface. Don't dust it with flour, because the dough must stay very wet. I usually knead wet dough the Bertinet way. This way of kneading is actually a constant stretching and folding the dough, using your fingertips. Check my post about Sourdough Bread with Spelt for a more detailed explanation. After about 10 minutes of kneading the dough is ready for the the first proofing. Put it in a wet bowl and cover it with plastic wrap (I always use a transparent plastic pedal bin liner for this). Let it proof for about 40 minutes on a warm place (e.g. on a rack on the warming plate)..
After the first proofing, transfer the dough to a wet working surface, flatten it with your wet hands and form the bread so that it will fit in your loaf pan. You have to act very fast, because the dough will absorb the water from your hands and the working surface and becomes slippery and hard to handle. For baking Allinson bread I use a Chicago Metallic non-stick 1 lb loaf pan, measuring 21 x 11 cms, it works very well! Only grease it a little with some oil before putting in the dough and the bread will come out easily. Wrap your filled loaf pan in a plastic pedal bin liner and put it on a warm place for the final proofing. The dough is done rising when it has doubled in size and crested about 1 cm over the top of the loaf pan (it can take almost two hours, because full wheat flour isn't proofing very quickly).
Bake the bread in the roasting oven (half high) and put a baking tin filled with hot water under the rack for creating steam. Let it bake for about 15 minutes and transfer it to the baking oven for another 30 tot 35 minutes (also half high). You don't need any steam in the baking oven. When baking time is halfway, I always turn the bread, so that left and right side become equally coloured.

I have made several photos of the different stages of the kneading and proofing process:

ready for autolyse

ready for kneading

after the kneading

before the final proofing

after the proofing

after the baking

Sourdough based Filone

Now that the mushroom season is over and winter is entering the country, I decided to post again about baking bread. Baking bread is definitely my favorite hobby! This (American) recipe is from Daniel Leader (Bread Alone Bakery) and I found it on the internet: saveur.com. The only thing I changed is using sourdough instead of yeast making the poolish. And I had to convert all the American measures (cups, tblsps, tsps, oz.'s and libs) to grams.... And I had to find out how the dough could be baked best in an Aga. Well, I am satisfied with the result. I hope it inspires other Aga-owners! Good luck!

Rather funny: I am European and I use an American recipe for baking an Italian loaf! A filone is the Italian version of the French baguette (more or less...). The dough is also very wet (about 70% hydration), but olive oil is added and I don't know any recipes of making baguette using oil. This is how I did it:

The evening before making the filone (this recipe is for 2 loafs), I make the poolish, using my own rye-based sourdough. I posted about making a sourdough starter before (check my post about sourdough bread with spelt for this).

poolish:
- 85 g wheat flour
- 75 g water (temp. about 40º C)
- 1 tsp sourdough

In a medium bowl, whisk together the water and the sourdough. Add the flour and mix it until a smooth dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic and let it rest during the night at room temperature.

dough:
- the poolish
- 450 g wheat flour
- 300 g water (temp. about 40º C)
- 5 g dry yeast
- 12 g salt
- 70 g olive oil

The next morning you can make the dough: add the water en the yeast to your poolish and stir until it forms a homogene fluid. Now add flour, salt and oil and mix it well. It does not look like a dough yet; it has become a kind of a 'shaggy mass'. Now cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the flour to hydrate for about half an hour. This process is called autolyse.

After the autolyse you can start the kneading. First knead the dough in the bowl using a rubber spatula and after a few minutes transfer the dough to your working surface (not floured). Knead it for about 10 minutes the Bertinet way: check my post about Sourdough Bread with Spelt where I explained the Bertinet method. When the dough becomes rather smooth and elastic (still sticky to the touch, but releasing from your hands fairly easily), use a dough scraper to transfer it to a clean bowl for proofing at room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic.
The original recipe tells me that it needs two hours proofing, but in my opinion the dough needs a firm stretch and fold halfway the proofing: take it out and use one hand and a dough scraper to stretch the dough and fold it back over itself a few times (west over east, north over south, etc.). Weekend Bakery published an instruction video about this technique.

After the dough has been doubled in size, put a well floured thick cotton tea towel on a baking tin, roll up the left and right side en lift the center, so that you create two long, thin forms to put your both loafs in when you have formed them. Take out the dough, transfer it to a well floured working surface, cut it in two equal sized pieces, and flatten slightly. Fold the top and the bottom edges of one piece toward the middle, and flatten the dough at the seam with the palm of your hand. Roll it over a few times, to get a nice shaped bread. Put it, seam side down, on the prepared towel and repeat the folding and shaping procedure with the second piece of dough.
Cover it with plastic wrap and let it proof for about an hour and a half.at room temperature.

Bake the bread (after scoring them twice with a razor blade) on a baking stone on the bottom of the roasting oven, with a tin filled with hot water to create steam. After half an hour transfer the bread to the baking oven (half high) for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Baguette with Spelt and Sourdough

This way of making baguettes is inspired by (again) Weekend Bakery's recipe of their 80% hydration baguettes, but I use sourdough and some spelt and less water (70% hydration).
I am very satisfied with the result: the crust is great and the baguettes taste wonderful!

Poolish:

- 100 g spelt flour
- 200 g wheat flour
- 300 g water
- 15 g sourdough culture

Start the evening before baking the baguettes by making the poolish: mix the ingredients in a bowl and cover it by using a plastic pedal bin liner. Keep the poolish for an hour at room temperature and then put it in the fridge during the night. The next morning you can let your poolish develop at room temperature again and leave it until you start making your baguettes (let's say at noon, so you will have fresh bread at 4.00 PM).

Ingredients:

- the poolish
- 300 g wheat flour
- 120 g water
- 10 g salt
- 3 g dry yeast

Mix the poolish with the flour and the water and let this 'not-yet-dough' rest for half an hour at room temperature. This process is called autolyse. After this autolyse add the salt and the dry yeast and knead the dough for about 8 to 10 minutes. Check my previous post about making Sourdough Bread with Spelt for the kneading technique I learned from Richard Bertinet.
Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with plastic and let it rest for 3 quarters of an hour on a rack on the warming plate of the Aga.
Take out the dough and do 2 complete stretch and folds (see my post about Sourdough Bread again for this technique) and put the dough back in the bowl. Cover it and let it rest for 45 minutes on the warming plate. Repeat this procedure 2 times, but one complete stretch and fold will do. So all together 3 stretch and folds and 2 and a half hours rest.
Now take out the dough, put it on a slightly floured working surface and divide it in 3 portions. Preshape the portions by flattening them and fold them 3 times so they look like miniature baguettes. Let them rest on the working surface for 10 minutes, covered with plastic, before you roll them out to shape them. Check this YouTube instruction video by Jeff Hamelman how to preshape and shape baguettes.
Now it is time for proofing: I use a well floured thick cotton tea towel for this, the way Hamelman shows in his instruction video. Let you your baguettes proof for about half an hour.
Score them 5 times (instruction video) and bake them in a very humid roasting oven for about 35 minutes.

Pain Rustique

Besides spelt bread I am fond of Pain Rustique. There are many recipes to be found, but I use the method published by Ed and Marieke (Weekend Bakery). This bread is a little sour by using rye-based sourdough culture and it needs only a little bit of yeast. Because of using sourdough I make a poolish the evening before making the bread, so I can start baking the next morning. For making a sourdough culture yourself, please check one of my previous posts.

Poolish:
- 225 g wheat flour
- 60 g whole wheat flour
- 280 g water
- 12 g sourdough culture

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and cover it (I always put the bowl in a transparent pedal bin liner) and let it rest during the night at room temperature. The next morning you can start making the Pain Rustique:

Ingredients:
- the poolish
- 275 g wheat flour
- 90 g water
- 10 g salt
 - 3 g dry yeast

Mix the poolish with the flour and the water for only a minute, just until the flour has absorbed the water. Now cover the bowl and let it rest for half an hour. After this you can add the salt and the yeast and start kneading on a flat, clean surface (don't use any extra flour at this stage!) until the dough is ready. It needs some experience to understand when you reach this 'ready'-point: the dough turns into a soft, flexible substance and shines a little. And yes, it is (very) wet... It usually takes about 5 minutes kneading. Again I mention Richard Bertinet, whose method I use for kneading. You can find an instruction video on YouTube: The Bertinet Method. You can also check my post about making Spelt Bread for more information about kneading wet dough.
Now transfer your dough to a clean bowl, cover it and let it rest for about 40 minutes at room temperature.
Now it is time for the stretch-and-fold technique: take out the dough and place it on your work surface. Don't use any flour yet: just your hands and a clean dough-scraper. Put your scraper partly under the dough and stretch it by using your free hand. Fold the stretched part over the dough. Now do this four times: up over under, left over right, under over up and right over left. A great instruction video you can find here.
After this stretch and fold the dough goes back in the bowl for another half hour's rest on room temperature.
After this a second stretch and fold and another half hour's rest.
Now it is time for shaping your bread and for the first time you can use some flour to make the dough easier to handle. Put your dough on a floured work surface and sprinkle some flour on it. Now shape the dough with your floured hands. For Pain Rustique I form it into a batard and put it in a cane banneton to proof for at least half an hour. For proofing I put the banneton (covered in plastic) on a rack on the warming plate of my Aga. My oval banneton I ordered at the Weekend Bakery Webshop: it works very well!
The best instruction video you can find on YouTube for shaping bread is probably this one.
After proofing and scoring the bread with a razor blade it is time for the Aga: bake the bread in the roasting oven for about 45 minutes. In my post about baking Spelt Bread I described how I use my roasting oven for baking bread. Don't forget to create steam by pouring some hot water in a baking tin.

Sourdough Bread with Spelt

In my opinion bread consists of only four ingredients: flour, water, salt and (some) yeast. I learned preparing the best dough for baking fantastic breads from the book Dough of Richard Bertinet. And this recipe for a perfect Spelt bread by using sourdough I got from Ed and Marieke. They have a fantastic website about baking bread: the Weekend Bakery.

The evening before the day I bake my bread I make a poolish by mixing flour, spelt, water and sourdough. I use a rye-based sourdough starter, which is already a half year old. I keep it in the fridge and feed it with some teaspoonfuls of rye once or twice a week, after I have used some of it for my poolish. Please check the website of Ed and Marieke for their method of making the starter.

Poolish:

- 100 g spelt flour

- 200 g wheat flour

- 300 g water

- 15 g sourdough culture

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and cover it (I always put the bowl in a transparent pedal bin liner). Let it rest at room temperature during the night.

The next morning you can start making your two loafs.

Ingredients:

-  the poolish

- 300 g wheat flour

- 80 g water

- 11 g salt

- 3 g dry yeast

Mix the poolish with the flour and the water for only a minute, just until the flour has absorbed the water. Now cover the bowl and let it rest for half an hour. After this you can add the salt and the yeast. At this point you can start showing your kneading-talents: take your dough out of the bowl and knead it for about 10 minutes. For kneading my dough I bought a tile of Chinese black stone (60 x 40 cms) and placed it on my working surface. I don't use any flour while kneading and the dough doesn't stick to the stone during this process. It needs some practice (or actually a lot of practice!). On YouTube you can find some great instruction-videos about kneading: here is my favorite (the Bertinet-method).

After the dough has become a real nice, smooth dough, put it in the bowl again, cover it and put the bowl on a rack on the warming plate. Let it rest for about 40 minutes. Then take it out and do a stretch and fold (one fold actually means four: west over east, north over south, etc.). Ed and Marieke published a fantastic video about this technique. You can find it here.

The dough goes back in the bowl again for an half hour rest. And another stretch and fold. And another half hour rest.

Now comes the tricky part. Shaping the two loafs. Again I can direct you to an instruction video for this.The video is made by the people of King Arthur Flour; the second half of the instruction is about shaping a batard (our spelt loafs). By the way: when I am shaping my loafs, I do use a little flour to prevent the dough from sticking to my working surface.

Let your two loafs proof on a well floured towel for again half an hour. Then it is time to score them (watch the video) with a razor blade. Two slashes will do.

Now you can put your loafs in the roasting oven for about 25 to 30 minutes. I have placed another tile of Chinese black stone on the floor of the roasting oven; it is a perfect (and very cheap) baking stone. Put a rack with a small backing tray above it and fill this with hot water just after you put your loafs in. Because baking bread means creating steam in your oven! After 20 minutes rearrange the loafs: turn them and change their places, so they will brown evenly. When they are gold brown, transfer them to the baking oven, on a rack, half high. Let them get ready in about 10 minutes.